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IDC sees over $33 billion Mideast IT spending in '13 [Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates)](Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) DUBAI The Middle East IT spending in 2013 is projected to cross $32 billion mark and major chunk will go to software and services, according to a top official of International Data Corporation (IDC). Saudia Arabia is expected to be the largest spender in the region with $10 billion this year and the UAE is ranked second with more than $7 billion IT spending. Egypt has got the third position with $3 billion spending. "We believe software and services spending in 2013 will be about 28 per cent of the total spending and that number will be roughly 33 per cent in 2016," IDC's vice-president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, Jyoti Lalchandani, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday on the sidelines of a news conference, which was held to announce the latest edition of its Middle East CIO Summit. "In 2016, we believe the overall market will be around $41 billion," Lalchandani added. He said top IT spenders in the region will be banks, telcos, governments, and oil & gas sectors. IDC believes that there are five key challenges to CIOs (chief information officers) in the region, he said, adding: "Security, driving innovation through technology, compliance, return on investment, and shortage of skills." Middle East CIO Summit Earlier at a panel discussion at the news conference, top officials from EMC, Intel, Dell, IBM, HP agreed that security is the top most issue to be tackled seriously. They all agreed that cybercrime is very innovative field and more efforts are required on detection and response. IDC, at the conference, outlined the fundamental shift that is set to take place in the region's ICT markets as it previewed the latest edition of its widely acclaimed Middle East CIO Summit, which is set to take place in Dubai on February 18 and 19 under the tagline 'Seize the Moment: Transform, Innovate, Collaborate'. Hosting a panel of global information and communication technology (ICT) experts, Lalchandani, got proceedings under way by examining the ways in which the four technology "game changers" of cloud, mobility, social business, and data analytics are set to impact the ICT market as we know it, both from a regional and global perspective. Utilising the latest IDC research and market findings from discussions with leading CIOs from across the Middle East, he also explained how the improving economic outlook, emerging new technologies, and shifting enterprise strategies are reshaping IT purchasing decisions in the region. Chris Lewis, IDC's group vice-president for international telecommunications and networking, explained the latest worldwide market developments as the telecom services space attempts to react to the explosion of demand caused by the proliferation of smart handheld devices and the widespread implementation of intelligent converged enterprise infrastructure. Explaining that the four technology game changers discussed are driving a broad industry movement to what IDC calls the 'third platform', he also assessed the ongoing initiatives being undertaken by services providers as they seek to supplement the solutions already available in the market today and embed themselves into every aspect of the evolving business processes associated with this revolutionary transition. With more than 150 of the region's most influential ICT decision makers in attendance and the unique needs of the local market setting the agenda, the Middle East CIO Summit 2013 will focus heavily on the aforementioned 'third platform' technologies, together with critical CIO considerations such as virtualisation, business continuity and resiliency, collaboration and unified communications, and managed services. One of the key figures speaking at this year's event will be Matthew Eastwood, group vice president and general manager of IDC's Enterprise Platform Group, a widely respected thought leader and prominent global analyst on emerging trends in enterprise systems and datacenters. [email protected] (c) 2013 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |