Canadian IT Spending to Grow 1.1% in 2019

Canadian IT spending is projected to total $87.8 billion in 2019, an increase of 1.1% year over year, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. This is down from 3.5% growth in 2018. Global IT spending is also forecast to grow 1.1% in 2019, reaching $3.79 trillion.

“Uncertain economic and political environments and trade wars are slowing growth in IT spending in Canada in 2019,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. “Specifically, steel and aluminum tariffs, uncertainty around car manufacturing, continuing problems in the country’s oil industry and indecision around the pending trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are some of the impacts affecting IT spending. However, we expect some of that uncertainty to be resolved by 2020 and IT spending is expected to pick up.”

Gartner analysts are discussing the emerging trends that are driving digital transformation and IT spending this week during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo here through Thursday.

Although Canadian organizations are not as far along in their digital journey as their global counterparts, their use of cloud services is only second to the U.S. “We are seeing an increased investment in off-premises capabilities and decreased investment in on-premises capabilities,” said Mr. Lovelock.

This is reflected in the flat growth for data center systems in 2019 and the strong growth for enterprise software in 2019 and 2020 (see Table 1). The largest cloud shift has so far occurred in application software and that segment is poised for continued strong growth. Gartner also expects increased growth for the infrastructure software segment over the forecast period.

Table 1. Canadian IT Spending Forecast (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
		2018 Spending		2018 Growth (%)		2019 Spending		2019 Growth (%)		2020  Spending		2020  Growth (%)
Data Center Systems		4,963		7.3		4,966		0.0		4,892		-1.4
Enterprise Software		13,020		15.0		13,867		6.5		15,065		8.6
Devices		11,266		-5.4		11,238		-0.2		10,975		-2.3
IT Services		24,560		4.7		25,019		1.8		26,129		4.4
Communications Services		34,023		1.5		33,704		-0.9		34,177		1.4
Overall IT		87,833		3.5		88,763		1.1		91,238		2.8
Source: Gartner (June 2019)

“The choices CIOs make about technology investments are essential to the success of digital business. Disruptive emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), will reshape business models as well as the economics of public- and private-sector enterprises. Investment in AI, for example, has experienced a huge jump from 2018, and AI will have a major effect on IT spending,” said Mr. Lovelock. “Gartner’s 2019 CIO Agenda Survey showed that 24% of Canadian CIOs plan to increase investment in AI, up from 2% in 2018. Additionally, Gartner’s AI business value forecast predicts that Canadian organizations will receive $36 billion worth of benefit from the use of AI this year alone.”

More detailed analysis on the outlook for the IT industry is available in the complimentary webinar “IT Spending Forecast, 1Q19 Update: AI — Use it, Build it or Sell it.”

Gartner’s IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of sales by thousands of vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast.

The Gartner quarterly IT spending forecast delivers a unique perspective on IT spending across the hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications segments. These reports help Gartner clients understand market opportunities and challenges. The most recent IT spending forecast research is available to Gartner clients in “Gartner Market Databook, 1Q19 Update.” This quarterly IT Spending Forecast page includes links to the latest IT spending reports, webinars, blog posts and press releases.

Source: Gartner