Gartner: Worldwide IT spend to grow 7.1 per cent

Spending on technology is expected to grow by 7.1 per cent to reach $846 billion this year, according to Gartner.

The analyst firm has increased its market predictions from a more modest 5.6 per cent growth predicted earlier in the year. The revised 2011 figures mark an increase of 6.6 per cent compared with 2010's IT spending levels.

The computing and hardware sectors will see the strongest growth with combined spend rising to 11.7 per cent in the year.

It is a bit surprising that we have not seen a more significant impact on our global IT spending forecast as a results of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Enterprise software will see the second highest growth of 9.5 per cent while telecoms will go from strength to strength and enjoy 6.9 per cent growth.

Gartner also suggested that public cloud spending is set to grow four times faster than overall IT spend. Global spend in this sector is forecast to reach $89 billion this year from $74 billion in 2010 and longer term projections suggest it will reach $177 billion over the next four years.

At present, public cloud spending accounts for around two per cent of global IT spend. By 2015, although this figure will rise, it will still only represent less than five per cent of overall tech spending, according to Gartner.

"It is a bit surprising that we have not seen a more significant impact on our global IT spending forecast as a results of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, but despite widespread concerns about disruptions to the supply of critical components in the initial aftermath of the natural disaster, there has not been a dramatic impact on overall IT spending," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner.

"For 2011 as a whole, we expect Japan IT spending to be down in local currency, but we expect a positive growth trend to emerge in the second half of the year and continue into 2012."