At its recent Partner Summit, CDW surveyed 273 IT executives about IT spending forecasts for 2009. In the current economy, it would be expected that IT spending would decline next year, but CDW found a bright spot in the clouds (literally).
While many budgets will shrink drastically next year, IT companies expect that 60 percent of those companies will actually maintain or increase their budgets. Those expected to be growth markets next year for the IT industry include healthcare, energy, government, with expected declines in the areas already being hit hard in the current financial climate: financial services, manufacturing, retail, and non-profits.
What do these executives think companies will be spending money on? Thirty-four percent believe that consolidation and virtualization will see growth, with 32 percent feeling that security will grow, and 31 percent focusing on storage. This belief is closely tied to what the executives believe were the biggest technology news stories in 2008: 36 percent felt green and energy efficient IT were important, with another 20 percent declaring virtualization the most important news.