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No sooner had I given my session at MSPWorld on IT spending (largely based on Gartner's forecast numbers) than I read a story in the Wall Street Journal saying that Gartner has revised it's spending forecast. Instead of predicting a .5% increase, the research firm is now saying we will have a decline of .5% this year.
And yet, somehow I am not worried or concerned by this news. Sound crazy? Not at all. I'll explain.
The currency fluctuations witnessed globally in 2015 are still with us. Largely impacting spending in countries like China, Brazil, and Russia, the modest decline in total IT spending can actually be good news for MSPs.
As capital assets become tougher to acquire, alternatives such as "as a service" business models become very attractive to customers seeking to preserve cash and stretch their IT budgets. This economic condition has traditionally been very good for MSPs positioned to help clients transfer capital intensive hardware and software purchases into operational expensed managed services.
VARs Beware
VARs dependent on reselling devices should take note. 2016 will not be a good year. Gartner predicts that device spending will decline by 3.7%, the largest of the 5 IT segments it tracks. IT services spending, on the other hand, is projected to grow by 2.1%.