Gartner is forecasting that worldwide enterprise IT spending is projected to reach $4.5 trillion in 2022, an increase of 5.5 percent from 2021, with spending on IT services growing at robust 8.6 percent to reach $1.3 trillion. That growth in spending is on top of a $1.2 trillion that the research firm is forecasting will be spent on IT services in 2021, representing an 11 percent gain over last year.
Of course, spending on all forms of IT were profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic so the double-digit growth in consumption of IT services in 2021, which includes cloud computing services, should not come as a major surprise. However, the continuing growth rate suggests demand for IT services expertise is continuing to accelerate even as Gartner expects more enterprises will increasingly build new technologies and software rather than buy and implement them.
Gartner analysts are citing that shift as the primary reason for the decelerated growth in spending from 2021 to 2022. In addition, much of the investment in IT is being driven by the need to enable asynchronous workflows now that many employees routinely work outside the office, noted Gartner analysts. Those workflows are at the heart of most digital business process transformation initiatives that Gartner analysts expect will continue to drive IT investments well into 2022 and beyond.
Overall, Gartner is forecasting that enterprise software will see the largest percentage gain in 2022, growing at 11.5 percent to reach $670 billion. Gartner is also forecasting a 5.8 percent growth rate for data center systems, to reach $207 billion, and a 2.3 percent increase on device spending to reach $820 billion. Spending on communications services is forecasted to grow at 2.1 percent to reach $1.5 billion.
MSPs benefit as more organizations recognize their dependence on IT services
Many organizations now realize they are really a technology company that happens to make something or provide a service. The challenge they face is there is simply not enough IT expertise to go around, so the need to rely on external expertise has never been more acute.
The downside of that equation is that competition for IT expertise has never been more fierce. No matter to what degree an MSP embraces automation, they still need IT professionals to deliver services. Finding and retaining IT expertise continues to become more expensive as organizations of all sizes compete woo the same limited pool of talent.
On the plus side, it’s become more common for organizations to recruit IT talent wherever they can find it, rather than always requiring those individuals to come to a local office. Of course, any organization that is looking to add new IT talent also benefits when it allows IT professionals to work from home.
Ultimately, there’s more good news than bad for MSPs in the latest Gartner spending forecast. The challenge now is determining more precisely what all that increased spending on IT is being allocated for, at a time when the potential number of projects and initiatives that could be launched are almost limitless.
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