India IT spending will grow 9.1% next year: Gartner

Mumbai: Despite the global economic challenges, IT spending in India by enterprises will increase by 9.1 per cent in 2012, according to a report from research firm Gartner. IT spending in India is projected to total $79.8 billion in 2012, against $73.1 billion in 2011. And this is being attributed to the fast paced growth in India's burgeoning telecommunications space and the growing adoption of devices such as smart-phones and tablet computers, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, a Gartner analyst said. “A lot of new IT infrastructure is being bought in tier-2 and tier-3 cities both in the enterprise and retail segments…moreover, the 2G spectrum scam has not had any sizeable impact on IT spending in the space,” he added. Largest segment The telecommunications market is the largest IT segment in India with IT spending forecast to reach $54.7 billion in 2012, followed by the IT services market with spending of $11.1 billion. The computing hardware market in India is projected to reach $10.7 billion in 2012, while software spending will total $3.2 billion, Gartner said. It may be recalled that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has pegged India's mobile teledensity at 72.12 per cent or 86.57 crore wireless subscribers as of August. According to Gartner, worldwide IT spending will reach nearly $3.7 trillion by current year end. Of this, emerging economies such as India, China, Brazil and others will account for $1.013 trillion. Speaking at the inaugural Gartner Symposium here in Mumbai, Mr Peter Sondergaard, Senior Vice-President at Gartner, said two-thirds of Chief Executive Officers surveyed by Gartner believe that IT's contribution to their industry in the next 10 years will be greater than in any prior decades. “IT is a primary driver of business growth. For example, this year 350 companies will each invest more than $1 billion in IT. They are doing this because IT impacts their business performance,” said Mr Sondergaard. Three ‘forces' Going forward, Gartner has identified three ‘forces', namely cloud computing, social media computing and information explosion that will change the way businesses will be conducted going forward. “The impact of these forces will make architectures of the last 20 years obsolete… Together, they force the issue – they drive us to create the post-modern business, drive simplicity and force creative destruction,” Mr Sondergaard said.