IT spending in Thailand is expected to surge by 4.9% this year, buoyed by a jump in outlays on enterprise software and devices to support remote work, according to global research firm Gartner.
Of the total IT spend, enterprise software is forecast to see the strongest growth of 13.2%, followed by devices with growth of 11.3% as "remote work support is expanded and improved", Gartner said in a statement.
Overall IT spending is forecast to reach 680 billion baht in 2021, up from 648 billion in 2020. The outlay is predicted to surge 5.7% to 718 billion baht in 2022.
In 2021, communications services are expected to see the biggest IT spend at 364 billion baht, up 1.6% from a year before. The outlay in this segment is projected to remain substantial in 2022 with 379 billion baht forecast to be spent.
At the global level, IT spend is projected to surge 8.4% year-on-year to US$4 trillion in 2021 and expected to jump 5.5% to $4.2 trillion in 2022.
"IT no longer just supports corporate operations as it traditionally did but it is fully involved in business value delivery," said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice-president at Gartner.
"Not only does this shift IT from a back-office role to the front of a business but it also changes the source of funding from an overhead expense that is maintained, monitored and sometimes cut, to the thing that drives revenue."
In 2021, the biggest growth in global IT spending is expected to come from devices with an increase of 14% to $755 billion, followed by enterprise software with a jump of 10.8% to $516 billion.
This comes as organisations shift their focus to provide a more comfortable, innovative and productive environment to their employees, he said.
Throughout the rest of this year, the focus for chief information officers (CIOs) will be completing digital business plans geared towards enhancing and transforming the company's value proposition, he said.
"Last year, IT spending took the form of a 'knee-jerk' reaction to enable a remote workforce in a matter of weeks. However, as hybrid work takes hold, CIOs will focus on spending that enables innovation and not just task completion," said Mr Lovelock.