Australian technology spending is forecast to grow 6.3 percent to $111 billion this year, research from Gartner revealed.
The research and insights firm said this increase was driven by a change in how chief information officers plan for their organisations’ IT plans, as well as an increase in their reliance on external consultants.
IT services spending specifically is forecast to reach $39.2 billion, a 6.1 percent year over year increase, and within that category, business and technology consulting spending is expected to reach $8.5 billion, growing 8.3 percent.
All other categories, apart from Devices, are also expected to increase in 2022, including data centre systems, enterprise software and communications services.
Gartner research vice president John Lovelock said 2022 was the year that “the future returns for the CIO”.
“They are now in a position to move beyond the critical, short term projects over the past two years and focus on the long term,” he said.
“Simultaneously, staff skills gaps, wage inflation and the war for talent will push CIOs to rely more on consultancies and managed service firms to pursue their digital strategies.”
Globally, IT spending is projected to reach US$4.5 trillion in 2022, a 5.1 percent year over year increase, despite the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant as economic recovery with high expectations for digital market prosperity would continue to boost technology investments.
On the increased reliance on external consultants, Gartner said it will be driven over the years by more urgency and accelerated pace of change to widen the gap between organisations’ digital business ambitions and their internal resources and capabilities.
“This will be particularly poignant with cloud as it serves as a key element in achieving digital ambitions and supporting hybrid work,” Lovelock added.
“Gartner expects the vast majority of large organisations to use external consultants to develop their cloud strategy over the next few years.”
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