Gartner reduces IT growth forecast by 1.2 per cent

Sovereign debt crisis and appreciation of US dollar take their toll

Enterprise IT budgets threatened by appreciation of the dollar

Analyst firm Gartner has revised its forecast for global enterprise IT spending in 2010, down from 4.1 per cent to 2.9 per cent.

In its second quarter update to its Enterprise IT Spending by Vertical Industry Market, Worldwide, 2008-2014 report, Gartner said that spending will surpass £1.52tn in 2010, up from the £1.46tn achieved in 2009.

Gartner explained that it had revised its forecasts because of the appreciation of the US dollar combined with the potential impact of higher sovereign debt service on government IT spending and broader business confidence.

Spending on IT has yet to return to the levels of 2008 – IT spend for 2009 was 5.9 per cent down on the previous year.

The three vertical industries Gartner expects to see most growth are utilities (4.7 per cent), national and international government (4 per cent), and communications media and services (3.6 per cent).

The three verticals Gartner expects will grow the least are local and regional government (1.7 per cent), transport (1.9 per cent) and insurance (2.1 per cent).