According to a recent survey on IT spending conducted by Information Week, the most recent quarter has been especially difficult.

Of the more than 600 business technology decision-makers who responded to the survey, 40 percent said they reigned in their IT spending relative to their 2008 budgets. Among larger firms, the percentage was even greater.

That’s not to say companies’ IT initiatives are going down the tubes. Many chief technology officers are taking a closer look at where their budgets are being spent, ramping up those projects that are most critical to their companies’ bottom lines, identifying which can be discontinued or delayed and finding ways to use existing technologies to get the biggest bang for their IT dollars.

At Midwest Research Institute, a not-for-profit research firm serving government, industry and the public, a tighter IT budget has meant trying to get the most out of the firm’s existing infrastructure and meeting new application needs with existing systems and tools.

“If we have the need for a new capability in accounting, for example, we first look to see if there is a feature of our existing software that just hasn’t been ‘turned on,’” says Lyla Perrodin, MRI’s director of Information Technology. “We generally buy rather than build applications, because we believe off-the-shelf software is less expensive over time.”

At MRI, keeping the cost of Information Technology infrastructure low has always been a priority. Perrodin points to both the company’s use of VMWare, a server consolidation tool, which has enabled the firm to reduce its spend on server hardware, and WAN acceleration technology, which allows MRI to support more data traffic without additional telecommunication costs.

“Money we save on infrastructure and operations is spent on applications development and delivery, which provides direct value to our customers,” says Perrodin.

But for others, adding newer technology is the path to efficiency gains. American Century Investments’ Network Services Manager Keith Little points to the mutual fund company’s use of a new remote accessing tool, Cisco Virtual Office, to provide employees with the abilityto work from home as effectively as they do in the office.

It’s a flexible and cost-effective option, particularly in light of higher gas prices and energy costs, that’s fitting the bill for this financial services firm. So far, American Century Investments has rolled out the Cisco Virtual Office solution to more than 110 of its sales agents and remote workers.

“We will continue to broaden our use of this solution to provide even more employees with easy remote access to network resources,” says Little.

For a fortunate few, the difficult economy is a non issue. New business has been robust for Overland Park-based engineering firm Black and Veatch, according to Chief Information Officer Brad Vaughan. He says that while the company is definitely sensitive to the pain of higher fuel and labor costs that are weighing on all American business-es, his company is cushioned from the economic slowdown due to the long-term nature of its projects and strong revenue stream.

On the technology provider side, the view is a little different. Gary Alexander of Alexander Open Systems, an OverlandPark-based technology reseller, says his firm continues to invest in the technology it needs to run its business, and is still enjoying robust demand for products, albeit at a lower rate than in previous years. Where he’s seeing economic impact on his customers’ technology needs is on the service side.

“Our service sales are up 250 percent this year,” says Alexander. “Clearly, companies are looking for more service support to capitalize on the technology they already have.”

Alexander expects that conditions will remain static through the end of the year, and anticipates that future demand will improve in line with an improving economy.

“I’m optimistic,” says Alexander. “You can’t run a business without technology, so I think the forecast is bright.”