October 19th, 2008
IT services spending in UAE increased 41% in 2007 to nearly $791 mln
According to a recent IDC study, IT services spending in UAE increased 41% year on year in 2007 to nearly $791 mln. While 2006 saw infrastructure-related services, such as hardware and software installation and support, making up the largest portion of the IT services market, the situation changed in 2007 when systems integration services took the lead, constituting 19% of the market. It was followed by hardware support and installation (15.7%) and software support and installation (12.8%). The combined outsourcing category comprised 18.1% of the IT services market in UAE last year. On the demand side, the combined government sector, with 26.7% of total services spending, was the largest customer for IT services, followed by the financial sector with 16.7%. The third-largest sector, with an 8.6% market share, was the combined agriculture, construction, and mining vertical, according to IDC. IDC predicts that spending on IT services in UAE will continue to grow by an annual average of 23.9% over 2008-2012 to reach $2.3 billion in 2012, according to IDC.
