Global IT spending to grow 3% in 2022 despite inflationary challenges

Spending on data centres will record the strongest growth of all segments this year, Gartner says

Spending on data centres is projected to increase by about 11 per cent to $212 billion in 2022, Gartner says. AFP

Global information technology spending is set to grow by 3 per cent annually to $4.5 trillion in 2022 as chief information officers go ahead with investment plans despite rising inflation and currency volatility challenges, a Gartner study shows.

The latest forecast — which is higher than the research company's April prediction of $4.4tn — comes at a time when chief information officers continue to boost infrastructure investment despite price increases and supply chain uncertainty, which has been exacerbated by the Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, Gartner said.

“Inflation is top of mind for everyone. However, the current levels of volatility being seen in both inflation and currency exchange rates is not expected to deter CIOs’ investment plans for 2022,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.

Inflation in the US and Europe is at a four-decade high and is surging around the world as energy and commodity prices remain high.

While the 3 per cent growth in 2022 is much slower when compared with last year's 10 per cent, spending is expected to pick up again next year.

Gartner predicts that IT spending will grow 6 per cent to about $4.8tn in 2023.

Investment in IT infrastructure is critical for companies, and “those that do not invest in the short term will likely fall behind in the medium term and risk not being around in the long term”, Mr Lovelock said.

Companies are focusing on improving their IT services as they compete to cater to societies that have become more heavily reliant on digital services.

The Gartner study showed that spending on data centres will record the strongest growth of all segments in 2022, increasing by about 11 per cent to $212 billion from $191bn last year.

Meanwhile, IT services spending is projected to grow 6.2 per cent this year, largely driven by a 17 per cent jump in cloud consulting, implementation and managed services.

Public cloud services spending will rise more than 20 per cent annually to $495bn this year, Garner predicted in May.