'Digital transformation can no longer be purchased overnight' - Gartner tips IT spending to hit $4.2tn in 2021

The analyst claims CIOs are looking for partners who can 'think past the digital sprints of 2020 and be more intentional in their digital transformation efforts'

Global IT spending is projected to total $4.2trn in 2021, a jump of 8.6 per cent from last year, according to the latest forecast by Gartner.

The analyst said that, as companies still suffer sales declines, IT spending is accelerating ahead of revenue expectations.

It added boards and CEOs are much more willing to invest in technology that has a clear tie to business outcomes, and less so for everything else.

"Technology spending is entering a new build budget phase," said Gartner research VP, John-David Lovelock.

"CIOs are looking for partners who can think past the digital sprints of 2020 and be more intentional in their digital transformation efforts in 2021.

"This means building technologies and services that don't yet exist, and further differentiating their organisation in an already crowded market."

Gartner claims the IT services segment is among the top three highest growth areas for 2021 primarily due to a boost in infrastructure-as-a-service spending that supports mission critical workloads and avoids high on-premises costs.

Its data forecasts the IT services segment to total $1.2trn in 2021, a rise of 9.8 per cent from 2020.

Lovelock adds: "Digital transformation can no longer be purchased overnight, and global IT spending projections reflect that.

"As the world continues to open back up, enterprises will invest in tools that support innovation, anywhere operations and employee productivity and trust."

The analyst firm ranked ‘communications services' as the highest earning segment for 2021, with a predicted spend of $1.4trn, up 3.5 per cent from 2020.

It listed the 'devices' market as the highest growth area, forecasting a 13.9 per cent climb this year.

In 2022, Gartner predicts ‘communications services' to increase by another 2.6 per cent, with ‘enterprise software' seeing the most growth of 11.7 per cent ($669bn spending).