January 30, 2003 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- The U.S. IT services sector continues to grow, but at a slower pace than previous years. According to a new IDC (idc.com) report, entitled "U.S. Services 4Q02 Forecast by Vertical Market, 2002-2006," the current and future market opportunities for IT consulting, systems integration, IS outsourcing, and IT training services continue to vary by vertical market.
The report finds that enterprise spending on IT consulting continues to be adversely affected by the current freeze on capital spending. The largest vertical markets for IT consulting reside in banking and discrete manufacturing, thanks to the healthy flow of initial public offerings and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, which provide stable money to fund sizable IT budgets.
According the report, the government and education markets are currently more stable, with healthy growth across the forecast years compared with other vertical industries, which are more vulnerable to the cycle of the economy.
The aim of the report is to identify and quantify the impact of recent trends and events influencing the services opportunity among 16 vertical markets through the third quarter of 2002 and their impact on the five-year forecast.
