Global IT spending projected to touch $3.7 trillion in 2019: Gartner

Despite the ongoing tariff war, US IT spending is forecast to grow 3.5% in 2019

Global IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2019, which is an increase of 0.4 per cent from 2018, said a forecast by Gartner Inc. on Wednesday. This is the lowest forecast growth in 2019 so far.

Analysts at the market research firm are discussing the emerging trends that are driving digital society and IT spending during the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo slated here through Thursday. Global IT spending is expected to rebound in 2020 with forecast growth of 3.7 per cent, primarily owing to enterprise software spending.

"The slowdown in IT spending in 2019 is not expected to stretch as far into 2020 despite concerns over a recession and companies cutting back on discretionary IT spending," John-David Lovelock, Research Vice President at Gartner, said in a statement.

Today's complex geopolitical environment has pushed regulatory compliance to the top of organisations' priority lists. Overall spending on security increased 10.5 per cent in 2019, with Cloud security projected to grow 41.2 per cent over the next five years.

"This is not just about keeping the 'bad guys' out. It is also about the expanding need to be compliant with tariffs and trade policy, intellectual property rights, and even with the multiple and sometimes overlapping privacy laws," added Lovelock.

Despite the ongoing tariff war, US IT spending is forecast to grow 3.5 per cent in 2019, but IT spending in China is expected to grow only 0.1 per cent.

"Tariffs do not have a direct effect on IT spending, yet. Should tariffs extend to devices like PCs and mobile phones, we will likely see manufacturers switch supply routes to minimize costs and have their technology made outside of China," noted Lovelock.