The October 2024 Macro Views survey, conducted from September 3rd to October 3rd, gathered responses from 1775 IT decision-makers, including participants from 282 Fortune 500 and 417 Global 2000 organizations. Among the respondents, 27% hold C-suite titles, and 49% are at the VP/Director level. Larger organizations accounted for 58% of respondents, while midsize and small organizations made up the remaining 42%. Check out highlights from the report below.
On average, IT spend for 2024 is expected to increase by 3.4% compared to 2023, in line with projections from the past six months. For 2025, the initial forecast is even more optimistic, with a projected 4.8% growth. Global 2000 companies are showing a slight upward trend in 2024 spending estimates, while smaller organizations are dialing back. Interestingly, C-suite respondents expect around 4.5% growth for 2024, which is higher than what VPs, directors, and practitioners are predicting. The C-suite is also projecting an even bigger jump for 2025, with an estimated 6.4% growth, compared to the overall 4.8%.
Only 20% of respondents plan to reduce spending by 1% or more, mainly by cutting staffing costs. Meanwhile, 69% are gearing up to increase IT spend by at least 1% this year, with the primary driver being the acceleration of new projects and cloud expansion. Additionally, vendor consolidation has become the second most popular way to reduce costs. Only 6% are increasing budgets to bring in new vendors, with most preferring to adopt new capabilities from existing ones or expand current vendors’ footprints.
When it comes to headcount, things are expected to stay relatively stable over the next six months, with more than half of the respondents projecting less than a ±4% change. However, Global 2000 organizations are a bit more cautious, expecting a slight dip of about 0.2%.
Next, we review projected spend by varying areas, including Services, Cloud, and Software. Outsourced services saw a 3.1% price increase, with 43% planning higher spending in 2025. Hardware prices rose by 2.6%, and spending is expected to grow by 2% in 2025, with 20% of respondents projecting significant increases. Cloud pricing has risen by 2.6% over the last six months, with 54% of respondents reporting price hikes. Cloud spending is expected to grow by 8.8% in 2025, with 72% of respondents planning to increase spend, and 39% anticipating a 10% or greater jump.
Meanwhile, Software pricing increased by 3.5%, the highest among categories, with 64% reporting hikes. In 2025, software spending is projected to rise by 3.4%, and respondents expect a 2.3% increase in software seat count over the next six months. However, Global 2000 companies predict a more conservative 0.7% seat count growth.
The full Macro Views data set, report, and findings webinar are all available on the ETR Platform for clients. If you would like to access these materials, please reach out to ETR and get started!