A newly published report found that IT spending in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey is expected to grow 12 percent year-on-year to over USD 65 billion in 2012 in a scenario where a stable political environment does emerge in countries facing political turmoil.

But the International Data Company –IDC- which published the report said that, if the political and economic situation worsens, spending could be lower and growth could drop to less than 10 percent. In 2012, the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey IT mark¬ets will be characterized by the leveraging of disruptive technologies and operating models such as cloud, virtualization, mobility, and analytics. As the year of the Arab Spring, 2011 saw much political turbulence in several countries across the Middle East and Africa, which led to lower-than-expected IT market growth. The stability of the post-Arab spring political environment, specifically in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the global economic uncertainty stemming from the Eurozone crisis will shape IT spending in 2012. Researchers say the focus of the region's organizations will be on optimizing their IT investments and supporting business growth in what will continue to be a relatively volatile political and economic environment. Of the region's big country markets, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and  Turkey  will all experience year-on-year IT spending growth of between 7 percent and 12 percent in 2012. Qatar will see an increase of around 14 percent, while Egypt, which has been the country in the eye of the storm, faces uncertain times.

 telecompaper