Indian financial services industry will spend Rs 37,700 crore on information technology products and services in 2012, an increase of 17.4 per cent over 2011 at Rs 32,100 crore.
According to independent research firm Gartner, the forecast includes spending by insurers on internal IT (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications.
Telecommunications equipment and services represents the biggest spending category, and it is forecast to reach Rs 13,100 crore in 2012, up from Rs 11,300 crore in 2011, it said.
However, spending on software is expected to grow the fastest in 2012 to Rs 3,400 crore in 2012, up 28 per cent of about Rs 2,700 crore in 2011.
This is being driven by high growth in enterprise software applications such as financial and administration packages and customer relationship management, Gartner said.
“Mobile is really on top of the mind for Chief Information Officers currently, and enterprise spend on devices is expected to grow by nearly 50 per cent in 2012. There is also a corresponding growth in mobile network services, of nearly 30 per cent,” Ms Derry Finkeldey, principal research analyst at Gartner said.
She said this focus on mobility was a global trend, but particularly pertinent to Indian financial services industry.