 |
|
| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports |
The No. 1 Resource for UK IT Contractors: Comprehensive guides - Daily news IT contract jobs - Market rates - Forums - IT contractor network - Calculators |
|
 |
IT budgets for US businesses will not be downgraded this year as much as in the dot com crash, but will more likely resemble those set on the eve of its recovery. Based on a survey of 200 IT decision-makers, the finding suggests that almost all US firms are unlikely to see their IT spending recover for the rest of 2009. Cuts to IT budgets are a growing trend in most sectors of the economy, and further reductions are likely for the majority of the outfits before 2010, the survey found. The result is that IT spending for the respondents will not grow, in real terms, this year, representing the worst performance since 2004, said Computer Economics. In other words, IT spending in 2009 will be at the same level as when it was “just beginning to recover from the internet-investment spending bust” four years ago. However that also means the recession is not expected to hurt IT spending as much as in the downturn of 2001-02, which was led by the technology sector, the firm said. Back then, its figures show that only about a third of the firms saw their IT budgets increase, compared with 45 per cent reporting the same over the last 12 months. Yet in statement, Computer Economics said: “The worst may not be over. Many IT executives expect further budget reductions in the future.” Almost half of the respondents said they expect to spend less than the amount allocated in their 2009-10 IT spending plans, compared to only 9% who anticipate being able to increase their IT budgets. For now though, some sectors are reporting positive growth in their IT operational budgets up to 2010, including banking and finance (4.9%), healthcare ( 4.7%) and professional and technical services (4.0%). "It may seem counterintuitive, but in the commercial banking area it appears consolidation activity is actually driving an increase in IT spending," said Frank Scavo, president of Computer Economics. "This is an IT-intensive sector, and it takes resources to merge systems." Sectors showing the sharpest decline in median IT operational spending included discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and retail, while only marginal growth was reported in the utilities and energy sectors. Jul 7, 2009 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
|
|
  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All content © Contractor UK Limited | [Archive] | [Register for News Letter] | [Privacy Statement] | [Terms of Use] | [Top of Page] |