Global IT spend to reach $2.5 trillion in 2011

IT spend is on the rise worldwide and is expected to hit $2.5 trillion next year.

Money spent by enterprises in the IT space is set to reach an impressive $2.5 trillion by 2011, according to a new report.

The prediction, made by analyst firm Gartner, equates to a 3.1 percent increase from expected spend this year of $US2.4 trillion, which in turn is a 2.4 percent increase from 2009.

However, these good looking figures are still low compared to the growth before the economic downturn and Gartner has predicted the spend will only grow to $US2.8 trillion over the next five years, representing a “period of timid and at times lackluster growth.”

Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of research, said: “Several key vertical industries, such as manufacturing and financial services will not see IT budgets recover to pre-2008 levels before 2012 or 2013.”

He claimed the emerging markets would spur growth and be the “locomotive of enterprise IT spending,” but developed economies like the UK would be “substantially outpaced.”

Sondergaard outlined a number of trends set to drive the future of IT and investment, but the top spot went to cloud computing.

“Cloud computing will transform the IT industry as it will alter the financial model upon which investors look at technology providers,” he said, “and it will change vertical industries, making the impact of the internet on the music industry look like a minor bleep.”

This article originally appeared at itpro.co.uk