Gartner Predicts a Surge in Global IT Spend for 2024.

The buzz at this year’s Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo surrounded the Gartner prediction of 8% growth in global IT spending for 2024, translating to a staggering total of $4.5 trillion.

That’s $330 billion of additional investment in digital evolution over 2023, which was already a big year of technology advancement. Where is all of this money going and how will it effect the business landscape?

Companies are on a mission to revamp their digital roots, with hardware and software investments soaring by 10% and 12% respectively.

To paint that in numbers, that’s an increase of $720 billion and $590 billion in each category. Picture pristine new servers, cutting-edge software streamlining operations, and businesses finally updating some of their oldest technology stacks to a more sleek, modernized approach. Innovation starts with better tools.

When it comes to technology, new tools translate to improvements and updates to the hardware and software you’ve used for ages. Technology continues to change, but businesses are investing more into keeping up and staying ahead of these changes more each year.

Cloud spending is set to jump 20%, hitting roughly $340 billion. This growth is due to an increase in agility, scalability, and business continuity.

Cloud services are no longer a luxury solution that costs an enormous sum to set up and maintain. As cloud solutions continue to improve, they also become more accessible. This accessibility comes with security improvements as well, though these aren’t exclusive to cloud.

Data breaches are the horror stories of the digital age, and organizations are understanding more than ever the impact that one bad day can have on their business. Cybersecurity spending is projected to surge by 15% this year, reaching $150 billion. Cybersecurity is built on the foundation of creating a solid fortress to protect your data and the data of your customers. Cyber criminals are constantly improving their tools to break down the security barriers of businesses everywhere, whether they are using in-house solutions or the cloud. It’s only fair that we invest in protective services to outpace them.

Investments in AI, IoT, and blockchain are all forecasted to skyrocket by 20% or more this year.

From a monetary standpoint, AI is set to spend nearly $50 billion, IoT will be crossing the $100 billion threshold, and blockchain investment is projected to hit $5 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2023. The advancements causing these forecasts include robots revolutionizing industries, sensors weaving a web of interconnectedness, and blockchain ensuring transparency and security.

Just recently in November, Microsoft unveiled the capabilities of their new AI solution, Copilot, that is set to take businesses by storm in the coming years as a fully adaptive AI assistant. The future is digital, and it’s coming faster every day.

Financial institutions are leading the charge with a 12% IT spending hike, followed by healthcare at 10% and manufacturing at 9%. Fintech and healthcare deal with client data more so than other industries, requiring a greater degree of data security and constantly on the lookout for more convenient solutions to speed up their processes and make their lives and their clients lives easier.

The projected 8% growth in global IT spending is a resounding vote of confidence in the power of tech to drive success.

In 2024, expect a wave of digital innovation that will reshape industries. This growth is continuing a trend that spans decades, but while some previous years have seen slower growth patterns, 2024 is shaping up to be a year of uninhibited growth. $4.5 trillion is a record amount and this is hardly the lowest it will be in the future.

As technology advances and businesses keep up with the latest trends, Microsoft is also doing their part to keep their services as up to date as possible. New problems and slower solutions are sure to meet anyone unfortunate enough to still be using Microsoft Premier/Unified in the next few years.

If you want an alternative solution that understands the latest Microsoft technologies and can help you save money each year through improves support options, look to US Cloud. 97% of our clients have saved 30% or more on their IT budget in the past year, with that last 3% still saving more than if they were working with Microsoft. Go into the new year with confidence that your Microsoft support won’t let you down. For faster Microsoft support for less, US Cloud has you covered.