NaTIONaL SURVEy
“For each server which has been virtualised there are 4 tonnes of CO less He adds that Spain,
2
in the atmosphere, that is to say one and a half cars,” he emphasises. which is a very pro-European
“Green IT” is indeed one of the key issues mentioned by IDC Spain among country, is supporting EU
its 2008 predictions. commissioner Franco Frattini’s
IDC analysts believe that this trend will be fostered by the need to cut proposal of a “blue card”
operational costs and to comply with EU regulations, becoming one of the top that, like the US “green card,”
priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility. would facilitate the entry
According to AETIC President Banegas, Spain is the world leader in the use of a qualified non-European
of renewable energy and is therefore very sensitive to this subject. workforce into the country.
However, Ermestel Tortosa doesn’t see any real commitment from “It’s very difficult to
companies and the general public yet towards energy use reduction and argues recruit highly-qualified
that more needs to be done in this direction. technical and commercial people”, Ermestel Tortosa emphasises. “Salaries for IT
Among the trends identified by the market intelligence firm there is also professional are a lot higher than skilled workforce in any other sector. That’s
why large companies sometimes prefer to recruit less experienced individuals
“It’s a critical moment because of the US downturn
and train them themselves,” he concludes.
and the construction sector crisis, but we will go
through this.”
This view is shared by Ingram Micro’s Consuegra who believes that
Elias Consuegra, Ingram Micro Spain MD
importing workforce from abroad is too expensive and complicated, due to
bureaucratic procedures. That’s why, unless the prospective non-European
a shift from consumers to enterprises in the use of social networking, the employee is exceptionally qualified, at present internal training seems the only
convergence between IT and telecoms through unified communications (UC), reasonable solution to the IT skills shortage.
the transformation of data centres, an increase in the number of nearshore
OUR aNaLySIS
activities located in Spain and greater investment in Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA). Spain is perhaps the most dynamic market in the South of Europe. Over
Like most European countries, Spain is also affected by the IT talent the past few years the sector has reported a healthy growth which is likely
shortage which companies across the globe have to come to terms with. to continue throughout 2008.
“There is a shortage of thousands of IT professionals every year,” AETIC Uptake of the latest technologies, such as virtualisation is high
President Banegas says, pointing out that many enterprises offshore their and there is a great awareness of the importance of ICT for economic
operations to India and Latin America. development, which is supported by both the central and the local
government. However, a few factors might threaten market stability over
IT hardware shipments in Spain
the next few months: the economic downturn, prompted by a slowdown
Source: EITO forecast in the construction boom of the last few years will soon show its
Sector 2007 units 2008 units % change consequences on the sector.
Servers 117,473 128,237 9.2 This, together with the deficit in specialised people, which is common
PCs Total 5,030,887 5,423,262 7.8 to most European countries, could seriously hamper further development.
- Portable 2,694,732 3,042,909 12.9 What’s the solution then? By investing in technologies which allow
- Desktop 2,336,155 2,380,353 1.9 companies to optimise costs while increasing productivity the country
Printers/MFPs 2,957,600 3,013,431 1.9 should be able to overcome the crisis and maintain its position as one of
LAN cards 2,472,143 2,921,693 18.2 Europe’s most exciting markets.
02 may 2008 25
It0808 - 22-25_Spain_SME.indd 25 30/04/2008 11:56:33
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