Research

Gartner: Growth in IT Spending to Slow in 2017

• By Rhea Kelly
• 01/16/17

According to a new forecast from Gartner, worldwide IT spending will reach $3.5 trillion in 2017 — a 2.7 percent increase from the previous year. That growth rate, however, represents a slow down from earlier projections of 3 percent.

"2017 was poised to be a rebound year in IT spending. Some major trends have converged, including cloud, blockchain, digital business and artificial intelligence. Normally, this would have pushed IT spending much higher than 2.7 percent growth," explained John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement. "However, some of the political uncertainty in global markets has fostered a wait-and-see approach causing many enterprises to forestall IT investments."

Other predictions from the Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast include:

• Spending on devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) will remain flat in 2017, but "a replacement cycle in the PC market and strong pricing and functionality of premium ultramobiles will help drive growth in 2018";
• The IT services market will grow 4.2 percent in 2017, driven by buyer investments in "digital business, intelligent automation, and services optimization and innovation";
• The data center systems segment is expected to grow 2.6 percent in 2017, buoyed by "aggressive build-out of cloud computing platforms by companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon"; and
• Enterprise software will see the highest growth in 2017, forecasted at 6.8 percent.

"The range of spending growth from the high to low is much larger in 2017 than in past years," noted Lovelock "Normally, the economic environment causes some level of division, however, in 2017 this is compounded by the increased levels of uncertainty. The result of that uncertainty is a division between individuals and corporations that will spend more — due to opportunities arising — and those that will retract or pause IT spending."

For more information, visit the Gartner site.