After the optimistic report from IDC last week regarding IT spending, Forrester Research is now projecting that North American IT spending will increase 2.3% over 2001. This is based on Forrester's survey of companies with annual revenues over $500M. Most encouraging, 55% of respondents indicate that their executives are now willing to "spend what it takes" on IT, up from only 20% at the beginning of 2002. Retail, consumer service, insurance, and transportation industries are sectors that show the greatest postive signs, while high tech firms actually show a drop in projected spending. In addition, firms under $1B in annual revenue appear more likely to increase spending than larger firms. CIO Information Network provides more details on the Forrester study.
In addition, a separate report from the US Department of Commerce also sounds a positive note on IT spending, saying that US businesses are now spending more on IT than any time since late 2000.
