My friend came back from Ireland and lamented the weakness of the dollar in Europe. I noted that the greenback isn't doing so well at home, either. Which reminds me:

Tech spending is projected to rise smartly around the world...but some of that is due to the weak dollar. That doesn't do CIOs in the US much good, and the numbers show it: spending for 2008 should be up 4.4% domestically, versus 8% on a global basis.

A look at the numbers:

Within the tech sector, Gartner predicts, software sales will grow the most - 10% -- but at $196 billion it's still just a blip on the IT spending radar. Tech services will also grow 10% to $819 billion in 2008, and spending on telecom equipment and services will grow 8% to $2 trillion. Overall, services will account for 70% of IT spending.

The numbers for the U.S. are somewhat worse: Hardware will grow 0.4%; software, 7.2%: tech services, 6.4%: and telecom, 3.9%, says Gartner. All of those growth rates are down from last year, as is the overall rate of 4.4%. Spending grew 6.1% in 2007, according to Gartner.