Uncle Sam Wants You

Worldwide, the government vertical is projected to garner 11 percent of the overall IT spending in 2002, for a total of approximately $187 billion, according to Gartner Dataquest. In the United States, the government vertical touts the highest forecasted growth in external IT services (operational and support services, project-management services, application-development services and professional services), at a 14.8 percent compounded, five-year annual growth rate, Gartner Dataquest estimates. The increased spending outlook is based on a proactive response to Sept. 11, an increase in defense and intelligence technology implementation and continued adoption of outsourcing contracts. "For the government to have a larger growth forecast than the private sectors' vertical markets is a significant shift," says Bob Goodwin, vice president of global industries at Gartner Dataquest.

In similar findings, research that appeared in VARBusiness' 2002 IT Spending and Strategy Guide issue (April 29) reveals end users in the government and education markets are considerably more apt than respondents overall to rate both disaster-recovery and security software as very important to their overall IT expenditures this year. And in line with the Information Technology Association of America's 12th annual survey of federal CIOs, the overriding issue facing this community is how to address the broad security concerns raised by the war on terrorism.

It's clear that our world has changed. As a result, the need to address IT weaknesses to the highest level in government has vigorously accelerated.