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The APAC region is growing faster than the worldwide market where IT spending is projected to a total of $2.3 trillion in 2002, 3.4 per cent increase as compared to 2001, according to the report.

MUMBAI, Oct. 8

IT spending in Asia-Pacific (APAC) will surpass $258 billion in 2002, an increase of 5.8 per cent over 2001, according to the latest report from Gartner Dataquest which added that the following year i.e. 2003, IT spending in the region it is expected show an even stronger growth with an estimated increase of 9.9 per cent.

The APAC region is growing faster than the worldwide market where IT spending is projected to a total of $2.3 trillion in 2002, 3.4 per cent increase as compared to 2001, according to the report.

``While this does not indicate a return to the days of the dotcom bubble, it is an indication that organisations are beginning to look more favourably at investing in strategic solutions. This investment is more closely tied to shorter term return on investment, productivity gain and cost reduction, rather than discretionary spending on new business models,'' said Mr Daniel McHugh, industry analyst for Gartner APAC.

This spend is being led by the telecommunications sector which is set to represent 70.9 per cent of IT spending in 2002 followed by the hardware sector at the number two slot with end-user spending forecast at $38.56 billion in 2002. The IT services sector comes in third at $31.28 billion.

India, according to the report, places high priority on enhancing corporate security and network infrastructure. However, India places higher priority on network and telecom outsourcing services, more likely to be a result of the country's strengths in the areas of customer facing IT initiatives such as customer relationship management (CRM), and analysis of information gathered by these systems figures high in overall priority.

``On the end user front, one expects large scale IT deployment to continue in the banking and financial services sector and also by government. Other verticals will follow as competitive pressures force Indian companies to offer more and better products and services while simultaneously improving operating efficiencies,'' said Mr Ravindra Datar, senior analyst, IT Services, Gartner India.

``Large scale activity on the business process outsourcing (BPO) front, as more facilities are set up in the country, will also lead to a huge potential demand for IT products and services that will be required in setting up and running these facilities. This means demand for enterprise resource planning (ERP), CRM and supply chain management (SCM) implementation and systems and network implementation services,'' he said.

China's initiatives, the report said, would be spread across many areas, which is expected from a maturing market. Significant to note will be the push for enhancing security as well as pending across IT investments focused on increasing efficiencies and computerisation of organisations and its partners. These include internal Business to Employee (B2E) systems, SCM, CRM and ERP.

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