This latest study was conducted in December by the nonprofit IT trade association CompTIA. The organization surveyed representatives from more than 300 U.S. IT companies, from VARs to hardware and software manufacturers.

The survey, which asks about the subjects' confidence in the U.S. economy, the IT industry, and their particular companies, produced a "business confidence index" of 56.6, a 6.3-point jump from the September 2009. The subjects expressed enough optimism to forecast another 6.5-point increase in the next six months.

As for spending plans, 34% of the executives surveyed plan to increase capital expenditures over the next six months, while 31% plan to increase staffing. Those may sound like low numbers, but they're up from 24% for both in the September survey.

The executives predict that global IT spending will rise 2-4% in 2010, with the U.S. lagging slightly behind. They expect the growth to be led by the IT services sector, which they expect to rise 2.5-5.5%.

When it comes to specific market opportunities, the executives see the most potential in security products and services, healthcare, green IT, and virtualization products and services.

This is the third recent report to show increasing confidence and spending plans among IT managers. In December, a survey by Computer Economics found that most IT organizations expected their budgets to increase this year, while earlier this month Forrester Research predicted the start of a multi-year cycle cycle of technology investment.