Spending to Surpass $965B

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- IDC forecasts that companies and government agencies will spend more than $746 billion on external services in 2008, representing a growth rate of 6.8% over 2007. Despite and in some cases because of – a weak U.S. economy, there are many market forces driving enterprises to continue to turn to service vendors for assistance. Additionally, increased customer use of new and often disruptive delivery options (e.g., hosting, SaaS, and utility computing) will encourage service provides, especially outsourcers, to focus their investments in these areas.

"In these tough economic times, service vendors are faced with both new and old challenges. The worldwide services competitive landscape keeps intensifying with many new entrants with new business and pricing models as well as the strengthened capabilities of up-and-coming players that are extending their reach into new markets. This is a time for service vendors to aggressively review their portfolio of offerings, account targets, investment strategies, business processes, and delivery practices," said Marianne Hedin, program manager for Worldwide Services and SOA: The Services Opportunity research services.

IDC