Enterprise Application Customers: Navigating the Challenges of Tariffs, Regulations, and Costs with AI

This IDC Market Perspective looks at how enterprise applications customers are navigating the complexities of tariffs, regulations, costs, inflation, and IT spending. According to IDC's April 2025 Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey, Wave 3, 40.2% will aggressively seek to renegotiate existing contracts, 30.5% will reduce product specifications or project goals to reduce costs, and 29.2% of organizations will postpone major system upgrades for at least six months. Many though will continue investments, especially with AI. This document reviews the data leading to these activities and provides ideas for vendors to help organizations move beyond them. "As organizations navigate a new world of tariffs, regulations, geopolitical strife, and concerns over impending inflation, IT spending may be put on hold, changed, or even cancelled," said Mickey North Rizza, group vice president, Enterprise Software at IDC. "Application vendors need to understand these concerns and provide avenues to help their customers and prospects circumvent the challenges and win with AI."