Gartner has lowered its outlook for the IT industry from the first quarter of this year when it forecast worldwide tech spending to grow 5.3%, primarily due to the devaluation of the euro versus the US dollar since the beginning of the year.

The revised guidance now forecasts an increase of just 3.9% to $3.350 trillion in 2010.

With the global economic outlook vulnerable to shocks in key regions and industries, IT spending decisions are increasingly being scrutinised for value, says Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner

"CEOs are targeting 2010 as a 'return to growth' year, and to enable growth strategies, CFOs expect increased IT spending. However, CIOs are seeing only marginal increases in budgets and are constrained to essential enterprise IT spending with discretionary spending still on hold," he says.

Earlier this week, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and consultants PwC forecast that spending on IT by UK financial services firms will remain flat over the next year, following a slowdown in industry growth over the previous quarter.