The Continuous Rise of Technology

Total IT spending in 2014 will top $3.75 trillion worldwide, representing a 2.1 percent growth rate growth over 2013. Stripping out the impact of exchange rate movements, the corresponding constant-currency growth figure is 2.8 percent.

As the global economy continues its recovery, these growth figures for the near-term outlook may seem somewhat anemic. So what’s going on?

The economy is slowly making a rebound, with the unemployment rate stubbornly holding at just under the 6 percent mark, but spending on information technology services and the related job growth are rising nicely.

As a result, CIOs and IT executives report 2014 is shaping up to be a positive one for them. Spending is rising in budgets and IT’s percentage of overall spending, according to the 34th annual IT Trends Survey by the Society for Information Management (SIM). Nearly 600 IT leaders responded to the survey, thus giving a clear view of the state of IT departments and issues in 2013.

We see 2013 through 2015 as transition years. Many new technologies and offerings are disrupting the technology landscape. Mobile device innovations have made headlines for the past five years, and while mobile phones may no longer be a source of game changing innovation, wearable technology is. Cloud software, and even software hosting to an extent, have disrupted the normal purchasing patterns in the enterprise software market.

Cloud computing continues to become more widely adopted, with 81 percent of IT leaders surveyed saying their organizations are using the cloud. Some organizations are further along than others, with 27 percent of companies obtaining at least 30 percent of their IT services in the cloud, and 51 percent obtaining 10 percent or less through the cloud, according to the survey. And concerns are still out there regarding cloud security, mobile adoption and finding the right IT talent. These appear to be the biggest areas of concern for IT leaders.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the future of the economy, interest rates, the impact of the Affordable Care Act, one thing for sure—investments in technology continue to be a cornerstone of all businesses. And that is not likely to change any time soon.