MENA Businesses are Poised to Spend on Tech

Organizations will need to make investments to increase their digital resiliency to manage storms of disruption and be better prepared to prosper in new market contexts as circumstances change.

FREMONT, CA: In the Middle East and North Africa, business investment in technology remains remarkably resilient. They are not scaling down their digital projects as the region's digital economy begins to take shape, despite several challenges like unstable demand, rising inflation, and supply chain uncertainty. According to an analysis, it provides economic stability. Companies' lessons from the recent epidemic and the 2008 financial crisis are what is driving their commitment to technology spending. Substantial decreases in tech spending were linked to businesses falling behind rivals after the economy recovered.

While businesses may cut back on expenditures in many areas during a recession, they frequently continue to make investments in technology to boost production and efficiency. Technology is still at the heart of business and growth. As businesses advance their digital transformation initiatives, there will likely be greater demand for IT services. Businesses that are in difficult economic times adjust their digital infrastructure to match changing requirements in order to survive.

In 2023, spending on telecommunications services will rise 3.6 per cent annually to $133.9 billion, while spending on IT is expected to rise 4.3 per cent over that same time period to $99.9 billion. Organizations will need to invest in bolstering their digital resilience to weather storms of disruption, so they are better positioned to compete in new market contexts as circumstances continue to change.

In recent years, technologies including cloud computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity software have proliferated. They are now viewed by businesses as essential instruments for doing business. Organizations have prioritized investment in AI technology and solutions to remain competitive since AI has significantly improved how businesses communicate with their consumers in real-time, manage operations, and assure business continuity.

Predictions indicate that spending on public cloud services will increase by 25 per cent this year, surpassing $10.4 billion, with software-as-a-service apps making up 43.2 per cent of this spending. While investment in AI will reach $7.9 billion this year, cloud-managed services will expand by over 16 per cent to hit $1 billion in 2023. Computing, networking, and storage capabilities as close as feasible to the endpoints that generate data are critical as businesses depend more and more on data analysis for real-time decision-making. For business efficiency and sustainability, network edge is increasingly a priority.

Operating robust, sustainable data centres is a top responsibility because businesses understand the value of managing data and effectively using its potential. The rise in ransomware attacks and other hacking methods over the past few years has also made data security a primary focus for more businesses throughout their budgeting procedures. Leading technology managers predict that the biggest expenditure in IT budgets will be cybersecurity.