Business leaders have shifted their focus away from procuring the latest tech and are instead spending money to improve IT services.
In the latest positive sign that businesses are finally viewing technology as a strategic enabler, research by analyst Gartner shows IT leaders attempting to build IT that delivers business outcomes rather than refreshing or adding to their technology inventory.
Overall IT spending will reach $3.5 trillion next year, but the interesting stats concerns where the money is being allocated. Whereas the market for devices and hardware is hardly increasing, with telecoms, devices and data centres set to experience between 0.4 and 1.9% growth, global spending for software and IT services is expanding rapidly. According to the research, IT services will grow by 4.8% in 2017, while software will see a 7.2% surge.
Shifting priorities
These figures offer nothing more than a generalised snapshot of spending. However, they do dovetail with our observations that businesses are becoming more serious about outcomes, rather than spending mindlessly on tech. IT services and software stitch business technology together, and after years of neglect, it seems businesses are ready to make amends. Investing in ITSM is a hugely positive step towards improving the way that business technology is utilised within the business.
Of course, spending is important. But intelligent use of this money is what will make the difference. IT leaders need to take this injection of funds as a cautious endorsement of their value and repay the faith. IT must deliver meaningful business outcomes, it must show real value and it must support the business to deliver its goals. If this doesn’t happen, investment in IT is likely to be short-lived.
