Monday Morning Impact – February 6

Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow in 2023

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.5 trillion in 2023, an increase of 2.4% from 2022, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. This is down from the previous quarter’s forecast of 5.1% growth. While inflation continues to erode consumer purchasing power and drive device spending down, overall enterprise IT spending is expected to remain strong.

“Consumers and enterprises are facing very different economic realities,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “While inflation is devastating consumer markets, contributing to layoffs at B2C companies, enterprises continue to increase spending on digital business initiatives despite the world economic slowdown.

“A turbulent economy has changed the context of business decisions and can cause CIOs to become more hesitant, delay decisions or reorder priorities. We’ve seen this in action with the reshuffling taking place among some B2B companies, especially those that overinvested in growth. However, IT budgets are not driving these shifts, and IT spending remains recession-proof.”

The software and IT services segments are projected to grow 9.3% and 5.5% in 2023, respectively. The devices segment is forecast to decline 5.1% this year as both consumers and enterprises lengthen device refresh cycles.

Simultaneously as software spend continues to rise, the IT services market is growing as companies look to bring in outside IT staff for implementation and support. For example, spending on consulting is expected to reach $264.9 billion in 2023, a 6.7% increase from 2022.

“During the height of the pandemic, employees and consumers had technology refreshes of tablets, laptops and mobile phones due to remote work and education,” said Lovelock. “Without a compelling reason for an upgrade, device assets are being used longer and the market is suffering.”

Job vacancy rates have been increasing every quarter and the open jobs per unemployed rate is at record lows in many countries. High competition for talent is challenging CIOs to hire skilled IT staff, limiting growth for companies who struggle to scale without the necessary talent.

The most recent IT spending forecast research is available to Gartner clients in “Gartner Market Databook, 4Q22 Update.”

Channel Impact^®
While inflation is having adverse effects on consumer spending, channel partners are seeing opportunity at the enterprise level.

ServiceNow Rebuilds Partner Program to Accelerate Growth

ServiceNow has rolled out a major partner program transformation based on a multi-year vision to support an estimated $500 billion market opportunity for products and services available through the company. Highlights include a new Partner Development Fund among other incentives and benefits.

The company is creating four new modules in which partners can choose to participate: Build, Consulting & Implementation, Resale, and Service Provider. Through these modules, partners will be able to better align with specific roles and routes-to-market.

Qualifying partners will now have access to a new Partner Development Fund, a co-funded investment program, as well as simplified discounts and rebates intended to accelerate growth and profitability.

Key experience enhancements include an upgraded partner portal and an improved “partner finder” enabling customers to find the right partner to best suit their business needs by region, industry, or domain expertise.

As part of the program evolution, Erica Volini will succeed David Parsons, who has led the ServiceNow alliances and channel ecosystem organization since 2018.

The new ServiceNow Partner Program will be available for all partners in March.

Channel Impact^®
The company is embarking on a renewed focus to accelerate growth with partners in targeted markets.

TD Synnex Unveils New Fraud Defense Solution

TD Synnex has announced the launch of a new fraud defense solution integrating Microsoft Azure services for small and medium business (SMB) customers during a time of increasing threats within cloud environments. Marketed as “SMB Fraud Defense Click-to-Run,” the solution is intended to elevate security postures and reduce potential risks in day-to-day cloud operations through phishing prevention, proactive alerts, and warning signals. The solution integrates Microsoft Azure Active Directory, enabling the enforcement of Conditional Access policies. It also enables organizations to take advantage of Azure built-in cost management features.

“To further protect partners and customers against cyber threats, TD Synnex developed this simple to deploy pre-configured solution designed for SMB customers to help mitigate fraudulent attacks and elevate their Azure environment security posture,” said Ed Morales, the company’s global vice president of security and high-growth business development. “We have created a solution that leverages vendor native tooling to solve a real-world problem leveraging a practical approach equipping partners to provide their SMB customers with the first line of defense.”

“This solution will allow us to easily create consistent security and cost baselines for our customers in Azure, which as an MSP of many customers that consume Azure services, is vital to us,” said Steve Salmon, lead Azure architect at Managed 247. “Educating partners on the key benefits of Cost Management and Conditional Access will help prevent major issues for their customers in the future.”

Channel Impact^®
The solution is intended to provide a multi-layer defense for small and medium size businesses against cloud-based vulnerabilities