This week, Spiceworks Ziff Davis announced its annual 2022 State of IT study examining technology budget shifts and emerging technology adoption trends in organizations across North America and Europe.  To learn more, VMblog spoke to Peter Tsai, SWZD Senior Technology Analyst.

VMblog:  Spiceworks just released the results of their annual "State of IT" report.  Can you give readers an overview about the study and what it covers?

Peter Tsai:  Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD) publishes the State of IT report every year to offer insights into forward-looking IT budget plans and technology adoption trends. As remote work becomes a permanent feature of the corporate landscape, The 2022 State of IT also covers IT career shifts during the pandemic and beyond.

VMblog:  How many people did the study survey and what were their demographics?

Tsai:  SWZD conducted the research in July 2021 and our survey included more than 1,100 IT buyers representing organizations across North America and Europe. Respondents work in companies of different sizes - ranging from SMBs to enterprises -and in a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, non-profits, education, government, and finance.

VMblog:  What were some of the most significant findings in this year's report and why?

Tsai:  Organizations are more optimistic now than they have been in the last two years. Following a year of relatively flat revenues and modest budget growth, the 2022 State of IT data shows statically significant shifts: 61% of companies expect revenues to grow YoY and 53% plan to increase the size of IT budgets in 2022.

Pandemic-induced challenges caused many businesses to cut back on non-essential spending plans in 2021, but as many businesses consider their priorities and needs in an increasingly remote and hybrid future, they're even more willing to invest than they were before the pandemic.

Primary drivers of spending in 2022 will include an increased priority on IT projects, and need to upgrade outdated tech infrastructure, and increased security concerns. We also expect the share of IT budgets allocated to cloud and managed services to grow going forward, taking share from on-premises hardware and software spending as more workloads move to the cloud.

VMblog: Are there any major differences between the current study and last year's report? 

Tsai:  Yes. Going into 2021, business plans to adopt emerging technologies dropped significantly YoY, as companies prioritized more pressing issues, including as supporting and securing a newly remote workforce. As they plan for 2022, organizations expect to reinvigorate modernization efforts. Emerging tech adoption plans - especially for modern security solutions - have increased significantly YoY.

VMblog:  Were there any unexpected results that surprised your team?

Tsai:  Apart from the significant increases in expected revenues and tech spending, we saw big shifts in the IT job market. For example, 72% of IT professionals said the shift to remote work created additional work for IT departments. The good news is that many organizations have plans to grow to help support workers both at home and in the office.

In 2022, 40% of companies plan to expand the ranks of their IT staff. Enterprises (500+ employees) are even more likely to hire, with 61% expecting to onboard additional IT staff in 2022, compared to only 30% of SMBs (1-499 employees). 

VMblog:  What career changes will result from the shift to work from home?

Tsai:  The shift to remote work will shake up the IT labor market. One quarter of the IT workforce expects to look for a new role, change jobs, or switch careers in 2022. Among IT professionals seeking a new job in 2022, 86% will consider remote roles, which could increase competition for talent within the industry.

In 2022, 31% of IT pros in Gen Z plan to search for a new tech job, compared to 13% of IT pros in other generations. Members of Gen Z are also significantly more likely to switch to a career outside of tech (15%) than IT pros in other generations (6%).

VMblog:  What new or ongoing challenges do you expect based on your findings?  

Tsai:  While they're optimistic about rising company revenues and tech budgets, businesses also expect to continue to face issues emerging during the pandemic. Among businesses planning to increase IT spend in 2022, 22% cited inflation as a driving factor.

When buying IT hardware, software, and services in 2022, approximately 40% of IT departments expect to deal with the following: limited product availability, shipping delays or logistical problems, supply chain issues, increases in product costs, and chip shortages. Additionally, 22% of businesses expect to encounter difficulties when provisioning employees working from home.

VMblog:  Finally, where can readers go to find out more about the report?

Tsai:  You can read the full 2022 State of IT report at swzd.com/resources/state-of-it.

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