India’s IT spending is projected to grow 2.6 per cent in 2023, according to a forecast by Gartner Inc. Even with the looming tensions of global inflation and the weakening rupee, Indian businesses will continue to increase their spending in key segments of information technology next year, it said.
“Inflation has not impacted enterprise spending on technology globally, and India is no exception to this trend. The headwinds are in favour of technology as businesses realise how going digital can benefit them in the long run,” said Arup Roy, VP Analyst at Gartner.
Depending on the maturity level of the digital enterprise, the spending context may differ for different businesses, but overall technology spending will continue to be on the rise in 2023, he added.
Over the last three years, the Indian IT spending growth forecast has been declining. Gartner’s forecast for 2021 was 22.1 per cent, and in 2022 it was 1.9 per cent.
Weakening demand
Gartner forecasts weakening demand for devices in 2023 as upgrades stabilise. Spending on data center systems will also experience a decline as businesses opt for public cloud services. End-user spending on public cloud in India is forecast to grow 27 per cent in 2023. Except for data center systems and devices, all the other segments of IT spending will experience growth in India in 2023.
“As Indian organisations advance in their digital initiatives and maturity, they will need to elevate their cybersecurity focus or face severe business risk. Also, paucity of good-quality digital talent, technology, and management skills will continue to be some of the top challenges that CIOs in India face in 2023,” said Roy.
CIOs in India will need to be extremely creative about how they source talent, where they source it from, and how effectively they use those resources, the analyst firm added.