Cloud Computing, Big Data and Smart Mobile Apps to Drive IT Spending in 2014

Big bucks continue to be spent on hardware and software, with a marked increase in cloud services, according to a new report.

Forrester Research has provided some insight into what to expect as IT looks into the near future. What the research company finds as 2014 approaches is a mix of growth here in the United States, some concern in Europe as IT leaders continue to face economic uncertainty and steady growth in Asia, South America and the Middle East.

Forrester released the data of its annual survey on IT spending worldwide and detected areas with higher spending, including apps and tablets. The survey also found growing reliance on cloud computing systems in the enterprise.

Forrester Research’s annual report on worldwide IT spending split the amount of $2.06 trillion spent this year from businesses and governments between hardware, software and services related to the IT world. CIOs and IT decision-makers plan their biggest software spending increases in mobile applications and middleware, analytics, security, and collaboration software, according to an article on CloudTimes.org.

Software registered the largest share of tech spending in 2013 and companies will continue to spend in this segment particularly on smart and cloud computing in 2014. While investment in legacy applications (both desktop and server) begins to languish, most investment moves towards cloud computing solutions, SaaS solutions development and towards the smart computing, i.e. Big Data and mobile application development.

Software market spending increased to $542 billion in total investment. The market will grow by 3.3% this year and then surge 6.2% in 2014, not impressive but still stronger than any other technology category.

The mobile software and mobile apps segment is growing as consumers are now more inclined to tablets. Tablets market will grow by 36% this year with a turnover of $21 billion, dominated by Apple, Samsung and Microsoft.

CIOs in different regions of the world will generally match changes in their budgets to local economic conditions. Purchases of IT goods and services in 2013 and 2014 will grow, stay flat or decline depending on location, Forrester writes in its report.

CIOs in the U.S. should plan for 5% to 6% growth in tech buying in 2013 and 2014; those in Europe will generally make lower IT purchases in 2013, rebounding to small increases in 2014.

In Canada, Japan, Australia, and India, modest rises are in store. In China, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, growth rates will be in the high single digits, though lower than their peaks in 2011. In general, CIOs will focus their biggest spending increases on software, where growth globally will be 5.7% in 2013 and 7.3% in 2014. Analytics and applications in general and SaaS applications in particular will attract the fastest growth of any IT spending category.

IT consulting and implementation services will also rise in line with higher software spending. Computer equipment spending will lag, with the exception of tablets and Apple PCs. Spending on IT outsourcing will grow more slowly than the overall tech market, and communications equipment will be weak.

Patrick Burke is a writer and editor based in the greater New York area and occasionally blogs for Rackspace Hosting