"The enterprise IT market will certainly return to growth in 2010, but we now expect it will grow by only 2.9 per cent globally, down from 4.1 per cent 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 per cent in 2010 (see Table 1)."
Gartner recommends that technology and service providers target highgrowth industry segments through 2014, as well as undertaking further analysis of large, slowgrowth segments for unusual growth opportunities at the sub - industry segment level. However, Mr Brant advised technology providers to exercise caution with regard to the economy and its impacts on enterprise IT markets.
"We're advising our technology provider clients to prepare business plans for 2011 on the basis of our mostlikely scenario for enterprise IT spending growth - 3.5 per cent. However, they should act now to develop contingencies to mitigate the risk of zero growth in 2011, a scenario that carries a lower probability but a much higher potential impact," Mr Brant said. "The bottom line is that technology providers need to be prepared for the worst case, where commercial IT markets stagnate and governments transition to fiscal austerity programmes." Furthermore, Mr Brant urged technology providers to continue to promote IT solutions that deliver "cost optimisation" through 2011, which he contends will be a persistent and overriding value for IT buyers even as markets return to growth.
Additional information is available in the report "Forecast: Enterprise IT Spending by Vertical Industry Market, Worldwide, 2008-2014, 2Q10 Update." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/....