According to the new International Data Corporation (IDC) United States Black Book 4Q12 (Document #239732), total IT spending on hardware, software, and IT services across all 15 enterprise industries is forecast to grow 6% year over year in 2013 to approximately $474 billion. Over the last quarter, the U.S economic outlook has been clouded with uncertainties surrounding the fiscal cliff, contracting G.D.P growth, and declining international trade owing to reduced economic activity in the Euro zone. IDC expects the U.S. economy to stabilize in the second half of 2013, leading to moderately strong IT spending growth.

"Global uncertainty has subdued the willingness of firms to expand their IT budgets," said Ted Dangson, Vice President in IDC’s Global Technology and Industry Research Organization (GTIRO). "Yet we’ve seen continued investments by companies as they prioritize the replacement of outdated technology and pursue strategic IT initiatives focused on big data and analytics, cloud computing, and mobility."

"We expect total IT spending by enterprises in Arizona, North Dakota, Utah and Texas to grow at the highest rates in the country over the next year at more than 7% across all industries," said Natasha Menon, Research Analyst in GTIRO. "This growth is being driven by a high percentage of healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services businesses in these states and IT spending aligns with economic projections of employment growth in these industries."

Specific industries expected to grow at above-average rates for the coming year include healthcare, which is forecast to grow by more than 8% in 2013, due in part to the need to process and analyze increasing volumes of data from new clinical systems such as EHR. The professional services industry is also expected to grow more than 8%; a high correlation between overall corporate profitability and IT spending by professional services firms suggests robust spending within this industry as corporate profits are forecasted to improve.

IDC's United States Black Book: State IT Spending by Vertical Market is a quarterly analysis of the status and projected growth of the IT industry in 50 states, segmented by 15 vertical markets as well as 15 technologies across hardware, software, and services. The quarterly releases are provided as Microsoft Excel pivot tables that allow for customized views of the data. The current release offers IT spending forecasts for the 2011-2016 period.

The data is based on IDC's Worldwide Black Book, which provides forecasts for IT spending in 54 countries around the world. IT spending forecasts focus on 25 individual market segments across hardware, software, IT services, and telecom services. Additional products in this category include the Worldwide Enterprise Black Book, which analyzes annual IT spending in relation to four company size segments based on employee counts. The Worldwide Black Book, Premium Edition, includes cloud spending forecasts, quarterly IT spending forecasts by region, IT vendor market share analysis, macroeconomic indicators, IT/Internet penetration, and CIO survey data.

For additional information about this research, or to arrange a one-on-one briefing with Ted Dangson or Natasha Menon, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or sarah@attunecommunications.com. To request information on custom data cuts or subscription services, contact GTIRO@idc.com.

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 49 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC's Global Technology and Industry Research Organization creates market-leading research encompassing both the global technology and vertical industry domains. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc.com.