ICT spending in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) is forecast to total $243 billion in 2017.
This is according to the latest report by International Data Corporation (IDC). The global technology research and consulting services firm says it expects the region's ICT market to grow 3.6% year on year in 2017.
While this is down on previous forecasts, it still represents a considerable improvement on the 1.6% year-on-year growth that is anticipated for the current year, notes IDC.
"There's no doubt that 2016 has been a particularly challenging year, characterised by currency volatility, weak oil and commodity prices, and a subsequent softening of government spend," says Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC's group vice president and regional managing director for META.
"And while these issues will continue to linger, we expect organisations to start pushing ahead with their planned technology investments as the 'wait-and-watch' period draws to a close. Digital transformation initiatives will top the CIO agenda in 2017, as emerging technologies are increasingly leveraged in an effort to drive desired business outcomes."
IDC expects the markets of SA ($10.5 billion), Saudi Arabia ($7.5 billion), the UAE ($6.2 billion), and Turkey ($5.6 billion) to once again lead the way in terms of IT spending in 2017 as 3rd platform technologies like cloud, big data, social, and mobility become investment imperatives and dominate the ICT decision-making agenda.
According to Gartner, SA's IT spending is forecast to total R272 billion in 2016, a 3.8% increase from 2015. Software spending is on pace to exhibit its highest ever year-on-year growth in 2016, at 11.4%.
"Last year we witnessed an 8% increase in overall IT spending by South African organisations, and in 2016 companies are maintaining this, prioritising software," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.
Morteza Safai, channel head of SAP Africa, says South African SMEs with 1 to 1 000 employees will spend an estimated 75 million euros on software licences and 37 million euros on cloud subscriptions in 2016. The annual growth rate is estimated to be 10% for software licences and 30% for cloud subscriptions, he explains.
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