FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fiscal years 2015 and 2016 will deliver a significant boost to federal civilian agency IT spending. In a new report from IDC Government Insights, A Spike in Spending: U.S. Federal IT Forecast for Civilian Agencies- 2015 to 2018, (Doc #GI254581), author Shawn P. McCarthy, Research Director, IDC Government Insights notes, "When the federal information technology budget for FY2015 was first approved last year, spending for civilian agencies was set at just under $43.6 billion. Now it appears that spending will jump to nearly $48.1 billion by the end of this summer, which represents an increase of 10.3% for FY2015." The new report looks at IT spending by major civilian agencies, by major programs within those agencies, and also lists the current top IT vendors and products.
- ClicktoTweet: Civilian Agency IT Spending for U.S. Federal Government Over $49 billion for Fiscal Year 2016, According to IDC Government Insights
According to the report, the federal civilian agencies' IT budget for the coming fiscal year will be $49.0 billion, which is an increase of 1.9% over the recently updated FY2015 IT budget. But when compared to the original FY2015 budget, the increase is actually 12.4% higher than the initial plan. Additional findings from the report include:
- The main driver for the increase is the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IT spending at HHS went from an $8.6 billion originally to $12.6 billion, an increase of 45%. (Proposed spending for FY2016 should drop back to $11.3 billion.)
- Some agencies will actually spend less in FY2015 than originally proposed, with the Treasury Department spending $3.8 billion rather than $4.0 billion. Some of that money has been deferred to FY2016, when Treasury's IT spending will jump to $4.5 billion, led by large new investments in Mainframes and Servers Services and Support (MSSS) for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
- Current IT programs with the highest budgets are mostly healthcare related, including the CMS Medicaid Management Information System ($5.7 billion) and the VA's Medical IT Support efforts ($1.3 billion).
"At 28.1%, the Department of Health and Human Services was the clear growth leader for 2015," continued McCarthy. "Despite the fact that the agency will see slightly negative growth for 2016, HHS still dwarfs other agencies when it comes to IT spending, representing over 23% of total civilian agency spending."
According to IDC Government Insights, in a recovering economy, federal government spending of all types, including information technology, tends to see a boost. This should continue through fiscal year 2016. Civilian agencies offer an attractive vendor opportunity for those that understand the different types of federal contracts that they can tap into. IDC notes the government is increasingly looking to IT service providers and systems integrators to deliver not only turnkey or cloud-based solutions but also to help make recommendations on where costs can be trimmed. To that end, IDC recommends vendors should not only work to partner with large systems integrators as a sales channel for their solutions but should also be ready to pitch cost-saving ideas to integrators who can pass these ideas along to the government.
Next quarter, IDC Government Insights will publish a document that focuses on Defense Department IT spending, budgets, major information technology programs, and top vendors.
For additional information about this report or to arrange a one-on-one briefing with Shawn McCarthy, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or sarah@attunecommunications.com. Reports are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing reports, contact insights@idc.com; reporters should email sarah@attunecommunications.com.
About IDC Government Insights
IDC Government Insights assists government policy, program, and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers who serve them, in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of government and IT industry experience, our global research analyzes and advises on business and technology issues facing the Federal/Central and local/provincial Governments. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc-gi.com, email info@idc-gi.com, or call 703-485-8300. Visit the IDC Government Insights Community at http://idc-community.com/government.
