Slovakia IT services market grew 24.5% in 2003

Spending on IT services rose 24.5% to $218.29 mln in Slovakia in 2003. Due to the depreciation of the dollar, however, growth was flat at 0.5% in the local crown. Nevertheless, increased government transparency and continuing steps to meet EU IT standards by both the government and businesses should result in a boost in services investments that will keep the market in solid positive numbers over the next few years. Hewlett-Packard, IBM GS, and Siemens Program and System Engineering were the largest IT services providers in Slovakia in 2003. They were closely followed by local firms ASSET Soft and Softip. These five vendors together captured 34.1% of total revenue, reflecting the diffuse nature of the Slovak IT services market. With more than 40 active vendors competing for share, the top 25 vendors represented just under 72% of value.