Industry Statistics

Business IT Procurement Statistics for 2026

Sourced business IT procurement statistics for 2026 covering IT budgets, software buying, SaaS portfolios, cloud spend, and cybersecurity risk.

Last updated July 10, 202612 sourced statistics

Quick stats

$6.15TProjected worldwide IT spending in 2026 69%Organizations expecting IT budget increases 13 + 9Typical internal and external buying participants 53%Buying cycles where procurement is a decision-maker 59%Businesses regretting a recent software purchase 75%Organizations planning higher software spend

Gartner · February 2026

$6.15T

Worldwide IT spending is projected to reach $6.15 trillion in 2026.

Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending will grow 10.8% in 2026, with software, IT services, data center systems, devices, and communications services all contributing to the total.

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Foundry State of the CIO · 2026

69%

Sixty-nine percent of organizations expect IT budgets to increase in 2026.

Foundry's 2026 State of the CIO survey found rising technology budgets, with the share expecting increases up from 65% in 2025.

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Forrester · January 2026

13 + 9

A typical business buying decision now includes 13 internal stakeholders and nine external influencers.

Forrester reports that B2B buying networks have expanded as leaders seek more validation and risk reduction before approving business purchases.

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Forrester · January 2026

53%

Procurement professionals are decision-makers in 53% of business buying cycles.

Forrester notes that procurement is becoming influential earlier in buying cycles, looking beyond price to scrutinize features, functions, efficiency, and productivity.

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Capterra via Business Wire · November 2024

59%

Fifty-nine percent of global businesses regret at least one software purchase made in the last 18 months.

Capterra's 2025 Tech Trends Report found high software purchase regret even as companies planned to keep increasing software spend.

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Capterra via Business Wire · November 2024

75%

Seventy-five percent of organizations planned to increase software spending in 2025.

The same Capterra survey found software budgets rising, with IT systems and artificial intelligence named as major areas of focus.

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Flexera State of the Cloud · 2026

85%

Eighty-five percent of cloud respondents rank cost as a leading challenge.

Flexera's 2026 State of the Cloud Report found cost ahead of security as the top cloud challenge, with security at 82% and software licenses at 78%.

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Flexera State of the Cloud · 2026

29%

Estimated wasted cloud spend on IaaS and PaaS increased to 29%.

Flexera reports that wasted cloud spend ticked up after five years of decline, reflecting growing cost complexity from AI and new cloud services.

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Zylo SaaS Management Index · 2026

305

The average organization manages 305 SaaS applications.

Zylo's 2026 SaaS Management Index reports that app counts have flattened, but the typical software portfolio remains large and complex to manage.

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Zylo SaaS Management Index · 2026

78%

Seventy-eight percent of IT leaders reported unexpected charges tied to AI features or consumption-based pricing.

Zylo found that changing pricing models are creating unplanned costs after software contracts are already in place.

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Verizon DBIR · 2026

31%

Thirty-one percent of breaches now start with software vulnerabilities.

Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report lists software vulnerabilities as the leading breach entry point, ahead of stolen passwords.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce · August 2025

58%

Fifty-eight percent of small businesses say they use generative AI.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that small-business generative AI adoption rose from 40% in 2024 and more than doubled from 2023.

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Methodology and sources

This page pulls from public research reports and survey summaries published by recognized technology, business, cybersecurity, cloud, and software-buying organizations. Each statistic is linked to the source used for that number and includes the source date where available.

Gartner worldwide IT spending forecastGlobal IT spending forecast by segment for 2025 and 2026.Foundry State of the CIOSurvey findings on CIO influence, technology budgets, and organizational priorities.Forrester State of Business BuyingResearch summary on buying groups, procurement influence, and business purchase risk.Capterra 2025 Tech Trends ReportSoftware buying survey findings summarized by Business Wire.Flexera State of the CloudCloud cost, security, software licensing, and waste benchmarks from cloud leaders and practitioners.Zylo SaaS Management IndexSaaS portfolio size, annual spend, pricing complexity, and unexpected software charges.Verizon Data Breach Investigations ReportCybersecurity breach patterns and top threat takeaways.U.S. Chamber Empowering Small Business reportSmall-business technology and generative AI adoption findings.

Cite this page

Suggested citation: The Tech Ref, "Business IT Procurement Statistics for 2026," last updated July 10, 2026, https://thetechref.com/business-it-procurement-statistics/.

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