Forrester predicts no boom or bust for global tech spending in 2016 but moderate growth. Global tech spending will increase to $2.9 trillion, an increase of 4.5% as measured in constant- or local-currency terms. This continues the trend of 4% to 5% growth but is down from Forrester’s August 2015 forecast, which projected 5.6% growth. The drop in the forecast is due to weaker growth in Europe, Brazil, China, and the Middle East.

At the country level, the US still ranks as the largest tech market, with China in second place at about one-fifth the size. Japan is in third place, barely ahead of the UK. Germany and France still hold fifth and sixth place.

For the first time, Forrester’s forecast includes telecom services, which has the largest share of the tech market. Software is the next largest segment, powered by cloud and analytics. Businesses will focus their spending on business technology (BT) that helps their firms win, serve, and retain customers. Overall, the BT agenda will account for more than half of total new project spending and more than a quarter of total tech spending in 2016 and 2017.

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