3% IT budget increases fueled by AI, security, networking

How they plan to spend their IT dollar is also of note, with respondents indicating they will invest in technologies ranging from AI to data center automation, according to Avasant. More than 68% of companies report they plan to increase their IT spending on AI, as well as two infrastructure areas that power AI—the network and data analytics. Survey respondents shared their spending priorities by IT initiative:

• Artificial intelligence: 68%
• Data analytics/business intelligence: 68%
• Legacy systems: 57%
• Disaster recovery/business continuity: 48%
• Data center automation: 48%
• Blockchain: 44%
• Internet of Things: 42%
• Advanced networking: 41%
• Metaverse: 37%
• Virtual reality/augmented reality: 36%

Network budgets set to increase

Separately, Open Systems commissioned Osterman Research to survey 200 IT leaders in the U.S. about their priorities, challenges, and budgets related to SASE and network transformation. Open Systems’ 2025 IT infrastructure Report found that 71% of organizations are increasing their overall IT budgets over the next 12 months, with 79% reporting they would be increasing their cloud infrastructure budget. More than 70% also noted they would be increasing their network budgets, and 70% intend to increase their budgets around security, according to the report.

The report found that regulatory compliance, cloud adoption, and digital transformation initiatives are key drivers of networking investments. According to the Open Systems report, organizations planning to significantly increase their budget indicated the following drivers: