According to research from Gartner Inc.

SearchCIO.com reports: "In a new forecast published this month, Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner is predicting 9.5% growth worldwide in U.S. dollars in 2008, up from the 6.8% predicted earlier in the year. The prediction is based on strong first-quarter results from several major vendors of IT services, but with a qualification: Some of the increase is due to the decline in the U.S. dollar rather than to a dramatic uptick in demand. Still, compared with what's happening in real estate or financial services, IT is more than holding its own."

The Gartner analyst Kathryn Hale, who authored the report, isn't surprised: "When people say you need information to compete, they're not talking about putting pencil to paper or talking to somebody. That information you need is in somebody's computer somewhere," Hale said. "Why would IT spending be just the thing to cut?"

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