UK IT managers devote more of their budget to innovation and green IT than their global counterparts, according to a Microsoft-commissioned survey carried out by market research firm Harris Interactive.

The research suggests that UK IT leaders allocate 41 per cent of their spend to innovation, while their German and US counterparts allocate 35 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

On green issues, while 84 per cent of global IT professionals consider green factors to be important, these factors only had a significant influence on decisions at 44 per cent of organisations surveyed. Again, the UK led in this area, with 15 per cent of UK firms considering green issues to be a major factors, compared with nine per cent in the US, eight per cent in Germany and six per cent in Japan.

Meanwhile, only 22 per cent of IT professionals globally rated giving their business a competitive edge as a current top priority, with 55 per cent saying that the economy had changed the role of IT, and 51 per cent saying budget constraints were the largest block on business innovation.

The survey suggests that although the economy is affecting IT's ability to innovate, 48 per cent of respondents are still focused on driving business efficiency, while 30 per cent are concentrating on reducing IT costs.

Nearly two-thirds of those polled said they would increase their planned investment in at least one infrastructure technology, such as cloud computing, security systems management and virtualisation.

The number one challenge customers cite in infrastructure management is security, with 73 per cent tagging data protection as the top priority over the next one to three years.

Harris Interactive conducted the survey online in April and May among 1,200 IT decision makers – 310 from the UK.