IT Executives Predict 'Modest' Improvement in 2012

It appears that 2012 will show a “modest” improvement for the IT sector over the previous year, according to a new survey of Information Technology executives.

The IT Industry Outlook 2012 from CompTIA is predicting 4.5 percent growth in IT globally during 2012. There is potential of 7.6 percent growth, the forecast adds. Interestingly, for just the United States, the prediction for IT growth is lower.

"We may see modest improvement in 2012 but it likely won't be drastically different from 2011," Tim Herbert, vice president, research, CompTIA (News - Alert), said in a CompTIA statement.

It was also reported that the CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index for the current first quarter is basically flat, reaching 52.1 as opposed to 51.9 during the fourth quarter of 2011. It also appears that the overall condition of the economy hurts the score. Herbert says that business confidence is being impacted by “concerns about weak consumer and corporate demand; downward pressure on margins; access to capital; and government regulation,” according to the organization’s statement.

During 2012, it is expected there will be more cloud computing, mobility and social technology, the survey indicated. There will also be improved data management and mining, according to the survey.

There are other trends that could appear in 2012. TMCnet’s Peter Bernstein reported recent predictions from Bill Dudley from Sybase 365. These include that the iPhone (News - Alert) 5 will support mobile purchases and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Overall, new mobile payment services will likely focus on emerging markets, TMCnet said. SMS traffic worldwide will edge up but will be “stable” in developed markets, TMCnet adds. Emerging markets will see the most growth, TMCnet also reported. And given that it’s a presidential election year, there will be many apps which will focus on politics, TMCnet said. Perhaps most interesting was that Research in Motion (News - Alert) (RIM) has some opportunities for improvement and will sell new LTE-capable devices during 2012, TMCnet added.

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