Bottom line: Talent shortages, geopolitical disruption, currency fluctuations and inflation aren't expected to have an impact on IT investments in 2022. In fact, research firm Gartner forecasts a four percent increase in worldwide IT spending this year amid all the turmoil.
"Contrary to what we saw at the start of 2020, CIOs are accelerating IT investments as they recognize the importance of flexibility and agility in responding to disruption," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.
As such, Gartner anticipates heavy spending on IT services including analytics, cloud computing and security. This could be compounded by the fact that some IT spending was put on hold early this year due to the Omicron variant and other waves. Assuming the worst of it is in the rearview, money should start flowing more freely in the near future.
Collective spending across all IT categories totaled nearly $4.3 trillion in 2021. This year, organizations are expected to shell out more than $4.4 trillion. Growth in categories like IT services and software is forecasted to increase by 6.8 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.
In 2023, the software category could see double-digit growth thanks to experimental end-consumer experiences and supply chain optimizations.
Lovelock said CIOs that keep a close watch on key market signals as well as those who negotiate with vendors will make out better in the long-term. Only the most fragile of companies will have to adopt cost-cutting measures in 2022 and beyond, Lovelock added.
Image credit panumas nikhomkhai, Mikhail Nilov