Mumbai, Apr 17 (IANS): Global IT spending is projected to total $3.79 trillion in 2019, an increase of 1.1 per cent from 2018, the latest forecast by Gartner Inc. said on Wednesday.

The data centre systems segment will experience the largest decline in 2019 with a decrease of 2.8 per cent primarily due to expected lower average selling prices (ASPs) in the server market driven by adjustments in the pattern of expected component costs.

"Currency headwinds fueled by the strengthening US dollar have caused us to revise our 2019 IT spending forecast down from the previous quarter. Through the remainder of 2019, the US dollar is expected to trend stronger while enduring tremendous volatility due to uncertain economic and political environments and trade wars," John-David Lovelock, Research Vice President at Gartner, said in a statement.

In 2019, the market is forecast to reach $427 billion, up 7.1 per cent from $399 billion in 2018.

The largest Cloud shift has so far occurred in application software.

However, the market research firm expects an increased growth for the infrastructure software segment in the near-term, particularly in integration platform as a service (iPaaS) and application platform as a service (aPaaS).

"The choices CIOs make about technology investments are essential to the success of digital business. Disruptive emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), will reshape business models as well as the economics of public- and private-sector enterprises. AI is having a major effect on IT spending, although its role is often misunderstood," Lovelock added.

The shift of enterprise IT spending from traditional (noncloud) offerings to new, Cloud-based alternatives is continuing to drive growth in the enterprise software market.