Worldwide IT spending

Worldwide IT spending is projected to reach $4.6 trillion in 2023 according to the latest forecast by Gartner. This represents an increase of 5.5% from the previous year. The projected growth is primarily driven by enterprise software and cloud services, as well as continued investment in IT infrastructure such as servers, storage, and networking equipment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital transformation and remote work, which is expected to continue to drive IT spending in the coming years. However, there are also concerns about potential supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures that could impact IT spending.

IT spending will remain strong, even as many countries are projected to have near-flat gross domestic product growth and high inflation in 2023. Prioritization will be critical as CIOs look to optimize spend while using digital technology to transform the company’s value proposition, revenue and client interactions.

The software segment will see double-digit growth this year as enterprises prioritize spending to capture competitive advantages through increased productivity, automation and other software-driven transformation initiatives. Conversely, the devices segment will decline nearly 5% in 2023, as consumers defer device purchases due to declining purchasing power and a lack of incentive to buy.

Secondly, as enterprises navigate continued economic turbulence, the split of technologies being maintained versus those driving the business is apparent in their position relative to overall average IT spending growth.

Experts predict CIOs face a balancing act that is evident in the dichotomies in IT spending. For example, there is sufficient spending within data center markets to maintain existing on-premises data centers, but new spending has shifted to cloud options, as reflected in the growth in IT services.

The IT services segment will continue its growth trajectory through 2024, largely driven by the infrastructure-as-a-service market, which is projected to reach over 30% growth this year. For the first time, price is a key driver of increased spend for cloud services segments, rather than just increased usage.