IDC:

U.S. Government External IT Spending to Eclipse $42 Billion by 2006

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., September 23, 2002 – The market for government external IT spending in the United States totaled $28.9 billion in 2001. A new study published by IDC forecasts that this market will reach $42.2 billion by 2006, demonstrating a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8%. These figures represent the market opportunity for external IT vendors and therefore are based on external IT spending only. Total IT spending (internal and external) would more than double these amounts. Although government has a higher proportion of internal IT spending compared with other vertical industries in the United States, IDC expects that this landscape will shift over the next five years as the government faces a shortage of IT professionals and over half of the government workforce reaches retirement age. This shift will pose increased opportunities for work outsourced to external IT vendors.

“IDC’s government IT market sizing focuses on quantifying the opportunity for IT vendors,” said Jocelyn Young, program manager for IDC’s U.S. IT Opportunity: Government and Education research program. “Government agencies face unique challenges requiring them to balance numerous political, organizational, economic, and public pressures while delivering upon a specific mission. IT stands to play a critical role in helping all levels of government agencies address some of the challenges they face.”

Another case of mixing personal and professional.