The SaaSpocalypse isn’t killing software spend

Enterprise software budgets haven’t shrunk this year, though we keep reading they have. Boardrooms are still approving spending on new tools at a consistent pace, and Gartner’s latest forecast puts global software spend at $1.43 trillion in 2026, up more than 15% year over year. What has changed is what buyers will tolerate to get that value, and SaaS vendors who miss this distinction will have a very bad renewal season.