According to new research published by Gartner, an industry research firm, business spending on information technology, including devices, data storage centers and virtually all other aspects of IT infrastructure, will increase by 2 percent globally in 2013.

The firm had previously projected growth in spending of 4.1 percent last quarter, but that was revised downward in part of because of fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

"Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth," Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner said in a press release. "Regionally, 2013 constant-currency spending growth in most regions has been lowered.

What is notable about the projects is the reason for the slower growth. Companies are spending much less on PCs and physical, in-house storage in favor of smaller computing devices like tablets and cloud storage solutions.

Overall, Gartner predicts companies all over the world will spend $3.7 trillion on IT in 2013, and that this number will increase to $3.9 trillion in 2014. Most remarkably, the organization expects that sales of tablets, including the Apple iPad 4 and iPad mini, will increase by 38.9 percent this year and that mobile device revenues will grow by 9.3 percent.

Perhaps one of the best incentives for companies to invest more in mobile technology for IT purposes is the lower cost and higher value of these devices. If you're looking to give your business a boost in productivity and efficiency, be sure to check out the PortableOne online store and our latest deals on Apple iPads and customized laptops.