Western European Process Manufacturing IT Spending to Reach $36.7 Billion in 2009, Says IDC

IDC estimates that overall IT spending in the Western European process manufacturing industry will reach $31.8 billion in 2005, with a CAGR over the forecast period of 3.6% to reach a market value of $36.7 billion in 2009.

IDC research indicates that IT investments in the Western European process manufacturing market will pick up over the forecast period 2004-2009, although areas of focus and opportunity differ somewhat by process manufacturing sub-vertical industry. IDC advises the following:

• IT products and services will experience different levels of demand. Packaged software continues to be the fastest growing segment overall, closely followed by IT services. IDC's forecasts for hardware spending in the process manufacturing industry have been revised down slightly from the previous forecast in June 2005.
• Process manufacturing sub-verticals expected to demonstrate the best IT investment opportunities in the short term and over the forecast period include food, beverage and tobacco, and pharmaceutical.
• Driving down the cost of computing will be a key goal and dynamic computing strategies will become more evident as companies strive to simplify the system landscape and reduce overheads required to manage complex IT environments.
• The need for large chemical, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage organizations to manage and secure the growing amounts of data cost effectively will drive the outsourcing of key IT activities.

"To win in the process manufacturing industry IT vendors must continue to prove the value of IT as well as demonstrating sound understanding of
industry-specific business processes, and the formation of the right ecosystem of solution partners will be critical," said Jennifer Thomson,
program manager, European Vertical Markets, IDC.

The study, Process Manufacturing, IT Spending Forecast, Western Europe: 2004-2009 (Doc #VC56M, December 2005), provides an update on IT spending trends and forecasts in the European process manufacturing industry released in June 2005 (Doc #VC02M). The focus is on spending in hardware, packaged software, and IT services for the major European countries (Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Spain, and other Western Europe) in the 2004-2009 timeframe in the following sub-markets: pharmaceutical; chemical; food, beverage, and tobacco; textile; wood and wood products; pulp and paper; rubber and plastic; non-metallic; metal; and other process.