{"id":52304,"date":"2023-06-12T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.networkworld.com\/article\/3699253\/3-things-it-pros-are-willing-to-spend-more-on-in-h2-2023.html#tk.rss_security"},"modified":"2023-06-12T15:05:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T15:05:00","slug":"network-spending-priorities-for-second-half-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/network-spending-priorities-for-second-half-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Network spending priorities for second-half 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

OK, it\u2019s not been a great first half for many companies, from end users to vendors and providers. The good news is that users sort of believe that many of the economic and political issues that have contributed to the problem have been at least held at bay.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still uncertainty in the tech world, but it’s a bit less than before. Most of the companies I\u2019ve talked with this year have stayed guardedly optimistic that things were going to improve. Over the last month, of the nearly 200 companies I\u2019ve emailed with, only 21 were \u201cpessimistic\u201d about the outlook for their tech spending in the second half.<\/p>\n

Lack of pessimism doesn\u2019t translate to optimism, though, and optimism is a bit non-specific for network and IT planners to build on. What are the user priorities for tech for the rest of the year? Do they think their budgets will shift, and if so from what to what? Are they looking to make major changes in their networks, change their vendors, be more or less open? I thought I knew some of the answers to these questions, but for some I was wrong.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the first question, which is budget patterns. Two thirds of companies I heard from say they are actually expecting to spend more on networking in 2023 than they did last year, even though most of them admitted that their spending has been curtailed. It\u2019s not likely to be a huge increase, but their expected spending growth roughly matches the historical average of the last 10 years.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not trying to cut costs. The average company on my list that predicted just over 4% higher spending on networking this year is now looking for almost exactly the same amount of cost reduction. Spend more, spend less. Does that seem contradictory? No, what it means is that they want to cut the cost of sustaining what they have in order to help fund new initiatives, and that they\u2019re prepared to increase spending to fund the remainder. <\/p>\n

What new initiatives? What cost-cutting? Almost 100% of the users want to reduce the cost of network services more than the cost of network equipment. While about a third say they would stretch refreshing of old gear from this year into next, everyone wants to spend less on network services.<\/p>\n