South Africa IT spending is forecast to total R272 billion in 2016, 3.8% increase from 2015, with software spending poised to achieved its highest ever year-on-year growth at 11.4%, according to Gartner.

"Last year we witnessed an 8 percent increase in overall IT spending by South African organisations, and in 2016 companies are maintaining this, prioritising software," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "Once you have the platform in place, your priority is to add software. South African companies are doing just that this year, purchasing their solutions in North America and Europe primarily, while buying cloud storage where the data needs to reside."

Lovelock added that South African enterprises need to move to viable cloud delivery options for many reasons, agility being chief among them. "Cloud based services can be procured from anywhere in the world and still be used in South Africa – if there is a 'volume/quantity/price issue or brand recognition/ trust issue' with the South African vendors, South African enterprises should not hesitate to look outside the country," he said.

According to Lovelock the use of cloud is rising all across Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Africa is leading most countries – however, cloud spend represents only 4.6% of total IT spending, which is low when compared to more mature cloud adoption regions like North America, he says.

Gartner expects the country to experience at 6.5% decline in device spending this year. "Mobile phones, PCs and tablets are cyclical, with dips in 2014 and 2016," said Lovelock. "Both the consumer and business segments are showing a decline in 2016, with the larger drop coming from consumers. Users in South Africa are holding onto their expensive phones longer and refraining from buying cheaper phones. With prices going up, the total spend on mobile phones was down 4.5 percent from last year."

According to Gartner research building infrastructure continues to be paramount in South Africa, as services get more reliable and sophisticated. Communications services remains the largest segment in the country in 2016 with an estimated growth rate in spending of 4.2% year on year.

"Cloud infrastructure and software-as-a-service application spending remains low in South Africa. To embrace digital transformation, South African organisations need to continue investing in the Nexus of Forces (mobile, cloud, big data and social) and embrace viable digital alternatives, such as cloud, VoIP and digital assistance, even if purchased from overseas vendors," said Lovelock.