Here’s What Gartner’s 2018 IT Spending Prediction Is Missing

Gartner recently released their latest prediction for global IT spend in 2018, projecting a 4.5% increase from 2017 to a total $3.7 trillion.

Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars):

» Source: Gartner (January 2018)

This estimate is comprised of the total cost of all IT purchases projected for 2018, which is great news for growing IT organizations around the world. We know firsthand that when armed with budget to both “run” and “change” the business, CIOs and their teams can drive real business value through innovation, competitive differentiation, and customer experience.

However, we also know that technology costs alone do not represent the full scope of the IT spending portfolio. Our research and experience with more than 360 of the world’s largest organizations points to huge amounts of IT spending directed towards internal and external labor. In most companies, this accounts for close to 45% of their IT spending.

When we consider the additional expense of labor and support costs associated with this IT spend, we find that IT spending is actually closer to $6.3 trillion. In terms of the global economy, IT in 2018 is actually the third largest economic force in the world just behind the US and China. Additionally, this digital economy is growing at a pace of 2.4x faster than any other economy.

» Source: 2018 State of the Global Technology Economy report

CIOs have the opportunity to make a real impact!

As we know, driving real business value requires strategic visibility into the entire IT portfolio, including line items as large as labor.

For an in-depth look at the global growth of technology spend and best practices for maximizing the business value of IT spend, check out the 2018 State of the Global Technology Economy report—which analyzes 25 years of technology spending data from more than 3,000 companies across the globe.