Half of organisations are
freezing their IT budgets next year, says analyst
Datamonitor.
The Datamonitor report "Technology Trends: Analysing Global
Enterprise IT Budgets 2008" is based on a survey of 8,130 IT
decision-makers at organisations worldwide.
The report reveals the majority of enterprises globally are
planning to cut back increases in IT expenditure. The exception is
the healthcare sector, which is planning to increase IT spending in
2009.
The report points out the downward trend is not solely due to
the current economic climate. It has been evident over the last
couple of years, said Datamonitor
"Suppliers should be wary in assuming that the recent downturn
in IT budgets is a short-lived phenomenon," said Daniel Okubo,
analyst at Datamonitor. "For the past couple of years enterprises
have been cutting back IT budget increases as they adopt a more
cautious viewpoint of the global economy."
Datamonitor says the report shows that for the fourth
consecutive year the number of enterprises planning to
significantly increase their IT budget has fallen. This suggests
there are deeper concerns in the IT market than just the recent
economic problems, said Datamonitor.
More than 50% of respondents said they expect to keep their IT
budget the same in 2009, as it was in 2008. But 37% of respondents
expect to see their IT budget increase in 2009, with only 13%
anticipating actual IT budget cuts.
Retail and manufacturing industries are suffering from high
interest rates, falling domestic demand, inflation and higher
commodity prices. The healthcare industry is planning significant
spending increases in 2009, with 57% of respondents in the industry
saying they plan to expand IT expenditure.