3rd Platform technologies have created the underpinnings for business process transformation. With such high stakes, the business is taking a front seat in technology initiatives. IDC's Worldwide Semiannual IT Spending Guide: Line of Business quantifies the purchasing power of the non-IT department technology buyer. Delivered via IDC's Customer Insights query tool, users can easily extract meaningful information about technology markets and industries.

This product covers the following segments of the IT market:

• 8 regions: United States, Canada, Japan, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific
• 53 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, PRC, rest of Asia/Pacific, rest of CEE, rest of Latin America, rest of Middle East and Africa, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, and Vietnam
• 12 functional areas: Accounting/finance/billing, customer service, engineering, architecture and research, human resources, industry-specific operations, IT, legal, marketing, sales, security and risk, supply chain management, and other horizontal operations
• 16 enterprise industries: Banking, insurance, securities and investment services, discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, construction, resource industries, retail, wholesale, professional services, personal and consumer services, transportation, healthcare provider, telecommunications, media, and utilities
• 28 technology categories: Application development and deployment, applications, enterprise networks, feature phone, hardcopy peripherals, high-end enterprise server, implementation, midrange enterprise server, operations management, PC monitor, PCs, planning, smartphone, storage, support services, system infrastructure software, tablet, telecom equipment, training and education, and volume server
• Funding type: Business funded and IT funded

Throughout the year, this product will address the following topics:

• Sizes business buyer opportunity by region, country, industry, technology, and functional area
• Market drivers impacting business buyer technology growth
• Identifies the technologies that business buyers are purchasing

Our research addresses the following issues that are critical to your success:

1. What unique functional trends are driving the shift of spend away from IT to the business?
2. How does this business-line spending differ by region and country?
3. Which functional areas by industry are purchasing the most technology?
4. What technologies and services are the functional areas purchasing?
5. What is the total technology budget controlled by the function by industry?
6. How much will this shift by 2018 and 2022?

IDC's Worldwide Semiannual IT Spending Guide: Line of Business provides guidance on the expected technology opportunity around this market at a regional and total worldwide level. Segmented by industry, use case, and technology component, this guide provides IT vendors with insights into this rapidly growing market and how the market will develop over the coming years.

Throughout the year, this product will offer insight into the latest trends impacting the market. Potential studies include:

Worldwide Semiannual Line of Business Spending Guide

This spending guide will provide a five-year security forecast by eight regions, countries, industry, function, and technology. It is updated twice a year.

Worldwide Line of Business Taxonomy

This document defines the functions, industries, and technologies found in the spending guide.