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US total IT spending to stay flat through 2003: Gartner news
Our Convergence Bureau
13 November 2002

Mumbai: Technology budgets in the United States are set to dip 0.03 per cent in 2003 compared to 2002, according to an IT spending confidence survey by Gartner and SoundView Technology Group (STG).

The survey, conducted among IT users and business executives among the attendees at Gartner Symposium / ITxpo 2002 held in October in Orlando, Florida, is a leading US indicator of technology spending levels and intent. The survey respondents represent more than $23 billion of technology spending for their corporations.

The prediction this year is similar to last year’s prediction for 2002 IT spending. This year, however, respondents expect less seasonality in their fourth quarter IT spending than last year.

The survey indicates that demand for technology products has reached an inflection point. While top-down budget responses resulted in a flat year-on-year comparison, spending intentions by priority are up for the first time since 2000 and spending intentions by vendor are up for the first time since 1998.

“The draconian budget cuts of the past two years have flattened while demand continues to build,” says Gartner senior vice-president Al Case. “This natural economic phenomenon will create a gap between IT budgets and IT demand for the next six to 12 months.”

The survey also identifies certain IT product areas that are likely to experience better growth in 2003. Those areas include application integration and development, storage, network hardware, Linux servers, as well as desktop and portable computers.

“While 2003 is not likely to be a watershed year for spending, the increase in demand for technology products suggests the likelihood of a spending increase by the second half of the year,” says STG CEO Mark Loehr. “If a spending delay does occur throughout 2003, then 2004 will be a significant spending year.”

 


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US total IT spending to stay flat through 2003: Gartner