DUBLIN, January 19, 2012 — Despite the challenging business environment that continues to make things difficult for vendors, some positive trends have emerged that will provide opportunities in 2012, according to a new report from International Data Corporation (IDC) on IT trends in Ireland.

The top priority for investment in 2012 is "IT infrastructure consolidation, automation or upgrade/modernisation", which suggests there will be an amount of overdue upgrading taking place in the coming year, particularly of hardware. IT security is another priority area which looks set to see further expenditure. The software market should be boosted by the fact that "application consolidation/modernisation and new software implementation" was also identified as a driver of investment for the year ahead.

While pressure on public spending will continue to inflict a serious toll on public sector budgets, the outlook for spending by private sector organisations looks healthier, with a majority of organisations in some industry sectors expecting to increase IT expenditure. In addition, a significant minority of manufacturing firms plan higher spending in certain areas.

Cloud computing continues to develop steadily, with cost reduction, disaster recovery/business continuity and improved scalability the key drivers. While Google, VMware and Microsoft are currently viewed most positively with regard to their cloud offerings or plans, many organisations have still to form an opinion on most vendors' positioning. IDC concludes that the market in Ireland for cloud computing is still wide open.

Another interesting trend is the move to greater use of mobile devices in the workplace. Influence from senior executives is pushing some IT departments to support a range of such devices, though there is considerable variation in the situation at different organisations and in industry sectors. 2012 looks set to see further growth in this market.

HP and IBM top the list of IT services suppliers to the organisations surveyed, with PFH in third place — making it the largest indigenous service provider. The Irish market for IT services continues to be very fragmented but with a number of Irish suppliers gaining in prominence and taking on the global players.

Commenting on the report, John Gilsenan, research director, IDC Ireland, said, "While we are unlikely to see growth in the overall IT market in 2012, nonetheless there are some segments of the market that will see increased spend. Meanwhile, significant changes are underway in the IT market that will have a profound impact in the coming decades. At a global level the increased use of mobile devices in the enterprise and the move to cloud computing are just two of the developments that herald that move to a 'third platform' in IT, the biggest change since client/server computing in the 1980s. There will be winners and losers in this new era and the actions that vendors take in 2012 will have an influence on which ones thrive and which ones don't."

A total of 288 organisations took part in IDC's IT trends in Ireland 2012 survey. They included a mix of small, medium and large organisations from a broad spectrum of industry sectors, both public and private sector. Respondents were prequalified as being responsible for IT at their organisation. The online survey was conducted in September and October 2011.

For more information on the report, IT Trends and Expenditure in Ireland, 2012 (October 2011), please email fmacrae@idc.com.