IT Vendors Optimistic About the Second Half of 2010
July 19, 2010 Timothy Prickett Morgan
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For as long as I have been watching this IT racket, whenever there is a recession, there is always optimism in the second half of the year, no matter how bad things are. And despite some uncertainty in the global economy, with certain areas (like Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain) still having their own baby meltdowns, the IT vendors are being chipper about how 2010 will end. According to the 306 IT vendors who participated in an online survey by CompTIA, the IT Industry Business Confidence Index is going to swing up 5.4 points in the next six months, compared to a dip of 1.4 points between March and June. In the second quarter, the three component indexes that make up the overall index–one gauging sentiments of IT vendors concerning the overall economy, another about the IT industry, and the final one about their company overall–all fell a bit. “IT industry executives remain relatively confident about the tech sector and about their firm’s prospects, but concern over the health of the U.S. economy persists,” explained Tim Herbert, vice president of research at CompTIA, in a statement. “In some ways, the results point to a ‘two steps forward, one step back’ mentality, where positive news and momentum are followed by unexpected bad news and a renewed sense of negativity about economic conditions.” The fear level concerning a stalled recovery is waning, too, with only 46 percent of those polled saying they were worried about this, down from 58 percent of those surveyed back in December 2009. The fear indexes for access to capital and consumer spending are also down among IT vendors. IT vendors are looking to hire people in the second half, with 37 percent of those polled saying they planned to add staff in the next six months. About 47 percent said they are fully staffed but would love to add people to expand their business. Of course, these index numbers are all theory. We won’t actually know how the second half turns out until February 2011 or so. And by then–guess what?–we’ll be optimistic about the second half of 2011. RELATED STORIES Gartner: IT Spending Up, But Overall Budgets Flat, in 2010 Analysts Bid Good Riddance to IT Recession CIOs Say There’s Work Piling Up and They’re Ready to Hire Companies Look to Add Jobs in 2010, Inside IT and Out IT Spending Key to Competitive Gains During Recession IT Spending to Bounce Back Some in 2010, Says Gartner Gartner, Forrester Chop IT Spending Forecasts Again IT Spending Forecasts Slashed by Gartner, Forrester Global IT Spending Barely Ahead of 2008; Some Regions Showing Strength Healthcare and Utilities Lead Vertical Markets in IT Spending Global 2009 IT Spending Will be Up, Down, Forrester Says Gartner, Forrester Cut 2009 IT Spending Growth Estimates
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