IT spend to rise in 2018 across all segments

Good news for everyone involved in IT: spend is going to increase, with devices segment set for growth for the first time in two years. 

According to industry-leading research firm Gartner, worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2018, an increase of 4.3 per cent from 2017’s estimated spending of $3.5 trillion. 

Enterprise software and IT services continue to exhibit strong growth, with communications services continuing to drive the majority of spending. Software spending is projected to grow 8.5 per cent in 2017, and it will grow another 9.4 per cent in 2018 to total $387 billion. IT services spending is on pace to grow 4 per cent in 2017 to reach $931 billion, and increase 5.3 per cent in 2018 to reach $980 billion. 

As mentioned above, the devices segment is expected to exhibit growth for the first time in two years with an increase of 5.3 per cent in 2017 and 5 per cent in 2018. Increased average selling prices for premium phones in mature markets, partially due to the introduction of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, along with an underlying demand for PCs from businesses replacing their machines with Windows 10 PCs is driving the growth in this segment.

Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of US Dollars) – Source: Gartner (October 2017)

So overall the above table makes for good reading if you are in the business of selling IT. While all segments are expected to grow in both 2017 and 2018, Gartner has identified 10 markets within these segments that will make up the most dynamic portion of the IT spending forecast in 2018. 

"Looking at market opportunity — how profitable a market is, how big it is and how fast is it growing today and for the next five years — we have identified the top markets that companies should be looking to be part of in 2018," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "Global IT spending is showing little overall growth, as are traditional markets. These top 10 markets will be the key to remaining relevant and achieving growth in the future."

These 10 markets — including three cloud segments (infrastructure as a service, integrated platform as a service and communications platform as a service) — range from technologies that enhance the digital workplace, such as workstream collaboration, workforce analytics and video message-oriented middleware, to security (endpoint detection and response), analytics (smart data discovery) and storage (in-memory data grids). All are tied to enabling and enhancing an organisation’s digital transformation efforts. 

"The IT buying landscape is changing: Digital business transformation is an effort to create connected, platforms and new industry revenue streams," said Lovelock. "Organisations that are not creating new digital business models or new ways to engage constituents or customers, are falling behind. Those vendors that do not move more quickly than their clients, will be left behind."