Total spending on information and commerce technologies is expected to rise at a moderate pace in the United States this year and next, and most of the increase will be in the commerce area—technology like e-commerce and digital marketing systems that enable companies to interact online with other companies, Forrester Research Inc. says.
A new report Forrester released today from lead author Andrew Bartels, a Forrester vice president and principal analyst serving chief information officers, projects that overall technology spending will increase 4.3% this year over 2015 and 5.1% in 2017 over 2016.
But the report notes that within those moderate increases, spending on “business technology”—items like customer-facing Internet commerce servers, customer relationship management systems and online marketing platforms—will increase 9.9% and 8.9%, to $459 billion and $500 billion, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. By comparison, Forrester forecasts that spending on “information technology,” or the back-end systems that support a company’s internal operations, will grow at rates of 1.9% and 3.3%, to $994 billion and $1.026 trillion. Much of the growth in the latter area will go to support expanded business technology systems.
“In the age of the customer, CIOs must prioritize technologies that help firms win, serve, and retain customers,” the report says, adding: “CEO caution does not apply to client-related technology spending.”
Forrester, which based its forecasts on government economic reports along with its own research, doesn’t identify any companies in its report. But several companies will share their technology strategies for e-commerce and digital marketing at several conferences over the next several weeks, and our editorial staff at B2BecNews and B2BeCommerceWorld.com will be reporting on several of these conferences and sharing the insights of many of the companies presenting.
This week, for example, companies like Caterpillar, Coca-Cola and Hewlett Packard will present at the B2B Online conference in Chicago. Next week, three technology conferences hosted by business software technology vendors—NetSuite, SAP and IBM—will feature the B2B e-commerce strategies of such companies as pharmaceutical provider Qiagen; medical technology manufacturer Becton, Dickinson & Co.; steel supplier Steel and Pipe Supply; GE Oil & Gas; and Husqvarna Group, a manufacturer of power equipment like garden tractors and chain saws. In another presentation, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario will discuss how it developed a B2B e-commerce network to connect commercial beer breweries with retail stores.
And from June 7 through 10, the B2B Workshop at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, or IRCE, will feature presentations from such companies as industrial electronics supplier Newark element 14, consumer products distributor Evergreen Enterprises, and office supplies manufacturer and distributor Tops Products, a unit of printing company RR Donnelley. Executives from these companies will discuss such strategies as making e-commerce sites easier to use by purchasers, empowering field sales reps with mobile commerce devices, and managing product information to ensure online merchandising and marketing operate as expected to win sales.
Stay tuned for coverage of these topics and more.
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