IT spending still rising and SOA set for serious growth

Software is expected to be the fastest growing segment, closely followed by IT services (driven by operations and planning), while hardware growth will be weaker. Interestingly, IDC’s research also suggests that an understanding of service-oriented architecture (SOA) is becoming increasingly important, especially among companies already familiar with it – and more European companies are planning to invest in it. “IT vendors should focus on elevating the level of understanding of SOA as, once SOA familiarity becomes widespread across an organisation, it rapidly becomes an essential part of its IT strategies,” says Giacomo Laurini, senior research analyst, IDC’s European Vertical Markets group. Drawing on the results of IDC’s European Vertical Markets Survey, the study shows SOA knowledge varies among industries. On average, 60% of interviewed companies have what IDC describes as “sufficient knowledge” of SOA, but with the exception of banking and insurance/other finance, the percentage of firms with detailed knowledge is less than 20%. On average, IDC finds west European companies wanting to increase their SOA spending, with 11% planning to invest in SOA in the next 24 months. This is more than double that of companies planning to invest in SOA in the next 12 months (5%) – which IDC takes to imply growing interest.