Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/16/2013 -- BMI View: The total size of the Omani IT market in 2013 is forecast byMI to be worth US$410mn, up from an estimated US$385mn in 2012. Oman's economy is relatively well positioned for the post-credit crunch era, but we do not see IT spending returning to its previous rate of growth during our five-year forecast period. However, 2012 saw a range of new IT implementations in sectors such as oil and gas, banking, utilities and aviation. Meanwhile, global trends such as cloud computing, virtualisation and convergence are gaining traction in the Omani market.

Headline Expenditure Projections

Computer Hardware Sales: US$209mn in 2012 to US$220mn in 2013, +5% in US dollar terms. Forecast in US dollar terms upwardly due to macroeconomic factors and the release of Windows 8 should provide a boost to replacement PC purchases.

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Software Sales: US$75mn in 2012 to US$80mn in 2013, +7% in US dollar terms. Forecast in US dollar terms downwardly revised due to macroeconomic factors, but there is steady demand for enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations.

IT Services Sales: US$102mn in 2012 to US$110mn in 2013, +8% in US dollar terms. Forecast in US dollar terms downwardly revised due to macroeconomic factors but e-government programmes should drive spending in other sectors.

Risk/Reward Ratings: Oman's score was 46.9 out of 100.0. Oman dropped to ninth place in our latest MEA RRR table, behind regional peers Bahrain and Qatar, but ahead of Lebanon and Egypt.

Key Trends & Developments

- Government is expected to be a significant driver of Omani IT spending over the 2013-2017 period. In 2012, the sultanate's IT authority, the ITA, reiterated its goal to broaden the range of government services available online, modernise administrative procedures and optimise costs. The ITA has launched a number of IT-related infrastructure projects, with one core component being an e-government services portal, which is a gateway to services offered by government departments online.
- There has been a pickup in project flow from significant IT verticals such as oil and gas and banking. Petroleum Development Oman, a major local sector player, is investing in what is termed smart fields development. Key initiatives include using wireless technology to improve remote monitoring and control. Meanwhile, banks in Oman are looking to reduce overall IT costs as well as integrate platforms with applications even at the networking and virtualisation level.
- There is rising demand for ERP solutions among both SMEs and corporates in Oman. Many Oman companies are diversifying and expanding their operations regionally and need effective planning and management of resources. One key area of demand is integrating functions such as accounting, inventory, supply chain management and customer relationship management (CRM), which are quite often run as separate applications.

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