Slower Growth Confirmed in the Global Services Market

Global services spending will grow 5.2 percent year-over-year in 2009, according to a recent study by IDC, a provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets.

 

According to the study, “Worldwide Services 2008–2012 Forecast Update,” this figure indicates a decrease of 1.5 percentage points from the previous prediction. The research firm predicts the remaining years in the forecast period, through 2012, will also experience slower growth than forecasted earlier.

 

Gard Little, research manager, Worldwide Services and Emerging Services Opportunities, doesn’t expect services spending to contract as much as it did in the previous economic downturn. But, he stresses that the global economic meltdown will reduce spending growth in the services market across the entire forecast period.

 

“Worldwide Services 2008–2012 Forecast Update,” presents an updated 5-year forecast for the global services industry from 2008 through 2012. This study also includes the changes in worldwide services spending growth rates by macromarket. According to IDC (News - Alert), the growth rates for project-oriented services market will slow to less than 3 percent in 2009, but are expected to increase by the end of 2012.

 

As the largest portion of the services market overall, the business process outsourcing services market will be the major driver in growth rate changes. The study indicates that it still remains the fastest-growing market opportunity despite the decrease in growth rate for the hosted application management market.

 

IDC has forecasted the growth rates for support and training services to remain below 3 percent for the remainder of the forecast period. But they expect an increase in the smaller spending in both the hardware and software deployment and support markets.