CV_Fall_21

A nalysts at Computer Economics suggest we could be heading toward a remarkable bounce back from the onset of the worldwide pandemic in 2020. According to the report, 75 percent of companies this year are poised to increase their IT operational budgets, a record in the cloud era. Organizations across nearly every sector and company size are planning IT budget increases in line with pre-COVID-19 economic conditions. What’s more, most companies are increasing their capital budgets for the first time in eight years. Midsize and large companies are a little more bullish, but growth is broad across all company sizes. Midsize and large companies are expecting IT operational budget growth of 3 percent at the median. Small compa- nies are reporting a 2.5 percent increase at the median. Even though IT staff head counts have not increased significantly during the past decade due to the efficien - cies brought on by the cloud, the report shows that software as a service (SaaS) and automation are further signs of a rebounding economy, and that most IT organi- zations are planning modest head count growth. The report notes businesses expect increases in spending on digital transformation, SaaS, cloud infrastruc- ture and data analytics, indicating IT organizations are not holding back on new investments, and they see a clear path toward a digital future. Not surprisingly, cloud tops spending priorities, a continuing trend from recent years. Cloud applications and cloud infrastructure lead the way. A net 79 percent of survey respondents are increasing their spending in cloud applications. Cloud infrastructure spending is set at 70 percent. By Bruce Christian IT SPENDING BOUNCE BACK BUYERS SIDE 74 CHANNEL V ISION | Fall 2021