After more than two years of dismal spending on corporate information-technology gear, outlays are slowly but steadily improving. With corporate profits on the mend and some pent-up demand among business customers, forecasts for spending for all of 2003 are expected to come in anywhere from flat to up 5%. For 2004, spending is projected to increase 4% to 5%. In 2002, spending on technology products was relatively flat.
“What we’ve seen is a slow but steady improvement, from a negative budget perception a year-and-a-half ago to a positive perception,” said Hugh Bishop, a senior vice president at Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based technology research firm.
Bishop, who expects overall spending on technology to increase 4% this year, said the brightened perception of where tech budgets are headed corresponds to a steady improvement in sales by 20 large tech suppliers since the third quarter of 2001.
In that three-month period, Bishop said combined sales fell 12% from a year earlier. In the second quarter of 2003, he said combined sales were up about 6%.