GartnerGroup Reports IT Spending to Rise 50 Percent by 2002
E-Business to Eclipse Y2K as Spending Driver.
STAMFORD, Conn., July 29, 1999...GartnerGroup, Inc. (NYSE: IT) analysts briefed Wall Street analysts this morning on GartnerGroup information technology (IT) spending projections that indicate E-business will eclipse Y2K as the main focus for IT spending.
IT spending worldwide will be $2.2 trillion in 1999, with up to 40 percent of that amount devoted to Y2K spending. By 2002, however, worldwide IT spending will climb to $3.3 trillion, with E-business spending making up the lion’s share at 50 percent.
Major indicators of this trend include:
  • IT spending, which recently dramatically increased due to Y2K remediation, will again accelerate in 12 months, fueled mainly by E-business initiatives.
  • Within enterprises, IT spending is shifting toward the business lines and away from the IS function. According to GartnerGroup, 60 percent of IT spending is projected to occur in the business lines by 2003.
  • E-business will be seamlessly merged into the core business of any enterprise. That is the next natural progression of IT’s role in business.
GartnerGroup advises executives who are transforming their businesses — which today means all executives — to approach E-business holistically. Although executives are wisely honing departmental E-business strategies, enterprises need a full-spectrum business plan that is powered by technology and E-business.
One global business plan that includes E-business as it drives all technology will deliver a major competitive advantage over a plan that strings together many "skunk works"
E-business projects within an enterprise. Integrating the technology throughout the core business will maximize the return on investment, according to GartnerGroup analysts.
"Worldwide, IT spending will be $2.2 trillion in 1999," said Lou Marcoccio, Research Director in GartnerGroup’s Technology Management Group. "Enterprises must properly integrate E-business and IT planning into the core business planning this year, or they may have to make that IT expenditure again next year."
About GartnerGroup
As the world's leading authority on IT, GartnerGroup provides clients with a wide range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement, research, decision support, analysis and consulting. Founded in 1979, with headquarters in Stamford, Conn., GartnerGroup is at the center of a global community serving Fortune 1000 companies from 80 locations worldwide. GartnerGroup's unique capabilities and resources help bring clarity to the direction of the world's hottest and most volatile industry. Additional information about the company is available on the World Wide Web at www.gartner.com.
CONTACT:
Carol Wallace
GartnerGroup
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carol.wallace@gartner.com