Gartner Sees Hope for IT Industry in 2010

Research firm Gartner Inc. says the IT industry is exiting “its worst year ever,” and that growth will return in 2010.

Still, companies continue to battle worldwide IT spending declines of 5.2 percent, Gartner reported on Monday at its conference in Orlando.

Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of research for Gartner, said IT execs must remain cautious. That’s because, even though the IT industry will again see growth next year, “the market will not recover to 2008 revenue levels before 2012,” Sondergaard said. “2010 is about balancing the focus on cost, risk, and growth. For more than 50 percent of CIOs the IT budget will be 0 percent or less in growth terms. It will only slowly improve in 2011.”

The computer hardware sector has taken the biggest hit from the global recession, Gartner found. And spending on such equipment will only be flat next year.