Friday, 21 December 2007

IT in Asia Set to Power Forward in 2008 despite Economic Uncertainty in U.S

In contrast to the ongoing credit crisis in the U.S. and the upward swing in energy prices there, leading Asian economies in countries like China and India, are likely to maintain their...

In contrast to the ongoing credit crisis in the U.S. and the upward swing in energy prices there, leading Asian economies in countries like China and India, are likely to maintain their growth momentum in 2008.Other economies in the region, such as in Australia, Singapore and Korea, are also likely to maintain their current momentum.

This prediction is according to Springboard Research,which recently released its “2008 Asia Pacific IT Predictions” Executive Brief outlining the trends IT vendors can expect to see across Asia in the coming year.

“Springboard Research believes that Asian organizations will continue to significantly invest in technology products and services,” said Dane Anderson, CEO & EVP of Research at Springboard Research.

Other trends that were highlighted in the report include:

#1: The Subprime Crisis in the US will not derail strong IT market growth in Asia

#2: Service-Oriented Architecture will get more attention and commitment from senior management

#3: Virtualization will make steady headway in both large and mid-sized companies

#4: Cost savings will drive Green IT investments

#5: Business organizations become more appreciative of consumer-driven technologies and applications

#6: Skill Shortages will hit vendors, IT management and the investment plans of many organizations

#7: IT Governance and Risk Management will be critical issues in IT organizations in 2008

#8: Unified Communications will steadily gain traction

#9: Consolidation in the software industry will continue,

#10: India emerges as a lucrative IT outsourcing market

“A substantial portion of Asian IT investments will be new investments and will come from organizations scaling up their IT systems or building entirely new ones to drive business,” said Ravi Shekhar Pandey, Senior Market Analyst for Springboard Research.

“While on a macro level, there are several factors driving IT investment, it is on the micro level where we are seeing the real action. In 2008, CIOs will be concerned with challenges like reducing the cost of IT operations, improving business application performance, finding and retaining skilled technical people, and identifying technologies that integrate closely with the enterprise’s business goals,” added Mr. Pandey.