Separately, Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, representing a 5.3% increase from IT spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009. The research firm also points to hardware as a key driver to IT spending. For instance, worldwide computing hardware spending it forecast to reach $353 billion in 2010, a 5.7% increase from 2009.
"Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, in a statement. "Consumer PC spending will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."
Gartner also notes a more than 5% increase in worldwide software spending, totaling $232 billion in 2010. While the impact of the recession on software markets was not as dramatic as it was on other markets, Gartner expects the majority of software markets to see positive growth.
"Vendors offering [SaaS], IT asset management, virtualization capabilities and that have a good open source strategy will continue to benefit. We also see mobile device support or applications, as well as cloud services driving new opportunities," said Joanne Correia, managing vice president at Gartner, in a statement.
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