IT slowdown likely to continue till Q3 of ’09

• The tech slowdown will continue up to the third quarter of 2009, according to global research firm Forrester. IT consulting and systems integration services will hit the wall in 2009, while IT outsourcing growth will remain moderate in 2009 and 2010, getting a small respite from the economic slowdown, it said in its report released on Thursday.
• Because of the slowdown, companies will turn to vendors that can help cut costs, but growth in IT outsourcing revenues will remain moderate due to the use of lower-cost offshore resources and smaller-scale outsourcing deals, among other reasons, according to the report.
• On a positive note, the Research firm said that while the US IT market outlook is bad, it is better than the 2001-02 technology downturn. “This time, computer equipment vendors will see declines of 5-10% in US revenues on a quarterly basis, not the 20% to 25% drops of the early 2000s,” said Andrew Bartels, the report’s author and vice-president, Forrester Research.
• Forrester has projected a growth of 1.6% growth in IT spends for 2009, assuming a decline in US GDP in the third quarter of 2008. The decline will accelerate in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first half of 2009 before a weak recovery starts in the second half, the report titled ‘US IT Market Outlook: Q4 2008’ said.
  
  Source: The Economic Times