Over the next five years, enterprise IT spending will represent a period of timid and at times lacklustre growth. Worldwide enterprise IT spending will rise from US$2.38 trillion this year to $2.46 trillion in 2011, a 3.1 percent increase, according to research firm Gartner. IT spending will continue to rise in the next few years, but only slightly.
"Over the next five years, enterprise IT spending will represent a period of timid and at times lacklustre growth with spending totalling $2.8 trillion in 2014," Gartner said. Enterprise IT spending in 2009 was $2.33 trillion.
Gartner: CIOs should plan for recession No. 2
IT budgets in several industries will not match pre-recession levels for several years.
"Several key vertical industries, such as manufacturing and financial services, will not see IT budgets recover to pre-2008 levels before 2012 or 2013," Gartner's global head of research Peter Sondergaard said in an announcement at the firm's annual Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando. "Emerging economies continue to be the locomotive of enterprise IT spending, substantially outpacing developed economies."
Enterprise IT spending as defined by Gartner is a subset of total global IT spending. IT spending as a whole is expected to rise from $3.33 billion in 2010 to $3.45 billion in 2011, a Gartner spokesperson said in an email to Network World.
While Gartner's report doesn't show massive growth, things are looking much better than last year. One year ago, Gartner called 2009 the "worst year ever" for IT spending, after a decline of 5.2 percent
Another positive sign is that tech hiring is apparently up about 50 percent since 2009, at least in terms of jobs posted on Dice, a tech recruitment site.
However, Gartner and other researchers have also warned that businesses should prepare for the possibility of a double-dip recession, which could lower IT spending once again.
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