Worldwide IT spending to break $3 trillion in 2007, says Gartner

Madison, Wis. — Gartner Inc. predicts that global information technology spending will reach $3.1 trillion in 2007, a rise of 8 percent over 2006. The advance was described as a milestone for the IT industry at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Monday. In 2008, Gartner predicts a slightly more modest 5.5 percent increase to $3.3 billion.

The analyst firm, which noted that those expectations would have to be revised in the event of an economic downturn, said that one-third of IT spending now occurs outside of North America, Western Europe, and Japan. As IT moves "East and South," Gartner says, end-user spending will move toward software, services, and mobility, which made up 57 percent of spending in 2006 and are projected to grow to 63 percent by 2011.

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