Worldwide IT spending to grow this year, Gartner says

Computerworld - Enterprises that buy new mobile devices and invest in security and storage management tools will give IT spending a boost this year.

Worldwide IT spending for 2013 is expected to hit $3.7 trillion, a 4.2% increase from 2012's $3.6 trillion, according to research firm Gartner, which is becoming more optimistic about the global economy.

Gartner divides IT spending into five segments: devices, data center systems, enterprise software, IT services and telecom services. The firm expects spending in all five segments to grow this year, with devices and enterprise software seeing the biggest increases.

The devices category includes PCs, tablets, mobile phones and printers. Gartner expects global spending on those products to reach $666 billion this year, up 6.3% from last year. In comparison, the firm said spending in this segment grew 2.9% from 2011 to 2012.

Worldwide enterprise software spending is expected to grow 6.4% to $296 billion.

Gartner said enterprises are trying to get more value from their IT spending, by investing in supply chain and customer relationship management software.

This version of this story was originally published in Computerworld's print edition. It was adapted from an article that appeared earlier on Computerworld.com.

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