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Financial Firms To Increase IT Spending
Managing IT When Times Get Tough
By John McCormick
Despite reports that IT spending is slowing down, Gartner says worldwide IT spending will exceed $3.4 trillion this year—an increase of 8% from 2007 spending—although the company's analysts said much of the growth is based on the decline in the U.S. dollar. Expressed in constant currency, the research and consulting firm predicted IT spending to grow 4.5%.
"The U.S.-led economic downturn shows no sign of causing a recession in IT spending," said Jim Tully, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, in a prepared statement. "In subsequent years we will see reduced growth, but the fundamentals remain strong. Emerging regions, replacement of obsolete systems and some technology shifts are driving growth."
Software and IT services, according to Gartner, are expected to see 10% jumps in spending this year. Hardware sales are expected to climb 7%, with PCs being the main growth area (see chart).
But Tully did say there are important issues facing IT.
"Organizations are switching from company-owned hardware and software assets to per-use service-based models. This will impact the industry in various ways," he said. "The projected shift to cloud computing, for example, will result in dramatic growth in IT products in some areas and in significant reductions in other areas. In general, assets will be utilized with greater efficiency, and we are assuming that the overall effect on market growth will be neutral. We also recognize that there is considerable upside potential for higher growth."
Next: Charting The Growth
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