As businesses become more streamlined, IT departments are being forced to take on even greater responsibilities, though often with little extra funding, it has been claimed.
According to new figures compiled by Forrester Research, global purchases of IT equipment is set to fall by three per cent over the course of 2009, making the market worth around £1.16 trillion.
However, while budgets are being cut, some experts claim that IT operations are being overstretched as they are forced to take on new responsibilities, such as looking after the data and security of other departments.
Speaking at the Intellect Annual Regent Conference 2009, John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC, warned that this could have serious implications in terms of maintaining data security, with the problem likely to get worse over the coming months and years.
"All the things that they are inheriting requires them to have different relationships with the businesses-dealing with that is adding to the complexities," he said.
"At the same time budgets are slowing down - budgets aren't really going anywhere - all of this is mushrooming."
However, the Forrester study also found that spending on software looks set to remain the same as for 2008.
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