iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
India’s IT spending for the year 2021 is projected to total $93 billion, an increase of 7.3 percent from 2020, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc report.
The report also pointed that the growth in India is comparatively lower than the global average, as worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.1 trillion in 2021, an increase of 8.4 percent from 2020.
“The source of funds for new digital business initiatives will more frequently come from business departments outside IT and charged as a cost of revenue or cost of goods sold (COGS),” the report said.
John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice president at Gartner, noted that information technology has been venturing outside its traditional space which is the corporate sector to drive more business and add greater value to other sectors.
“IT no longer just supports corporate operations as it traditionally has, but is fully participating in business value delivery,” said Lovelock.
He added, “Not only does this shift IT from a back-office role to the front of the 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.”
All IT spending segments — Data Centre Systems, Enterprise Software, Devices, IT Services and Communications Services — are forecast to have positive growth through 2022. IT spending is forecast to grow 5.5 percent globally in 2022 and 6 percent in India.
In 2021, the highest growth will come from devices (14 percent) and enterprise software (10.8 percent) globally “as organizations shift their focus to providing a more comfortable, innovative and productive environment for their workforce.”
In India, the highest growth is estimated for enterprise software (13.3 percent) and IT services (8.9 percent).
Though cost-saving efforts will remain in place, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are likely to focus on the business digital initiatives “aimed at enhancing, extending and transforming the company’s value proposition.”
“Last year, IT spending took the form of a ‘knee jerk’ reaction to enable a remote workforce in a matter of weeks. As hybrid work takes hold, CIOs will focus on spending that enables innovation, not just task completion,” said Lovelock.
