How A $4 Trillion Tech Market Was Radically Changed In 2014

ReutersAn IBM labour union employee wears an anonymous mask.

Businesses worldwide spent about $3.8 trillion on technology in 2014, according to market research firm Gartner.

And 2014 was a radical year of change for this market.

Companies stopped buying and installing all of that equipment themselves. They started renting more of it, hosted elsewhere, and paying as they use it. This is known as cloud computing.

Not only did businesses change the way they buy tech, they are also buying new types of tech including more mobile devices and "big data" apps that analyze and predict business trends.