Services and telecommunications investment are the driving force behind international IT spending, research by International Data Corporation has found. The report, Digital Planet – The Global Information Economy published by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, shows that growth in spending on IT services has started to spread from industrialized nations and into developing economies. The survey also reflects the huge growth in telecoms investment in these nations, driven by the global uptake of the internet.
The research says that, whereas internal company spending on IT staff has seen negligible growth, the IT services sector has grew almost 8% between 1992 and 1997. Software and hardware sales grew by 11% and 10% respectively over the same period. The survey also found that spending on telecommunications far outstripped investment in any other market, at almost $800m compared to around $300m for internal spending, its nearest rival. This represents a 60% five-year increase due to the growth of the internet, described by IDC as shock therapy to the industry.
Unsurprisingly, the US and Japan dominate the figures, making 36% and 18% of global IT spending. The UK, France and Germany fight it out for third, fourth and fifth places overall and in most subsectors, with the notable exception of internet hosts, where France is forced to ninth place by the likes of Finland and Australia. The US owns 62% of all internet hosts, Japan second with a vastly smaller 5%.
