The analyst firm Gartner has said that worldwide IT spending will reach $4.1 trillion in 2021, representing an increase of 8.4% compared to 2020. The prediction is higher than that estimated by the firm in January when it said worldwide IT spending would be just shy of $4 trillion at $3.9 trillion.
Commenting on the revised figures, John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner said:
“IT no longer just supports corporate operations as it traditionally has, but is fully participating in business value delivery. Not only does this shift IT from a back-office role to the front of business, but it also changes the source of funding from an overhead expense that is maintained, monitored and sometimes cut, to the thing that drives revenue.”
The different categories looked at by Gartner for IT spending include Data Center Systems, Enterprise Software, Devices, IT Services, and Communications Services. Each of the sectors will see growth in 2021 with the main drivers being Enterprise Software (10.8%) and Devices (14%). Growth will also be in all sectors in 2022 too but at lower levels with Enterprise Software recording the highest growth of 10.6%.
When looking at IT spending through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic, Gartner said the spending in Latin America will not recover until 2024 while China has already passed its spending from 2019 and North America and Western Europe are expected to recover by late 2021. Despite the time it’s taking to recover, those in the IT industry will no doubt be glad to see that Gartner has raised its expectations for spending this year.