Australian IT spending pegged to grow 4.1% in 2021

Australian technology spending is on track to grow 4.1% this year to $98.3 billion, bouncing back from a 1.1% decline last year, according to Gartner.

The research firm expects IT spending for the year to exceed pre-pandemic levels as companies invest in digital transformation to adapt to the new post-COVID normal.

Devices will be the fastest growing category, Gartner said, with total spending on track to grow 9% to $15.14 billion. This will be followed by enterprise software spending, which is expected to grow 7.3% to $19.62 billion.

But all categories are expected to increase, with IT services spending set to grow 2.7% to $34.71 billion, remaining the largest segment of the market. Communications services spending is anticipated to grow 1.3% to $25.71 billion, with data centre systems spending tracking to grow 0.4% to $3.06 billion.

By 2022, enterprise software is expected to take over as the fastest growing category, with Gartner projecting a further 10.1% growth. This will be followed by IT services (4.9%), data centre systems (3%), devices (2.2%) and communications services (1.7%).

“Last year, IT spending [in Australia] took the form of a knee-jerk reaction to enable a remote workforce in a matter of weeks,” Gartner Distinguished Research Vice President John-David Lovelock commented.

“As hybrid work takes hold, CIOs will focus on spending that enables innovation, not just task completion.”

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