More than half of software investments in Brazil in 2023 will be in SaaS, says IDC

IDC estimates that more than half of software investment in Brazil this year will focus on Software as a Service, and the main solutions that will drive this growth will be in security, artificial intelligence, data management and customer experience. .

According to Luciano Ramos, country manager of the market analysis company, these applications will bring a 27.5% increase in the software market. And IT services will advance 6.7% in 2023 with solutions such as application management, consulting and systems integration.

In this advancement of SaaS and its applications, Ramos foresees more IT participation within companies’ businesses. This can be confirmed by a survey conducted by IDC with 83 large companies in August 2022, 29% of them confirm that they will make strategic investments in SaaS.

AI in everything

Another topic that should permeate the thinking of companies in 2023 is the merging of artificial intelligence with automation, something that IDC calls intelligent automation solutions (Intelligent Process Automation – IPA). Pietro Delai, director of enterprise research and consulting at IDC in Latin America, recalls that in the same survey, 20.5% of companies emphasize automation as a strategy and that AI gains significant space in 2023 budgets only after cloud and safety.

The general manager explained that artificial intelligence is seen as a “standard” within companies, that is, companies expect purchased/contracted solutions to have AI embedded in their foundations. However, it still sees the challenge of the corporate sector’s confidence in autonomous capabilities, something that only needs to be overcome by 2026 by half of companies.

However, IDC president Latam predicts that AI continues to mature in Brazil and should pass $1 billion in spending for the first time, a 33% year-over-year increase. Spending on IPA in the country should reach $215 million, an increase of 17% compared to 2022.

cloud and security

AI and automation have yet to collaborate to rationalize cloud costs, especially with many enterprises (93%) confirming they will use managed (automated) services for cloud cost optimization. That said, spending on IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) will reach $4.5 billion in Brazil in 2023, an increase of 41%.

In terms of security, Delai recalls that since the WannaCry incident in 2017, the topic has become a priority for more than half (53%) of executives in Brazil and Latin America (50%), according to an analysis by IDC in the region. in 2022. Furthermore, 62% of Brazilian companies consider IT security to be one of their main shortcomings. Added to this scenario is the lack of resources, qualified professionals in this sector and the increase in regulations and penalties. All of this movement will lead to a 13% increase in cybersecurity investments that will reach $1.3 billion in 2023.