European CIOs should expect more challenging economic conditions in 2019 and especially in 2020, which will constrain tech budget growth. CIOs in the UK and Italy should brace for tech budget cuts: There is a very real prospect of a no-deal Brexit, which will shock the UK economy, while Italy is likely to slip into a mild recession. This will dampen economic growth and tech markets elsewhere in Europe. European CIOs must balance investments in business technology (BT) with the need to upgrade their back-office systems to cut business costs.