According to a recently published Spiceworks Ziff Davis survey of 1400+ IT professionals, security will take an outsized role in technology spending and is expected to edge into software, hardware, and cloud budgets in 2023.
This is largely because most companies are reacting to the prospects of a potential recession taking place – 83% of those surveyed admitted as much. The result: a cut back on discretionary spending and other areas of business while increasing funds for tech-focused budgets.
A closer look at the numbers
Cybersecurity will be chief among the line items in most 2023 IT budgets. 51% of survey respondents say they plan to increase IT budgets next year; just 6% said they plan to cut back on tech spending.
Security is expected to consume 7% of hardware spending and 6% of cloud spending, per the report. Security and business applications will share the top spot in managed IT services budgets, each with an 11% share.
The total spend on software is expected to be 28% of most 2023 IT budgets. This will be topped only by hardware, which is expected to come in at a 30% share. Cloud-based and managed services account for the remaining share of tech budgets.
For the solution provider, it is worth noting that when it comes to outsourcing IT, managed services spending will account for 18% of IT budgets in 2023; that’s up from 15% in 2020.
Security as a means for defense and success
Security is also ranked as one of the top use cases for AI technologies, reflecting a broad prioritization of cyber. During a SpiceWorld 2022 panel discussion, Peter Tsai, senior technology analyst at Spiceworks Ziff Davis, offered the following reflection: “If you look across all of these categories, security is a line item in all of them. If you add all of them up, security is one of the top standing areas overall.”
The focus on security is, in part, a learned behavior at many companies. Modernization has taught companies that cyber spend is a smart investment. As companies survey tomorrow’s threat landscape, if you will, they must consider the costs of security breaches and deploy software and hardware to mitigate risk. Additionally, investments in recruiting and upskilling cyber talent must be added to the final total for security budgeting.
To learn more, read the study in full: The 2023 State of IT | SWZD’s Annual Report on IT Budgets and Tech Trends
