IT Spending to Hit $3.6 Trillion, Forecast Suggests

July 10, 2012
Investments in storing data or hosting computer services in the Internet 'cloud' and in telecom equipment and services are bright spots in the growth outlook, according to research firm Gartner.

Industry tracker Gartner on Tuesday said that worldwide spending on information technology (IT) was on pace to hit $3.6 trillion this year despite trouble in the global economy.

The revised estimate by Gartner projects that IT spending will be slightly more than previously expected, climbing 3% from the prior year's tally.

"While the challenges facing global economic growth persist -- the eurozone crisis, weaker U.S. recovery, a slowdown in China -- the outlook has at least stabilized," said Gartner research vice president Richard Gordon.

"There has been little change in either business confidence or consumer sentiment in the past quarter, so the short-term outlook is for continued caution in IT spending."

Investments in storing data or hosting computer services in the Internet "cloud" and in telecom equipment and services were bright spots in the growth outlook, according to Gartner.

Companies were on track to spend a combined total of nearly $1.7 trillion on telecom services and $377 billion on telecom equipment in what would represent increases of 1.4 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively, from the prior year.

Researchers expected spending on public cloud services to grow from $91 billion last year to $207 billion by the year 2016.

"Business process as a service still accounts for the vast majority of cloud spending by enterprises, but other areas such as platform as a service, software as a service and infrastructure as a service are growing faster," Gordon said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

Empowering the Modern Workforce: The Power of Connected Worker Technologies

March 1, 2024
Explore real-world strategies to boost worker safety, collaboration, training, and productivity in manufacturing. Emphasizing Industry 4.0, we'll discuss digitalization and automation...

3 Best Practices to Create a Product-Centric Competitive Advantage with PRO.FILE PLM

Jan. 25, 2024
Gain insight on best practices and strategies you need to accelerate engineering change management and reduce time to market. Register now for your opportunity to accelerate your...

Transformative Capabilities for XaaS Models in Manufacturing

Feb. 14, 2024
The manufacturing sector is undergoing a pivotal shift toward "servitization," or enhancing product offerings with services and embracing a subscription model. This transition...

Shifting Your Business from Products to Service-Based Business Models: Generating Predictable Revenues

Oct. 27, 2023
Executive summary on a recent IndustryWeek-hosted webinar sponsored by SAP

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!