Goldman Sachs predicts IT spending rise

Research from Goldman Sachs expects IT spending to start moving upwards in 2010, but a survey of British small firms finds many still worried about the impact of recession on their businesses.

The survey from Amplify Research found a quarter of firms expect to be hit harder during the later stages of the downturn. A quarter reckoned that the first quarter of 2009 was their worst trading period but almost a third - 31 per cent - reported no fall in orders. 19 per cent of SMBs said sales had fallen over 20 per cent.

In the last six months 45 per cent of firms have made people redundant - a third have cut up to 10 per cent of staff.

But looking forward, 38 per cent of small and medium enterprises believe revenue falls will slow in the next six months and just over a quarter expect the downward trend to end completely by year end.

The Amplify press release is here.

In other news, a research note from Goldman Sachs looking at consulting and outsourcing predicts "modest improvements in IT spending... into 2010". Researchers looked specifically at Accenture: Goldman predicts fourth quarter sales of $5.12bn for the firm, which reports on 1 October. ®