Tech Sector Boost Expected in Second Half of 2009

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January 16 2009 @ 13:18

Spending on information and communications technology (ICT) is likely to increase in 2009, but not until the second half of the year, according to new data from Compass Intelligence.

US ICT spending is expected to grow more than 4 percent by the end of 2009 and growth is expected to continue to rise through 2013, the research firm forecast. However, 2009 ICT revenue will not come easy and is likely to be earned after the first quarter of this year because IT decision-makers will cautiously plan their investments in the first couple of months.

“This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a recession in the last decade, and most ICT decision makers have been in troubled times like this before – so have the line-of-business managers influencing them,” said Kneko Burney, Compass Intelligence president and chief strategist. “So, with the wisdom these two groups have gained from 2001, most IT and business decision-makers are planning to spend through this slowdown, knowing that only through investments in cost-saving technologies, gains in productivity (likely through automation) and innovation, will their companies survive this difficult period, and more importantly, potentially prosper when it’s over.”

Nearly one-third of IT decision-makers indicated they expected their 2009 ICT budgets to increase over 2008 levels, according to the research firm’s late November survey of more than 2,000 decision makers. This is slightly more than the percentage that said their budgets rose between 2007 and 2008.

The research also found that while most respondents expected their 2009 ICT budgets to be the same as in 2008, another third expected a decrease. This is twice the number as for the 2007-2008 period.

Key areas of spending priority for 2009 are computer systems, wireless applications and services, business Web sites or Web infrastructure and business networks. The order of key priorities varies by size of business, but for the most part are the same, regardless of business size.