Increased IT budgets in some industry sectors, long delayed hardware upgrades in prospect and application modernisation and new software implementation as a driver of investment are all trends identified in the latest IT Trends and Expenditure report from analyst IDC.
Despite on-going conditions that the report refers to as "challenging," it highlighted several areas where investment is expected, with the potential for the overall IT market size to hit €6 billion, according to Keith Gaffney of IDC Ireland, speaking at a recent event.
The "top priority" for investment according to the report is "IT infrastructure consolidation, automation or upgrade/modernisation", which it says suggests there will be an amount of "overdue" upgrading taking place in the coming year, particularly of hardware, with the perennial IT security also a priority area predicted to see further expenditure.
The report goes on to say that the software market should be boosted by the fact that "application consolidation/modernisation and new software implementation" was also identified as a driver of investment for the year ahead.
Also, notable is the fact that among IT service providers HP and IBM top the list of suppliers to the organisations surveyed, but coming in a creditable third place is PFH, the nationwide indigenous company.
Commenting on the IDC survey Paul Hourican, CEO, PFH, said "This is a clear indication of how much trust organisations across the country have placed in us for the provision and support of their ICT solutions and services."
The report acknowledges the difficult position of the public sector, as more austerity budgets are expected. "While pressure on public spending will continue to inflict a serious toll on public sector budgets," says the report. However, the outlook for the private sector in general seems more positive, as the report asserts that "a majority of organisations in some industry sectors expecting to increase IT expenditure. In addition, a significant minority of manufacturing firms plan higher spending in certain areas."
For more detail and analysis see the February issue of ComputerScope, available 9 February.
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