Cloud among factors behind stagnation in government IT spending, says Gartner

Analysts believe government spend on IT will drop by 0.1 per cent this year as departments explore cloud and mobility

Worldwide government IT spending will stagnate this year, as public sector IT departments look to cut costs in the face of economic challenges.

That is according to research by Gartner, which predicts outgoings by governments on IT to reach $449.5bn (£287bn) during 2013, a decrease of 0.1 per cent compared with the previous year.

Mobility appears to be a top concern for governments, with demand for this style of working and the extra equipment it needs – such as smartphones, tablets and laptops – most requested by agencies and departments which require staff to work on the move, such as those in social services.

Gartner predicts that mobility will be increasingly adopted over time as existing, static hardware is replaced by options which allow more flexibility.

Linked to mobility, Gartner also suggests BYOD is on the rise, although concerns remain about security surrounding government staff using their own smartphones and tablets for professional purposes, especially in those sectors dealing with confidential information. Nonetheless, the rise of mobility and BYOD is triggering a move towards the cloud.

"Cloud computing, in particular, continues to increase compared with prior years, driven by economic conditions and a shift from capital expenditure to operational expenditure, as well as potentially more important factors such as faster deployment and reduced risk," said Christine Arcaris, research director at Gartner.

"Other areas, such as data centre consolidation, are lower on the list than in previous years, perhaps demonstrating that they may have met resistance in a more strategic rollout. Vendors should be ready to reposition offerings according to these changing market dynamics."

Gartner conducted research in 13 countries including the UK, the US, Australia, Brazil, India and South Korea.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet Office claimed it has saved more than £500m through a strategy of tighter IT spending controls and moving government services onto digital platforms.