Worldwide spending on information technology is set to top $3.8 trillion in 2019, up 3.2 percent from the forecast of $3.7 trillion spend in 2018, research firm Gartner Inc. said in its latest Worldwide IT Spending Forecast.

Global IT spending will rise despite the current climate of tariffs, trade wars and general currency volatility, Gartner said Wednesday, as enterprises shift from a model of ownership to service. For example, enterprise software spending will rise by 8.3 percent in 2019.

“What this signals, for example, is more enterprise use of cloud services — instead of buying their own servers, they are turning to the cloud,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. “As organizations continue their digital transformation efforts, shifting to ‘pay for use’ will continue. This sets enterprises up to deal with the sustained and rapid change that underscores digital business.”

The increased use of software-as-a-service is driving growth in almost every software segment, Gartner said. Part of this is due to an increased focus on providing a better customer experience. As a result, customer relationship management software is seeing especially fast growth.

Gartner said that cloud software will grow by 22 percent this year alone, compared with just 6 percent growth for all other forms of software. Core applications such as CRM, enterprise resource planning and supply chain management will account for the bulk of software spending.

Other applications such as privacy and security software are also getting more attention. Gartner cited a recent survey it conducted that found 88 percent of chief information officers have or are planning to deploy cybersecurity technology within the next 12 months.

Not all of the growth in IT spending is from software, though. Gartner said a significant amount of cash will also be spent on devices including personal computers, smartphones and tablets. In these markets, Gartner forecasts spending to hit $706 million in 2019, up from $689 billion this year.

The PC market may be impacted by news that Intel Corp. could struggle to manufacture enough central processing units this year to meet demand, but Gartner said this will not have any lasting effect on the overall demand for these devices. In any case, Intel’s rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will likely pick up the slack, Gartner said.

“PCs, laptops and tablets have reached a new equilibrium state,” Lovelock said. “These markets currently have stable demand from consumers and enterprises. Vendors have only subtle technology differentiation, which is pushing them to offer PC as a Service in order to lock clients into multiyear recurring revenue streams and offer new bundles service options.”

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