A new IT spending forecast released by Gartner indicates that worldwide IT spending will grow by 8.4% year-on-year to $4.1 trillion (£3tn) in 2021.

Gartner’s forecast showed that all IT spending segments are forecast to have grown this year, with the highest coming from devices (14%) and enterprise software (10.8%) as firms “shift their focus to providing a more comfortable, innovative and productive environment for their workforce”.

Additionally, there will be an increased focus on the employee experience and well-being, propelling technology investments forward in areas such as social software and collaboration platforms and human capital management (HCM) software.

Commenting on the research results, John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice-president at Gartner, said: “IT no longer just supports corporate operations as it traditionally has, but is fully participating in business value delivery.

“Not only does this shift IT from a back-office role to the front of 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.”

Gartner suggests that the focus for CIOs through the remainder of 2021 should be completing previously laid out digital business plans “aimed at enhancing, extending and transforming the company’s value proposition”.

Lovelock continued: “Last year, IT spending took the form of a ‘knee jerk’ reaction to enable a remote workforce in a matter of weeks. As hybrid work takes hold, CIOs will focus on spending that enables innovation, not just task completion.”

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Recovery across countries, vertical industries and IT segments still varies significantly, prompting a K-shape economic recovery, the released forecast says.

Spending in sectors such as banking and securities and insurance will “closely resemble” pre-pandemic levels as early as 2021, while retail and transportation won’t see the same recovery until closer to 2023.

Commenting on the Gartner data, Andy Dunbar, Services Director at SoftwareONE, said: “It’s unsurprising that IT spending is set to increase, as companies can’t afford to compromise on digital after the last 12 months that we’ve all experienced. In our hybrid world, enabling remote work, remote learning and increased online consumer services is central – all of which require tech spend.

“The good news is this urgency means you won’t have to convince the board to invest in IT – most have bought into the need for digitalisation. But spending the budget in the right places will determine success and that requires more than technology transformation; commercial transformation is fundamental too.

“Whether app modernisation, accelerating cloud migration, or spending more on security to protect the organisation, CIOs and IT leaders must work with finance and the C-suite to ensure tech investment is optimised and delivers maximum ROI.”