Shaken, Not Stirred: Tech Buying Process in 2025

The year of 2025 is expected to a massively disruptive year from ‘Core to Cloud to AI to Gen AI’ as the futuristic CIO expects tech OEMs and ecosystem partners to declutter tech complexity, demystify hyped technologies to help navigate their career graph and accelerate their company’s business. The tech buying process unlike in the past has not stirred across CIOs and their teams in recent years, but it has completely got shaken. And if you thought AI will perhaps make technology buying process less complex than the ‘already complex’ tech architecture for organizations, you may have erred a bit.

Around 66% of ITDMs in APAC agree that the purchase process for technology products and services is becoming increasingly complex as per Role and Influence of the Technology Decision-Maker Study 2024 by Foundry and CIO.

Why is it more complex? More people are involved as business and IT leaders present and explore new technologies to efficiently run their companies (31 is the average number of influencers in APAC buying team, and almost 50% are LOBs).

Why is it becoming lengthy? The length of the entire buying cycle (for a large project) takes over half a year because of multiple influencers and more voices are being heard during the purchase process.

The good news is that increased automation is expected to accelerate tech purchase decisions over this year as two thirds of the survey respondents expect AI to transform process automation at their organization over the next 12 months.

To navigate the complexity of technology purchase process, tech OEMs need to understand the influences behind tech purchases, get to know the buying committee and educate their customers (CIOs and teams) at every step of the way.

Some stats from Role and Influence of the Technology Decision-Maker Study 2024:
– 54% will seek a new vendor for tech purchases – mostly due to innovation, business need and cost
– 64% work with vendors to help them develop the business case around their investment in IT
– 67% say that when all stakeholders are aware of a brand, it makes the internal sell through process easier.

With real-time support, extended help and timely advice from the technology OEMs, CIOs and CTOs will imbibe technologies to emerge as a ‘digitally transformed AI ready’ organisation, perhaps with a shortened and a less complex tech buying process.