The latest Gartner report has revealed the expected growth in IT spending this year and tips to chief information officers (CIOs).
Worldwide IT spending is projected to reach $5,617.795 billion in 2025, reflecting a 9.8 percent increase from $5,114.771 billion in 2024. The spending on IT rose 7.7 percent in 2024, the report indicated.
While budgets for CIOs are increasing, a significant portion will merely offset price increases within their recurrent spending. Gartner did not reveal the expected hike in price in each segments.
“This means that, in 2025, nominal spending versus real IT spending will be skewed, with price hikes absorbing some or all of budget growth. All major categories are reflecting higher-than-expected prices, prompting CIOs to defer and scale back their true budget expectations,” John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, said.
Spending on Data Center Systems will reach $405.505 billion in 2025 from $329.132 billion in 2024. The expected growth in Data Center Systems market will be 23.2 percent in 2025 vs 39.4 percent in 2024.
Spending on devices will reach $810.234 billion in 2025 from $734.162 billion in 2024. The anticipated growth in devices market will be 10.4 percent as compared with 6 percent in 2024.
Spending on Software will reach $1,246.842 billion in 2025 from $1,091.569 billion in 2024. The expected growth in Software market will be 14.2 percent in 2025 as against 12 percent in 2024.
Spending on IT Services will reach $1,731.467 billion in 2025 from $1,588.121 billion in 2024. IT Services market will grow at 9 percent in 2025 as compared with 5.6 percent in 2024.
Spending on Communications Services will reach $1,423.746 billion in 2025 from $1,371.787 billion in 2024. Communications Services will be growing at 3.8 percent in 2025 against 2.3 percent in 2024.
Major IT categories will experience higher-than-expected prices, prompting CIOs to temper their budget plans. Generative AI (GenAI) is driving hardware upgrades, boosting growth in data center systems, devices, and software. However, these upgrades lack distinctive functionality due to GenAI’s current maturity stage.
Spending on AI-optimized servers will double that of traditional servers, hitting $202 billion in 2025. Hyperscalers and IT services firms will dominate spending, with hyperscalers expected to manage $1 trillion in AI-optimized servers by 2028, marking a shift toward the AI model market.
Rajani Baburajan
