Despite current economic concerns, worldwide IT spending will exceed $3.4 trillion in 2008, an increase of 8 percent from 2007 spending, according to Gartner. Analysts said much of this growth is based on the decline in the U.S. dollar.

Jim Tully, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, commented, “The U.S.-led economic downturn shows no sign of causing a recession in IT spending. In subsequent years we will see reduced growth, but the fundamentals remain strong. Emerging regions, replacement of obsolete systems and some technology shifts are driving growth.”

Gartner analysts said there are important strategic issues facing the IT industry and that, “Organisations are switching from company-owned hardware and software assets to per-use service-based models. This will impact the industry in various ways. The projected shift to cloud computing, for example, will result in dramatic growth in IT products in some areas and in significant reductions in other areas."