|
IDC Predicts 1997 European IT Spending to Reach $210 Billion
PR Newswire - November 17, 1997 13:44
%CPR %MLM V%PRN P%PRN
LONDON, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- 1997 will be a good year for the European
IT industry, with growth reaching more than 10 percent, and spending reaching
US$210 billion, reports International Data Corporation's (IDC's) full year
market statement on information technology spending patterns within Europe.
This is especially noteworthy at a time when the business and political
environments around Europe are undergoing considerable upheaval -- from
European economic integration, greater competition, technological advances
and the millennium. IT is ubiquitous within the business community and
becoming increasingly important in the home and within educational
establishments. However, it is precisely this ubiquity that threatens such
calamitous consequences as the millennium effect kicks in.
1997 is perhaps the first year in which investments dealing with the year
2000 issue have begun to influence spending patterns. However, the scale
of spending on the millennium is difficult to quantify given that IT
investments are dispersed across certain technology or service sectors,
reflecting the myriad solutions employed to address the problem. "Of
course, everyone's problem has the same roots, but the potential implications
and approaches are almost infinite," said Andy Doyle, an IDC analyst. "While
businesses will look to IT providers or in-house staff to plan and implement
solutions, those people can't really be sure if what they're doing is going to
work."
The millennium is just one of the issues affecting the European IT market.
The single European currency appears to be just around the corner and
anecdotal evidence suggests the year 2000 has really stolen the headlines
as well as the resources to treat the impact of the Euro. As the deadline
for both approaches there is consensus businesses will lack the resources
to equip themselves for the consequences of both.
In terms of what is currently happening, it has emerged from IDC research
the current set of circumstances have provided a compelling reason to
upgrade systems. "The whole market has been mobilized to satisfy this
demand," said Doyle. "The principal opportunities lie with the services
and software vendors, but there is hardware demand out there also.
Hardware vendors that can provide the integration as well will profit from
exploiting the existing customer relationship. These vendors can also take
a lead in alerting customers to the dangers of the Y2K and EMU, with
customers hoping for providers to take a lead."
As migrations toward new technologies take place, one of the key elements
of the nature of business usage of IT has been revealed almost by accident.
While technology hype within the IT community creates the impression the pace
of change is constantly accelerating, the reality within the spending
community is quite different.
"What the Internet, data warehousing and the millennium bug all have in
common is their requirements span the traditional divides in the IT
market: hardware, software, and services. With multi-dimensional requirements
from customers, suppliers have had to become smarter in how they deliver their
products and services, and there is a much greater pressure to ensure returns
on technology investments. Standardization is the way forward," said Doyle.
The compound annual growth rates of the 16 IT markets in Western Europe
are:
CAGR 1996-2001
Austria 7.9%
Belgium 10.4%
Denmark 7.9%
Finland 8.7%
France 7.5%
Germany 9.3%
Greece 11.6%
Ireland 10.4%
Italy 7.7%
Netherlands 9.4%
Norway 7.5%
Portugal 10.7%
Spain 9.1%
Sweden 7.2%
Switzerland 7.8%
UK 8.8%
Europe 8.6%
IDC's new report, Western European Information technology Spending
Patterns, 1995-2001, constitutes the definitive and most comprehensive
statement on the IT market in Europe for 1997. The report provides
qualitative assessments of the changing dynamics within the European IT
market, supported by quantitative data gathered as a result of ongoing IDC
research in Western Europe. In addition, it also provides macro-economic
information to provide a context for the IT market within the European
economy. This report is priced at $9,000 and is available from your local
IDC office.
About IDC
Headquartered in Framingham, Mass., International Data Corporation
provides IT market research and consulting to more than 3,900 high-technology
customers around the world. With a global network of 300 analysts in more
than 40 countries, IDC is the industry's most comprehensive resource on
worldwide IT markets, products, vendors, and geographies.
IDC/LINK, an IDC subsidiary, researches and analyzes the home computing
market, leading-edge technologies in telecommunications and new media, and
the convergence of computing and consumer electronics.
IDC's World Wide Web site (http://www.idc.com) contains additional company
information and recent news releases and offers full-text searching of
recent research.
IDC is a division of International Data Group, the world's leading IT
media, research and exposition company.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
SOURCE International Data Corporation
/CONTACT: Meryl Salter, 44-181-987-7109, msalter@idcresearch.com or
Andrew Doyle, 44-181-987-7204, adoyle@idcresearch.com both of IDC/
/Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804,
ext. 113987/
/Web site: idcresearch.com
|
