Citing economic slowdown, Forrester lowers 2008 tech spending estimate

Citing economic slowdown, Forrester lowers 2008 tech spending estimate

Cambridge, Mass. – While it stopped short of predicting a recession, the prospects of a slowing economy has prompted Forrester Research to lower its 2008 IT spending forecast, according to a report in ComputerWorld.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based analyst firm has lowered its expectations for U.S. IT hardware and software investment from eight percent to five percent, the publication said.
That report quotes Forrester analyst Andrew Bartels as saying that 2008 is shaping up as a replay of 2007, when IT spending started slowly and recovered later in the year.
Under the revised forecast, IT spending for software, computers, and communications equipment will reach $377 billion in 2007 and rise to $394 billion next year. Meanwhile, Forrester predicts that total IT spending, including expenditures on hardware, software, IT salaries, and outsourcing, will be an estimated $775 billion this year and increase to a projected $815 billion in 2008.
Companies still are expected to increase spending on IT staffing and outsourcing by six percent in 2008, the same rate of increase as this year.
Globally, Forrester predicts nine percent growth in IT purchases next year, down slightly from this year’s estimated 12 percent growth rate.
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