Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.6 trillion in 2023, an increase of 5.5% from 2022, according to the latest report from management consulting company Gartner, Inc. Despite continued global economic turbulence, all regions worldwide are projected to achieve IT spending growth in 2023, Gartner said.
“Macroeconomic headwinds are not slowing digital transformation,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “IT spending will remain strong, even as many countries are projected to have near-flat gross domestic product (GDP) 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.”
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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.
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.
“CIOs face a balancing act that is evident in the dichotomies in IT spending,” said Lovelock. “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.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), IT spending is estimated to total $175.5 billion, up from $171.9 billion in 2022.
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