Gartner: WW IT Spending to Grow 2.4% in 2017

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According to Gartner total global IT spending will total $3.5 trillion in 2017-- a 2.4% increase over 2016. The analyst has actually increased its forecast from the previous quarter, following the decline of the US dollar against many foreign currencies.

Gartner IT Spending

"Digital business is having a profound effect on the way business is done and how it is supported," Gartner remarks. "The impact of digital business is giving rise to new categories; for example, the convergence of "software plus services plus intellectual property." These next-generation offerings are fueled by business and technology platforms that will be the driver for new categories of spending. Industry-specific disruptive technologies include the Internet of Things (IoT) in manufacturing, blockchain in financial services (and other industries), and smart machines in retail. The focus is on how technology is disrupting and enabling business."

The enterprise software market is forecast to grow 7.6% in 2017, up from 5.3% growth in 2016. Such results come through applications allowing more organisations to derive revenue from digital business channels, and as such there will be more need to automate and release new applications and functionality.

Meanwhile growing adoption of SaaS-based enterprise applications will bring an increase in the acceptance of IT operations management (ITOM) tools delivered via the cloud. Such cloud-based tools allowing infrastructure and operations (I&O) organisations to more rapidly add functionality and adopt newer technologies. If the I&O team fails to monitor and track the rapidly changing environment, infrastructure and application services risk degradation, impacting the end-user experience and bringing about both financial and brand repercussions.

Gartner adds more of the top 10 vendors will fare better in 2017 thanks to strength in mobile phone sales. Global spending on devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) are to grow by 3.8% in 2017, with such growth driven by mobile phone sales. However tablets remain in decline, due to the extension of replacement cycles.

Go Gartner IT Spending Forecast Q2 2017 Update