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APAC organisations to ramp up tech spending in 2025

Organisations across the region are prioritising cyber security, customer experience and application development, even as they navigate cloud repatriation and a growing skills gap in AI and security

Organisations across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are poised to ramp up on technology spending in 2025, with cyber security, customer experience and application development emerging as top priorities.

That is according to the 2025 Technology spending intentions study, conducted by Informa TechTarget and Enterprise Strategy Group, which found that 44% of organisations in APAC plan to increase their IT spending in 2025, closely mirroring the global trend of 48%.

The surge in spending is driven by the need to fend off increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, enhance customer experiences, and leverage the transformative potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.

Cyber security takes the lead as the top spending priority, with 72% of respondents planning increased investment in this area. Specifically, they are looking to spend more on endpoint detection and response (EDR), multi-factor authentication (MFA) and zero-trust network access (ZTNA) as part of broader efforts to shore up their security posture.

Customer experience is another area of significant investment for APAC organisations, with 59% of respondents planning increased spending in 2025. This reflects a growing recognition of the importance of personalised, seamless customer interactions in the digital landscape.

The study revealed strong interest in customer analytics platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) and sales management, as well as marketing automation software. It also noted a growing demand for customer self-service features and a focus on using AI and customer journey mapping to enhance customer relationships.

Application development also emerged as a key spending priority, with 59% of respondents planning more investments. The study highlighted the rising adoption of DevOps practices, a surge in investment in web and progressive web application development, and growing interest in application modernisation in efforts to replace legacy systems with cloud-native applications.

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Furthermore, AI integration into application development is gaining momentum across the region, leading to significant improvements in code creation speed, development efficiency and customer support.

While cloud adoption remains significant, the study revealed a notable shift towards cloud repatriation, with just 28% of APAC organisations identifying as “cloud-first”. This trend is driven by a desire to optimise costs and improve application performance, with businesses increasingly bringing workloads and applications back on-premise for greater control and efficiency.

Despite this shift, the study also indicated a growing preference for consumption-based pricing models (43%) for on-premise datacentre infrastructure, highlighting the continued demand for flexible and cost-efficient as-a-service offerings.

The study identified AI and cyber security as areas with the most significant skills gaps, posing a challenge for organisations seeking to adopt and manage these complex technologies. This underscores the need for investment in training and development programmes to bridge the skills gap and attract talent in high-demand areas.

The study also found that while organisations acknowledge the importance of digital transformation, many are still in the implementation phase. This highlights the need for suppliers to provide support and guidance in navigating the complexities of digital transformation and realising its full potential.

Overall, the study revealed a picture of a dynamic and evolving technology landscape in APAC, where organisations are investing in key areas to enhance security, improve customer experiences and optimise operations.

While cloud repatriation represents a notable shift, organisations continue to seek flexible and innovative offerings to achieve their business objectives, underscoring the need for technology suppliers to adapt and cater to evolving customer needs.

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