Gartner raises IT spending forecast for 2011

Gartner raised its global IT spending forecast to $3.6 trillion in 2011, up 5.1 percent from 2010. Gartner’s previous outlook called for IT spending growth of 3.5 percent for 2011. Meanwhile, Gartner said the official global IT spending tally for 2010 was $3.4 trillion, up 5.4 percent from 2009. Is it all clear sailing? Not quite. Gartner said that devaluation of the U.S. dollar has boosted its forecast. Gartner noted that it had projected IT spending growth of 3.2 percent for 2010. Of the 2.2 percent spread between its forecast and what actually happened with IT spending, 1.6 percent of boosted by the weak dollar against other currencies.