IT spend in Europe tipped to rise

European IT spend is set to grow next year following a two-year slump in market conditions, according to Gartner.

However, the research house warned that it won't be until 2004 until the tech sector sees a sustained recovery - and even then, it won't be a spectacular one.

In its annual survey of European companies' chief information officers (CIOs), Gartner found that IT spend on software, hardware and services would more than triple in 2003 - a 5.4 per cent increase on this year.

The resurgence will be led by software and services, which will see near double-digit growth. Hardware spending will remain flat.

Seventy-eight percent of the respondents to the survey said they expect IT budgets to stay the same or increase in 2003. In 2001 and 2002, IT spending in Western Europe was flat.

Steve Prentice, director of research for Gartner's Europe, Middle East and Africa operation, said: "In the current market this is welcome news for vendors, but it won't radically change their financial position. We're still pretty cautious. We're not out of the tunnel yet."

The Gartner survey also warned that the Western European rebound would be patchy. Companies in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy would lead the growth charge while German firms, on a whole, are expected to decrease IT spending.