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IT organisations utilising blade servers need to be ready for changes in the technology, according to Gartner.

Blade-server growth will be limited during the next five years - despite the technology representing the fastest-growing segment of the server market, the analysts say.

This lack of growth will be due to continued, rapid change and a lack of standards.

While a compound annual growth rate of 19 per cent is predicted for blade shipments from 2007 through to 2012, this will not equal market domination, as blades only represented 10 per cent of shipments in 2007 and will only rise to 20 per cent in 2012.

However, Gartner did not want to put companies off buying the servers.

‘We are not suggesting that IT organisations stay away from blades - blades do address many problems in the data centre,’ said the vice president of Gartner, Andrew Butler.

‘What we are saying is that IT organisations adopting blades need to be prepared for further changes in this technology.

‘Blade servers have been a rapidly changing technology, and we fully expect this to continue, particularly during the next five years.’

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The IT services market is expected to weather the current economic storm and remain strong, according to Gartner.

End-user spending is to exceed $819 billion (£409 billion) in 2008, a growth of 9.5 per cent from 2007, predict the analysts.

However, the first half of 2008 has shown mixed results, with both optimism by some and delays in projects for others.

‘In the first quarter of 2008, results for the top nine providers came in above expectations, and several market leaders have expressed optimism for the remainder of 2008,’ said Gartner’s research vice president Kathryn Hale.

‘However, at the recent Gartner Outsourcing Summit in Washington DC in May of this year, some providers indicated that some outsourcing contract signings are being delayed and some projects are being placed on hold.’

Core outsourcing is still the largest growth area in the market, with core outsourcing services in 2008 set to make up 42 per cent of all IT services end-user spending.

Consulting and development and integration are growing steadily due to a demand for cost reduction.

These areas are forecast by Gartner to reach $327 billion (£163 billion) in 2008, a growth of 10.1 per cent from 2007.

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Effective collaboration through IT is the biggest technological challenge that will be faced by businesses next year, according to new research.

The survey by software firm Touchstone Group found that over 40 per cent of IT directors believe the use of technology to support collaboration was the most vital IT demand, followed by the demonstration of business value and customer relationship management.

Furthermore, the research suggested that almost six in ten IT heads intend to increase spending on technology over the next year, while 42 per cent cited a preference for purchasing ‘best of breed’ IT products from services companies and system integrators.

‘Collaboration across the company, particularly across different countries, is important in order to be able to plan and make effective business decisions,’ commented Adrian McNay, group board director at Touchstone Group.

Earlier this week, research firm Gartner urged IT directors to prepare two financial budgets for 2008 in case the ongoing credit crunch results in the need to make significant cuts in costs.

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