Global IT services hit eight-year low, report says

The global IT services market saw contract value fall 40 percent in the second quarter of 2011 year-on-year, representing a low not seen since 2003, a new report has found.

Released on Monday, the report by research company Ovum said total contract value for this year's second quarter came up to $19bn (£11.8bn), which marks a 40-percent decline from the same time last year and the lowest quarterly figure for more than eight years. Ovum blamed the figures on a lack of large-scale government projects to offset lacklustre returns from enterprise customers.

Additionally, the number of deals worldwide has gone downhill for the fourth consecutive quarter and had dropped 20 percent year-on-year to 384 deals, the report noted.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Global IT services plumbs 8-year low on ZDNet Asia.