Governments are modernizing IT infrastructures to cope with the challenges posed by new ways of delivering public services, budget restraints, and security threats. Governments are moving toward service-oriented architectures, flexible access to integrated data, consolidated storage and servers, and high availability, reliability, and security of networks.

In this study, IDC provides an analysis of results of the IDC Vertical Market Survey carried out in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. The results are based on 279 interviews in the government sector. This study, which analyzes IT security adoption and investment plans, is the first of a series of studies that include analysis of IT strategy and decision-making processes, analysis of the adoption of new technologies, and analysis of IS budget plans

According to Massimiliano Claps and Silvia Piai of IDC' s European Vertical Markets Group, vendors that want to gain a share of IT infrastructure spending must offer network integration and mobile solutions for more flexible service delivery and educate on the benefits of SOA platforms.

• Table of Contents
• IDC Opinion
• In This Study
  • Methodology
    • Conceptual Framework
    • Sample Design
      • Sampling Unit: IDC' s Economic Entity
      • Sample Quotas
      • Table: Vertical Market Quotas
      • Table: Company Size Quotas
      • Sample Frame and Sampling Method
      • Table: Number of Completes by Country
    • Respondents
    • Interviews
    • Questionnaires
    • Interview Schedule
    • Confidence Intervals
    • Weighting
    • Analysis of the Data
  • Definitions
    • Government Market Definition
• Situation Overview
  • Interoperable and Flexible Access to Data is Key in Government
  • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Current Use of Mobile Devices
  • Table: Western Europe, Government Sector, Current Use of Mobile Devices
  • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Type of Device Used to Access Mobile Solutions
  • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Current Use of Mobile Solutions
• Future Outlook
  • Rationalization and Integration of Hardware and Software Platforms will be Paramount
  • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Investment Plans in Infrastructure and Middleware Technologies
    • Communication Infrastructure Will be Rationalized
    • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Future Adoption of Mobile Solutions
    • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Investment Plans in VoIP
    • Table: Western Europe, Government Sector, Investment Plans in VoIP
    • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Type of VoIP Planned to be Implemented in 12 Months
    • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Reasons for Adopting VoIP
    • Figure: Western Europe, Government Sector, Barriers to VoIP Adoption
• Essential Guidance
• Learn More
  • Related Research
  • Synopsis