Global IT spending to reach $3.7 trillion in 2018 - Gartner

'Loadsamoney' to be spent on IT in 2018 and 2019, according to Gartner

Global spending on IT systems is expected to grow to $3.7 trillion by the end of 2018, an increase of 4.5 per cent compared to 2017.

That's according to the latest research from Gartner, which also indicates that despite the growing adoption of cloud computing, enterprise software will lead global IT spending growth. It will surge in value by 9.5 per cent in 2018 and 8.4 per cent in 2019, when the market will be worth $421 billion.

However, notes Gartner, in 2018 organisations will devote more of their IT budgets into applications delivered in the form of software as-a-service (SaaS). In particular, notes Gartner, in areas such as financial management, human resources and analytics.

John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner, said that IT spending will continue to grow strongly, but that there are a number of events that could affect IT spending, both regionally and globally.

"Global IT spending growth began to turn around in 2017, with continued growth expected over the next few years. However, uncertainty looms as organisations consider the potential impacts of Brexit, currency fluctuations, and a possible global recession," he said.

He continued: "Despite this uncertainty, businesses will continue to invest in IT as they anticipate revenue growth, but their spending patterns will shift."

He also highlighted a number of areas in which organisations "Projects in digital business, Blockchain, internet of things, and progression from big data to algorithms to machine learning to artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to be main drivers of growth."

The devices segment will also see respectable growth in 2018, increasing by 5.6 per cent. Last year, the area saw its first growth in two years - when it increased by 5.7 per cent. However, while end-user spending on mobile phones will grow, PC growth will be "flat" in 2018.

Indeed, the recent Meltdown and Spectre security revelations could even force PC growth down as buyers hold out on purchasing until Intel and AMD update their CPUs accordingly.

However, Gartner said the continued migration of users to Windows 10 will drive growth in the business computing market across China, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Gartner does not believe that Apple's growth will abate in 2018, either, with the analyst group forecasting that the popularity of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X will continue to surge. Shipments of iOS devices will grow by 9.1 per cent, despite reports that the iPhone X's £999 price tag had been putting buyers off.

Lovelock added that emerging technologies, such as AI and the internet of things, will drive spending in the coming years. "Gartner forecasts $2.9 trillion in new business value opportunities attributable to AI by 2021, as well as the ability to recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity," said Mr Lovelock.

"That business value is attributable to using AI to, for example, drive efficiency gains, create insights that personalise the customer experience, entice engagement and commerce, and aid in expanding revenue-generating opportunities as part of new business models driven by the insights from data."

He added: "Capturing the potential business value will require spending, especially when seeking the more near-term cost savings.

"Spending on AI for customer experience and revenue generation will likely benefit from AI being a force multiplier — the cost to implement will be exceeded by the positive network effects and resulting increase in revenue."