Demand for technology and support services for the coming 2010 Soccer World Cup has kept ICT spend from stagnating.
According to the IDC's director of vertical industry practice in the Middle East and Africa, Mark Walker, 2010 projects have helped to keep the South African technology industry growing over the last year.
The global economic crisis and the resulting recession in many countries have contributed to stagnant and declining revenue for many technology businesses. South African companies have been buffered by projects commissioned before the recession began.
Walker explains that, while the growth targets for many IT businesses have not been met, the average ICT spend in the country has not plummeted. He says last year all the big projects for the World Cup began.
“While the bulk of the investments happened in 2006 and 2007, the actual implementations started last year and continued through this year.
These projects were not cancelled and carried many technology businesses through the local recession. According to Walker, next year will see similar spend, since the new systems and software implementations will need to be supported.
Companies like Dimension Data, which has been contracted to support Greenpoint Stadium, and GijimaAST, commissioned to run the “Who am I online” project, will be well placed to contribute to overall spend.
“Next year, consulting and customisation projects will take up the spending. I see it making a good contribution to the overall ICT spend,” Walker adds.
While 2010 has been a solid contributor, government is expected to take over as the primary driver of ICT spend following the World Cup. A report commissioned by Microsoft and completed by the IDC shows that government spending will increase, specifically for infrastructure.
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