IT spend to grow to $8,781 million in 4 years

At a time when the Indian IT services providers in the country are concerned over the global business slowdown, the domestic market is likely to offer promising business opportunity with the sector’s IT spend expected to double over the next four years.

According to the IDC Manufacturing Insight, the Indian manufacturing IT spending is expected to grow to $8,781.8 million over the next four years, i.e. by 2016. It means, the growth is likely to double from the sector’s IT spend of 2011 translating to a CAGR of 14.5% between (2012 and 2016). And within the sector, the highest IT spends as of 2012 include automotive, followed by chemicals and consumer products.

“With increasing costs and uncertainty in the world economy, manufacturers across the region are increasingly focusing their efforts on productivity and efficiency in 2012,” said Dr Christopher Holmes, Head - International, IDC Manufacturing Insights.

He added that from a technology perspective, the industry is expected to witness companies moving to clearly establish the link between technology and efficiency as companies focus on driving out cost and becoming ever more productive.

“There is increased interest in looking beyond ERP, as companies seek to leverage technology to deliver value to the enterprise, with increased focus on more specific applications to support manufacturing operations, supply chain management and product lifecycle management,” said Holmes.  While manufacturing sector is expanding in India, with increasing costs and intensifying competition, companies have to update and automate their business processes in order to have a competitive edge.

And according to IDC, companies are sensing this need and that there’s renewed interest in newer technologies such as business intelligence and mobile computing within manufacturing enterprises, as companies are seeking to leverage these emerging solutions to enhance their productivity.