Global IT spends to grow 6.2pc in 2018: Gartner

According to the Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast, IT spends in 2018 will grow to 6.3 percent. Gartner, one of the world’s leading research and advisory company, shared the details.

According to the forecast, the worldwide IT spending growth has been revised to 6.2 percent, which is 1.8 percent more from the previous quarter, while the constant-currency growth slightly declined to 3.0 percent.

The report states that the multinational technology product management leaders should hedge against further currency fluctuations in 2018.

In a statement shared by Gartner, John-David Lovelock, Research Vice President at Gartner, has been quoted as saying, "Although global IT spending is forecast to grow 6.2 percent this year, the declining US dollar has caused currency tailwinds, which are the main reason for this strong growth.”

According to him, "This is the highest annual growth rate that Gartner has forecast since 2007 and would be a sign of a new cycle of IT growth. However, spending on IT around the world is growing at expected levels and is in line with expected global economic growth. Through 2018 and 2019, the US dollar is expected to trend stronger while enduring tremendous volatility due to the uncertain political environment, the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation and the potential for trade wars."

The Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast tracks technology trends across devices, data centre systems, IT services and telecom and software services etc. “IT and business executives are using these highly anticipated quarterly reports as they refine their strategy and roadmap to prioritise investments and identify opportunities within the IT market, and to base their critical business decisions on proven methodologies,” claims Gartner. The data collection for the forecast relies on rigorous analysis of sales by thousands of vendors across IT products and services.

The highest spending will be witnessed by enterprise software in 2018. The growth will be an 11.1-percent increase. The growth of digital businesses will continue to spear the growth of the software industry. The spending in application software is also expected to rise through 2019 and, according to the report, the "infrastructure software will also continue to grow, bolstered by modernization initiatives."

The forecast shows that worldwide spending on data centre systems is set to grow 3.7 percent in 2018, which is down from 6.3 percent growth in 2017. “The longer-term outlook continues to have challenges, particularly for the storage segment.” Though the component shortages were expected to ease into 2018, “the shortages are now expected to continue throughout the year with the supply not expected to ease until the end of the year.”

Devices such as PCs, tablets, and mobile phones are forecast to grow in 2018. According to the report, the worldwide spending for it will reach $706 billion, which will be an increase of 6.6 percent from 2017.

"The device market continues to see dual dynamics. Some users are holding back from buying, and those that are buying are doing so, on average, at higher price points. As a result, end-user spending will increase faster than units through 2022. However, total end-user spending and unit shipments are expected to be lower compared with previous forecasts, as demand for ultramobile premium devices, ultra mobile utility devices and basic phones is expected to be slow," said Lovelock.

With this, a lot of markets will see a shift and the report will help many markets understand how things are going to change in 2018 when it comes to global IT spend. It is time to see how you can use the change to plan your strategy for 2018.