Forrester is forecasting that by 2017, 31% of all purchases of technology goods and services by US governments and businesses will be on business technology (BT) — customer-facing products and services such as CRM, web content management, eCommerce storefronts, marketing automation, and customer analytics. What’s more is that overall BT spending will rise by 10% or more per year and comprise over half of new product purchases in 2015.

In contrast, spending on traditional IT, which includes traditional hardware, networking, software, and services, will remain stagnant with 2% to 4% growth per year through 2017. The takeaway reinforces what Forrester has been saying in the market: As customers become more powerful and new digital business models emerge, CIOs will have to shift their emphasis to the technologies that focus on the end customer.

Learn more about the research here.