GOVERNMENT

A recent survey conducted by Government Insights, an IDC company, reveals the majority (64%) of Latin American government departments intend to spend more in information technology (IT) in 2006 than they did in 2005. Of those respondents who intend to increase spending this year, many project dollars going to hardware and software (60.5% and 60.2% respectively), while only one in three (33.1%) cite services. The survey polled 190 information technology (IT) decision-makers at government institutions across 7 Latin American markets, including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Columbia and Venezuela. "Overall perspectives are very optimistic, but IT vendors should still be rather cautious, especially when thinking of government," said Emerson Gibin, senior market analyst for Government Insights, Latin America and author of this report. "History has shown that Latin American politics is anything but predictable and with the impending elections, governing parties can change dramatically and so too can their budgets." Of note, nearly half of survey respondents (46.5%) indicate security is still the number one solution/technology in which the Latin American governments will invest in 2006. While many government departments still associate security with antivirus and antispam, findings show that IT executives in these departments are also now concerned with other aspects of security, such as firewall/virtual private network (VPN) and access and vulnerability management, with more than 72% of the respondents indicating investments in these particular security areas. Additional survey results are revealed in Gibin’s report, entitled Government Insights: Latin America IT Investment Trends: Government 2006 (Doc #GILA16100), which examines how government institutions are budgeting their IT dollars based on key drivers within banking, insurance and financial markets. The report provides predictive, accurate, quantitative data covering IT spending detailed by hardware, software, services, and full solutions. "We believe this study is a key tool to help Gov/Tech vendors and suppliers develop a more comprehensive strategy focused on the government sector in Latin America," added Eric Prothero, vice president, Government Insights Latin American Research and Consulting Group. For more information on obtaining this report, please contact Luciana Sario at lsario@idc.com or +54 11-5353-9535.