Spending on information technology (IT) products and services by enterprises in Australia is expected to reach A$61.9 billion in 2012, up 1.9 percent over 2011, according to a new report from industry analysts Gartner

Spending on external IT services is forecast to make up more than a third of this amount (A$22.4 billion). Enterprise spending on hardware is expected to decline by 4 percent.

Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of research at Gartner, said “Our outlook is made with the assumption of continued global economic uncertainty, and at best, sluggish growth - especially in the United States, Japan, and Western Europe.

“The European financial crisis is extremely serious. Some well-respected economists now predict a shrinking Eurozone economy in 2012. In Australia, the outlook is for 3 percent growth in 2012, but with a two speed economy in a two speed world.”

Worldwide enterprise IT spending is projected to total US$2.7 trillion in 2012, a 3.9 percent increase from 2011 spending of US$2.6 trillion, according to Gartner, Inc. Asia Pacific enterprise IT spending is expected to grow 8 percent to exceed US$367 billion ($A345.7 billion) in 2012. However, the bulk of this growth comes from developing markets like China and India, as businesses in mature markets are increasingly cautious.

While growth is slowing (from the expected 5.9 percent increase in 2011), analysts said it’s important to note that despite global economic challenges, enterprises will continue to invest in IT.

“The days when IT was the passive observer of the world are over. Global politics and the global economy are being shaped by IT,” Mr. Sondergaard said. “IT is a primary driver of business growth. For example, this year 350 companies will each invest more than $1 billion in IT. They are doing this because IT impacts their business performance.”

Mr. Sondergaard said two-thirds of CEOs believe IT will make a greater contribution to their industry in the next 10 years than any prior decades.

“For the IT leader to thrive in this environment, IT leaders must lead from the front and re-imagine IT,” Mr. Sondergaard said. “IT leaders must embrace the post-modern business, a business driven by customer relationships, fueled by the explosion in information, collaboration and mobility.”

This new era brings with it urgent and compelling forces, Mr. Sondergaard said. They include mobility, the cloud, social, and an explosion in information.

“These forces are innovative and disruptive just taken on their own, but brought together, they are revolutionising business and society,” Mr. Sondergaard said. “This nexus defines the next age of computing. To understand this change, you must appreciate each of the forces.”

The concept of one enterprise data warehouse containing all information needed for decisions is dead, according to Gartner.

Multiple systems, including content management, data warehouses, data marts and specialised file systems tied together with data services and metadata, will become the “logical” enterprise data warehouse.

“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine,” Mr. Sondergaard said. “Pursuing this strategically will create an unprecedented amount of information of enormous variety and complexity. This is leading to a change in data management strategies known as big data. Organisations need what we call a Pattern-Based Strategy, an architecture that seeks signals, models them for their impact, and then adapt to the business process of the organisation.

“The combined impact of these forces will make architectures of the last 20 years obsolete,” Mr. Sondergaard said. “Together, they force the issue – they drive us to create the post-modern business, drive simplicity and force creative destruction.”