Indian IT spending to rise 7% to reach $101.8 billion in 2022: Gartner

Indian CIOs are likely to increase spending on projects that drive innovation and modernise legacy systems, Hiring suitable workforce will also be a key priority, says research firm

IT spending in India is forecast to total $101.8 billion in 2022, up seven per cent from 2021, according to the latest forecast by research firm Gartner, Inc.

“The digital transformation trajectory that began as a pandemic response is here to stay for the next few years,” said Arup Roy, research vice president at Gartner. “India has experienced one of the fastest recoveries despite being one of the worst hit regions in the second wave of the pandemic in early 2021. In 2022, CIOs (chief information officers) in India will build on renewed interest in technology from the business to gain funding for new IT projects.”

Indian CIOs are likely to increase their spending on projects that drive innovation and modernise legacy systems, the research firm says.

Hiring a workforce that can deliver on these needs will also be a key priority, a key issue faced by much of the industry over the past two years, as the pandemic accelerated digital transformation.

In 2022, all segments of IT spending in India are expected to grow, with software emerging as the highest growing segment. Spending on software is forecast to total $10.5 billion in 2022, up 14.4 per cent from 2021.

While experiencing a slower growth rate than 2021, spending on software in 2022 is forecast be nearly double of what it was pre-pandemic, Gartner found.

Further, as hybrid work adoption increases in the country, there will be an uptick in spending on devices in 2022, reaching $44 billion, an increase of 7.5 per cent from 2021. “The growth in devices is a combination of two components – hybrid work and pent-up demand from 2020 for device upgrades,” said Roy. “Spending on devices will make up 43% of total IT spending next year.”

Next year, Indian CIOs are prioritizing a move away from rigid and monolithic ways of doing business to a more composable business and IT architecture where they will be able to better respond to disruptions.