Gartner predicts that global IT expenditure will reach $4.4 trillion in 2022, while China's IT expenditure will exceed $550 million.

According to Gartner's latest forecast, global IT spending is expected to reach $4.4 trillion in 2022, an increase of 4 per cent over 2021, while China's IT spending is expected to exceed $550 million in 2022, an increase of 7.76 per cent over 2021.

John-David Lovelock, vice president of outstanding research at Gartner, said: "CIOs will be very busy this year.

Geopolitical impact, inflation, currency fluctuations, supply chain problems and many other conditions will make them stretched in time and energy.

But CIOs are accelerating investment in IT by recognizing the importance of flexibility and agility in dealing with disruptions, contrary to what we observed in early 2020. "

"as a result, areas such as analytics, cloud computing, seamless customer experience and security will be key procurement and investment areas for CIOs."

The impact of inflation on IT hardware (such as mobile devices and PC) has finally dissipated over the past two years and began to spread to software and services.

Due to the current shortage of IT talent, technology service providers have to offer more competitive salaries and therefore raise prices, a move that will boost spending in these areas in 2022 and 2023.

Software spending is expected to grow by 9.8% to $674.9 billion in 2022, and IT services are expected to grow by 6.8% to $1.3 trillion (see table 1).

Table 1 Global IT expenditure projections (millions of US dollars).

The value may vary from the total to the total after exchange rate conversion and rounding.

Source: Gartner (April 2022).

Recent and long-term growth in enterprise applications, infrastructure software and management services indicates that digital transformation will not be a trend that lasts only one or two years, but will become a long-term and systematic trend.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), for example, supports all major consumer-centric online products and mobile applications, so nearly 10 per cent of the growth in software spending in 2022 comes from infrastructure as a service.

Digital business initiatives such as Gartner's forecast experiential end-consumption model and supply chain optimization will drive double-digit growth in enterprise applications and infrastructure software spending in 2023.

China's IT spending is expected to exceed $550 million in 2022, an increase of 7.76 per cent compared with 2021.

Data center systems, IT services and software will achieve double-digit growth (see Table 2).

Table 2 IT Expenditure Forecast in China (millions of US dollars).

The value may vary from the total to the total after exchange rate conversion and rounding.

Source: Gartner (April 2022).

The situation in Russia and Ukraine is not expected to have a direct impact on global IT spending.

Rising prices and wages, together with talent shortages and other uncertainties affecting delivery, are expected to have a huge impact on CIOs' plans for 2022, but will not slow technology investment.

"CIOs will have the funding and organizational capabilities needed to invest in key technologies this year and next," said Lovelock.

Some IT spending was shelved in early 2022 due to the Omicron variant and subsequent multiple outbreaks, but is expected to recover in the short term. "

If CIOs are to perform better in the long run, they must keep a close eye on key market signals, such as the transition from analog to digital, from buying IT to building IT, and negotiate with their partners on how to take ongoing risks.

In this regard, only the most vulnerable companies will be forced to turn to cost-cutting in 2022 and beyond. "