IT spending to reach $330.4 bn by 2017; purchases shifting to CMO, CFO

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International Data Corporation (IDC) announced a new report, "United States Technology Buyer Forecast by Vertical: 2012 to 2017," which examines technology spending by 12 buying segments and how this new technology purchasing behavior differs by 15 vertical industries. According to the new report, the business technology spending market will grow at 6.9% 5 year CAGR from $236.6 billion in 2012 to $330.7 billion by 2017, while enterprise IT grows slowly at a 1.9% 5 year CAGR from $213.0 billion to 233.5 billion over the same forecast period.

"Business funded technology is expected to reach $275.2 b in 2014, accounting for 55% of total United States technology spending"
The new forecast quantifies how much money business areas including Accounting, Finance, Billing, Customer Service, Engineering, Architecture & Research, Human Resources, Industry Specific Operations, IT, Legal, Marketing, Other Horizontal Operations, Sales, Security and Risk and Supply Chain Management are spending on technology, and how this new paradigm differs by industry. Key findings include:

  • Business funded technology is expected to reach $275.2 billion in 2014, accounting for 55% of total technology spending. Industry specific operation is the largest business line, capturing approximately 45% of total business funded technology in 2014
  • Enterprise IT spending is growing only at a 1.8% 5 year CAGR, far below the overall 5 year technology CAGR of 4.6%. Only healthcare enterprise IT is growing faster (than overall technology spending.
  • Marketing is the fastest growing functional area, growing at a 5 year CAGR of 9.5%, reaching nearly $26 billion by 2017. The marketing function within the Communications and Media industry will spend the most on marketing in 2014, with the retail vertical growing the fastest over the forecast period (11.2% 5 year CAGR).

"The connection between technology and business is accelerating at lightening pace as business users adopt what IDC refers to as the 'four pillars' cloud, social, mobile, and analytics. Investments in these key areas are driving business funded technology to reach $275.2 billion in the United States in 2014, accounting for 55% of total technology spending," said Eileen Smith, Program Manager, Global Technology and Industry Research Organization.

The aforementioned "four pillars" are transforming business processes including the technology purchase decision and budget holder. According to the new report, buying power in technology purchases is shifting from CIOs to CMOs, CFOs, VPs of sales, and other line executives. This transformation has immense implications on the selling, marketing and delivering of technologies. Developing a specific set of messages for each of the stakeholders in the buying process, including the CIO and CMO, CFO, and other lines of business executives is fundamental to tapping into these new buying centers.

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