Gartner: Enterprise IT spending to show "scant growth" in 2013

Gartner is forecasting "scant growth" in enterprise IT budgets during 2013, with worldwide spending expected to increase by just 2.5 per cent next year.

The market watcher predicts that worldwide enterprise IT spending will top $2.679 trillion next year, up from $2.603 trillion in 2012, with firms in the banking, communications and manufacturing industries leading the way.

"The global economic outlook has deteriorated in 2012, leading to scant overall growth in enterprise IT spending," Kenneth Brant, research director at Gartner.

"Our third quarter outlook points to more substantial growth in 2013, if significant fiscal crises are avoided in the US and Europe," Brant added.

The global economic outlook has deteriorated, leading to scant overall growth in enterprise IT spending

Gartner expects total IT spending in the manufacturing and natural resources markets to be 2.3 per cent higher in 2013 and reach $478 billion, driven by investments in cloud, big data and mobile.

"The manufacturing industry's IT buying centre has adopted tighter IT cost controls amid a myriad of mixed market signals," said Gartner in a statement.

"IT spending rates are expected to bottom out in 2013 and will be resilient over the long run as business confidence is restored and the value proposition of new technology forces is increasingly championed by senior leaders."

IT spending in the banking and securities sector is expected to grow by 3.5 per cent, from $445 billion in 2012 to $460 billion next year.

"The banking and securities sector will have strong growth in 2013...[because] it is an IT-intensive industry, spending approximately three times as much on IT as a percentage of revenue than the average of all industries," the market watcher stated.

"This trend is expected to continue due to the significant amount of IT required to run activities, such as lending, payments, trading and risk management."

Meanwhile, government IT spending is expected to take a tumble next year, with Gartner forecasting a 2 per cent year-on year decline to $445 billion.

"Austerity measures and budgetary reductions have affected government spending worldwide," explained Brant.

"At the same time, government organisations recognise that new technology investments may help reduce the cost of service delivery, improve operational efficiency or reduce future expenditure.

"Consequently, government IT spending intensity is beginning to diverge from traditional operational spending trends," he concluded.