Global IT spending growth slumps

Global growth in IT spending will slow for the fourth year in a row as the credit crunch compounds the problems of the already stagnant market.

A record number of companies - slightly more than 60 per cent - will cut their IT budgets or keep spending flat next year, according to market analyst Datamonitor.

The lifeless market has been exacerbated by a sharp fall in businesses planning to significantly increase their IT budget, down from 21 per cent in 2006 to nine per cent in 2009.

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Technology analyst with Datamonitor Daniel Okubo said in a statement: "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.

"More recently, the financial services market, as seen by the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers, is suffering from a crisis in confidence caused by a spate of write-downs and concerns over liquidity."

It echoes concerns raised by Charles Ward, chief operating officer of IT trade association Intellect, that companies will put their hardware refreshes on hold in response to the credit crunch and warnings by computer manufacturer Dell that demand is weakening.

The only industry to buck the flat IT market is healthcare, where 57 per cent of companies say they plan to expand spending.

Datamonitor attributes this to governments investing in new technologies to ease the strain placed on healthcare by an aging "baby boomer" generation.