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2014 IT Spending: Getting More For Less

Fierce competition in a rapidly changing IT industry has resulted in bargains for enterprise IT buyers this year, but don't expect the good deals to last long.

I like nothing better than a bargain. Even a 3%-5% discount on infrastructure equipment can make the difference between buying today and holding off until next year. And if you're a bargain hunter like me, you'll likely know that we're in the midst of one of the largest enterprise IT sales in a long time.

There's so much competition and jockeying for customers by IT vendors that some really great deals can be had. If you've been holding off on that major upgrade, this may be the best chance to get some rock-bottom pricing.

[ Taking a Hybrid Approach to UBI Data. ]

Gartner's recent lowering of its 2014 global IT spending estimate to $3.7 trillion may seem linked to a slumping global economy, but it isn't. Actually, equipment purchases are still on pace to meet the research firm's original projections; the decrease is due to vendors offering better deals than they have in years past.

"Price pressure based on increased competition, lack of product differentiation and the increased availability of viable alternative solutions has had a dampening effect on the short-term IT spending outlook," Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, said in a press release announcing the lowered projection.

We're seeing these bargain-basement prices from technology vendors and service providers because they're desperately fighting to build, protect, and maintain market share in an IT world that's increasingly consolidated and homogenized at the same time. Vendors that were once allies are now direct competitors in areas like cloud computing, SDN, and mobility.

[ Read the rest of this article on Network Computing. ]

Andrew has well over a decade of enterprise networking under his belt through his consulting practice, which specializes in enterprise network architectures and datacenter build-outs and prior experience at organizations such as State Farm Insurance, United Airlines and the ... View Full Bio

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