IT spending will see only 1.1% growth in 2019, forecasts Gartner

A businessman opening a box of flying money to symbolise corporate spending

Gartner has adjusted its 2019 global IT spending growth forecast to 1.1%, down from the 3.2% the research firm predicted back in January.

Citing economic factors such as a stronger US dollar, analysts now estimate that total IT spending will amount to 3.79 trillion - roughly the same as in 2018.

"Currency headwinds fuelled by the strengthening U.S. dollar have caused us to revise our 2019 IT spending forecast down from the previous quarter," said John-David Lovelock, Gartner research vice president. "Through the remainder of 2019, the U.S. dollar is expected to trend stronger, while enduring tremendous volatility due to uncertain economic and political environments and trade wars."

Despite the slight overall growth, Garter said the data centre systems segment will suffer the largest decline of 2.8%, as expected component cost adjustments continue to drive down average selling prices (ASPs) in the server market.

The ongoing enterprise shift from traditional, non-cloud to cloud-based setups, however, will continue to fuel enterprise software growth. In 2019, analysts predict the market to hit $427 billion, marking a 7.1% increase over 2018's total of $399 billion.

While application software has so far seen the largest cloud shift, Gartner said it expects increased growth for the infrastructure software segment in the near-term particularly in integration platform as a service (iPaaS) and application platform as a service (aPaaS).

"Disruptive emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), will reshape business models as well as the economics of public and private sector enterprises. AI is having a major effect on IT spending, although its role is often misunderstood," Lovelock commented.

"AI is not a product, it is really a set of techniques or a computer engineering discipline. As such, AI being embedded in many existing products and services, as well as being central to new development efforts in every industry. Gartner's AI business value forecast predicts that organisations will receive $1.9 trillion worth of benefit from the use of AI this year alone."

Daniel Todd

Dan is a freelance writer and regular contributor to ChannelPro, covering the latest news stories across the IT, technology, and channel landscapes. Topics regularly cover cloud technologies, cyber security, software and operating system guides, and the latest mergers and acquisitions.

A journalism graduate from Leeds Beckett University, he combines a passion for the written word with a keen interest in the latest technology and its influence in an increasingly connected world.

He started writing for ChannelPro back in 2016, focusing on a mixture of news and technology guides, before becoming a regular contributor to ITPro. Elsewhere, he has previously written news and features across a range of other topics, including sport, music, and general news.