Almost two-thirds of IT leaders in Nordic countries are confident that they will have more money to spend this year, with investments planned in technologies that enable businesses to transform digitally.
According to the Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities 2020 survey, 60% of IT decision-makers at organisations in the Nordic countries expect a bigger IT budget this year.
As a region known for pioneering digital technology, it is no surprise that organisations in the Nordics are further ahead on digital transformation that their peers in other regions. And the effect this has on IT budgets is clear.
While organisations in other regions at a more nascent stage of their transformation, such as those in Benelux and the Middle East, are spending on the underlying infrastructure to support digital working, many in the Nordics are at the next stage, and are investing in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to transform their businesses’ operations.
With a significant proportion (60%) of respondent organisations in the Nordics at either the mid (37%) or advanced (23%) stage of their digital transformation, they are planning to increase spending on optimising the initial technology infrastructure. Meanwhile, organisations at an advanced stage of digital transformation have completed their infrastructure modernisation and are ready to spend on the latest digital technologies that sit on top.
By comparison, organisations at an early stage in their digital transformation are more likely to increase their budget in areas such as modenising networks and deploying cloud infrastructures.
For example, 37% of respondents in the Nordics expect budget increases for building new apps in-house and 33% expect more money to be available for AI and machine learning.
According to the survey, 46% of respondents will implement activities to support increased use of automation and AI.
At the same time, these technologies will require new skillsets, which explains why 37% of respondents expect to have a bigger budget for new staff.
However, the survey also revealed some caution, with a significant 22% expecting budgets to decline, while 18% expect no change.
