IT is facing a number of contentious issues which must be resolved if the sector is to maintain its position as a force for improving overall enterprise performance, according to Gartner.

"Growing global economic instability is putting increasing pressure on IT departments to support crucial business goals," said Ken McGee, vice president and Gartner Fellow, in a statement released by the research firm.

"At a time when there is little in the way of additional budget available, CIOs need to know where and when to focus to best assist and improve enterprise performance."

Gartner analysts have outlined the most contentious issues the IT sector will face in the next two years at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2008.

First and foremost, they said, business expectations for IT have outstripped the sector's capacity to deliver. IT departments are now expected to increase their focus to customers, new products and business processes.

But few CIOs have the staff to meet these demands, and there's little room in the budget for new hires.

Secondly, the ICT community needs to figure out how to accelerate modernization of infrastructure and operations, while at the same time reducing costs.

CIOs must also determine a way to impress upon their bosses that security and risk management is not just an IT issue.

The failure of many organisations to develop a business intelligence vision and strategy is another hot issue, with IT leaders lamenting this loss and business managers believing it to be unnecessary.

IT organisations will have to decide to whom business process professionals should report; and learn to drop the 'turf-war' mentality to relieve the friction that often builds up between IT and enterprise architecture groups.

The IT community must also resolve the best way to force vendors to deliver on their promises; develop a framework for when to modernise applications; and decide how much formal process is needed for program and portfolio management.

The Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2008is being held in Orlando, Florida until October 16.