3. IT Services

Projected 2017 Growth Over 2016: 3.1 percent

Projected 2017 Spending: $922 billion

Projected 2018 Spending: $966 billion (up 4.7 percent)

Services take up close to 28 percent of IT spending for 2017, but spending on software and hardware that are connected to networks could unleash more spending on services down the road, especially to secure them, according to Michael Stolarczyk, vice president of sales and business development for cloud services at VeriStor, an Atlanta-based solution provider and No. 242 on CRN's Solution Provider 500.

Stolarczyk pointed specifically to the growth of the Internet of Things to – by some estimates - about 50 billion connected devices by 2020. "The spend to protect those 'things' and us as a people [cannot] truly to be accounted for, as of yet," he told ITBestOfBreed in an emailed response to a question.

IT services is also being seen as an innovation target spot today, according to Carl Gersh, director of sales and marketing at Forthright Technology Partners, a solution provider based in Miramar, Fla.

"Many of the more progressive IT services organizations are looking for new ways to deliver services to clients," Gersh told ITBestOfBreed.