Gartner lowers enterprise IT spending forecast

Proceed with caution

Market research outfit Gartner has announced it expects worldwide enterprise IT spend to grow by 2.9 percent this year - lower growth than it had previously forecast.

"The enterprise IT market will certainly return to growth in 2010, but we now expect it will grow by only 2.9 percent globally, down from 4.1 percent growth we had forecast earlier this year," said Kenneth Brant, research director at Gartner. "The national and international government sector will experience the strongest growth rate in 2010, with IT spending growing 4 percent in 2010."

But he warned that, while Gartner is forecasting further growth of 3.5 percent in 2011, there is a chance growth could stall as public sector austerity programmes begin in earnest, and technology providers should bear that in mind.

IT Spending by Industry Vertical Market, Worldwide (Millions of Dollars)

Source: Gartner (August 2010)