Published in News

Global IT spending on the rise

by on24 October 2016


$3.5 trillion in 2017

Beancounters at the Gartner Group have added up some numbers and divided them by their shoe size and worked out that worldwide IT spending will reach $3.5 trillion in 2017, up 2.9 percent from 2016

The growth is apparently due to the growth in software and IT services revenues.  Software spending is projected to grow six percent in 2016, and it will grow another 7.2 percent  in 2017 to total $357 billion. IT services spending is on pace to grow 3.9 percent in 2016 to reach $900 billion, and increase 4.8 percent in 2017 to reach $943 billion.

John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner said that things would have been even better if it had not been for those pesky Brits voting to leave the EU.

"The immediate impact of Brexit has caused modest growth in IT spending to turn negative for 2016. Without the UK, global IT spending growth would have been modestly positive at 0.2 per cent in 2016, but with the UK included, IT spending is expected to decrease 0.3 oer cent. The immediate impact of the British pound will also cause the IT spending patterns to shift as prices for IT will increase," Lovelock said.

Companies will be monitoring negotiations closely, and there will be some changes in IT investment. For example, in financial services, analysts expect to see some countries in Europe put more investment in IT to offer a more viable option for EU countries than the UK.

"We see software and IT services spending in Germany and France increasing, while UK services stay relatively flat. There are other countries, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Ireland that are also increasing their IT spend to contend as a viable alternative to banks in the UK. We are seeing examples of many banks in talks with these countries to examine the possibility of moving their operations outside of the UK," he added.

Gartner analysts do not believe the pending election, or the winning candidate, will effect IT spending trends.

"We have also taken into account the US presidential race, as well as a potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Typically, there is a slight pause in IT spending leading into the election, and then a relief in spending, subsequently. However, trends have shown that IT spending in the US is not dependent on presidential leadership, so neither candidate should have a significant impact on IT spending in the near-term," he said.

Last modified on 24 October 2016
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Read more about: