IT spending in EMEA is forecast to total $1.075tn in 2021, an increase of 2.8% from 2020, according to the latest forecast by Gartner. IT spending in the region is expected to have declined 6.5% in 2020.
“The combined effects of Brexit and the COVID-19 public health interventions will cause IT spending in EMEA to decline in 2020,” said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice president at Gartner.
“Before the pandemic, most organizations moved their digital strategies forward at a steady pace. The way forward in 2021 is for organizations is to increase, rather than decrease, the speed of their digital business initiatives and fund those initiatives by diverting funds from other areas of IT.”
Gartner analysts are discussing the macroeconomic trends affecting the IT market in EMEA during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo EMEA, which is taking place virtually this week.
The speed at which remote working is occurring varies considerably around the world depending on IT adoption, culture, and mix of industries. The US will lead in terms of remote workers in 2021, accounting for 52% of the US workforce. Across Europe, UK remote workers will represent 48% of its workforce in 2021, while remote workers in Germany and France will account for 38% and 34%, respectively.
Investments in delivering technologies to support remote workers will fuel spending on these technologies in EMEA by 5% in 2021. EMEA organizations will increase their total spending on collaboration and content platforms (17%), security software (11%) and cloud conferencing unified communications (4%) in 2021.
Spending across all segments is expected to decline in 2020. However, in 2021, as organizations start reconfiguring their business and operating models for a new reality, companies will increase their spending levels and shift the areas they are spending in.
Organizations have to respond to the public health interventions caused by COVID-19. One part of those efforts will be in spending on devices 2021. Devices spending by EMEA organizations will move from a decline of 15.1% 2020 to an increase of 1.7% in 2021. Thin and light notebooks spending is on pace to grow 10% and desktop-as-a-service platforms spending will achieve a steep increase of 60% in EMEA in 2021.
“The pandemic has forced employers to adopt remote working, turning it into a strategic workforce policy,” said Ranjit Atwal, research vice president at Gartner. “Mobile PCs are a necessity for remote work and EMEA organizations will re-focus some spending on mobile PCs.”
