Spending on IT services is forecast to drop in 2010 but will grow this year, according to new research.

Worldwide IT spending, such as on computer network and IT support is set to reach $3.2 trillion (GPB 1.9 trillion) by the end of 2009, according to figures from Gartner.

This is a six per cent decline compared to 2008, when spending totalled $3.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, spending on IT services is expected to reach $805.9 billion compared to last year, reflecting 8.2 per cent annual growth.

Richard Gordon, research vice-president and head of global forecasting at Gartner, explained that IT budgets are still being cut during the economic downturn.

He said: "Only minor downward revisions have been made to these forecasts this quarter.

"However, the full impact of the global recession on the IT services and telecommunications sectors is still emerging, and forecast growth in these areas has been further reduced significantly."

Recent research by the firm indicated that many businesses have been underwhelmed by their experience of software-as-a-service, with some citing integration issues as a problem.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.