Cisco’s CEO makes it clear why vendors want to focus on India, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

“This last year,” says John Chambers, “…emerging markets passed the developed markets for the first time in hundreds of years in GDP. In terms of purchasing power, the emerging markets are for the first time bigger than the developed markets. GDP growth in emerging markets is dwarfing that of the developed markets.

“And unlike what occurred a decade or two ago, it is now the emerging countries that are actually leading in technology implementation. We haven't seen that before.”

Gartner confirms these emerging regions will generate IT spending of $1.1 trillion in 2008, and will grow to $1.3 trillion in 2011, becoming a major force of IT growth worldwide.

The CAGR for IT spending in emerging regions for 2006 through 2011 will be 8.5 percent versus 4.3 percent for mature markets.

A BRIC in the a wall of emerging markets, Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) will represent about 39% of all emerging markets’ GDP in 2011.

Africa and the Middle East
The forecast for 2011 IT spending in Africa and the Middle East is $259 billion, up from $182 billion in 2007. Africa and the Middle East are strongly advancing in all IT areas and are narrowing the gap in IT spending with Latin America. The large size of the region, with its relatively lower IT penetration and its engagement in major telecommunication deployments, is making a strong IT trend. This region shows a forecast CAGR from 2006 through 2011 of 77 percent, which is the strongest of all the emerging regions.

Eastern Europe
IT spending for Eastern Europe is forecast to reach $155 billion in 2011, up from $125 billion in 2007. Eastern Europe's growth and dollar transactions are lower than in other emerging regions, as the region is the lowest in population among the four emerging regions. Russia is the largest IT economy in this region, but shows the lowest real GDP among the largest emerging countries, partially because of existing infrastructure. It faces challenges in modernizing business practices, expanding its small business base and diversifying to beyond oil, gas and minerals, which present large IT opportunities for IT providers.

“As IT spending in these emerging markets continues to grow, new opportunities for technology providers will arise. Technology providers need to be aware of the trends and realign their resources and strategies on a regional basis. P

Additional info is available in the Gartner report “Market Trends: Unveiling IT Trends in Emerging Regions." The report is available on Gartner’s Web site at www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=566611&subref=simplesearch.