IT spend may grow 7% next yr to $102 bn

Gartner sees growth falling from 11%

IT spending in India is forecast to touch $101.8 billion in 2022, an increase of 7 per cent from 2021, according to the latest forecast by research firm Gartner.

The figure rose 9.9 per cent in 2019, and 1.5 per cent in 2020, compared to Gartner’s prediction of a fall of 8.4 per cent (in 2020).

"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.

He added, “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 the renewed interest in technology to gain funding for new IT projects.”

Indian CIOS are likely to increase their spending towards projects that drive innovation and modernise legacy systems.

Hiring a workforce that can deliver on these needs will also be a priority. This is a key issue faced by most in 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 highestgrowing 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 to nearly double of what it was during pre-pandemic times, 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 pentup demand from 2020 for device upgrades,” said Roy.