International Data Corporation (IDC) announced its top predictions for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector during 2015. Worldwide ICT spending will grow 3.8 percent in 2015 to reach $3.8 trillion. Nearly all new investment will be focused on what IDC calls 3rd Platform technologies.
"IDC first identified the 3rd Platform in 2007 and predicted that it would eventually become the new core of ICT market growth. In 2015, the 3rd Platform will account for one third of global ICT spending and 100 percent of spending growth," said Frank Gens, senior vice President and chief analyst at IDC.
On a geographic basis, ICT spending in emerging markets is forecast to grow 7.1 percent year over year, while mature markets across the globe will reach just 1.4 percent growth. Wireless data will emerge as the largest ($536 billion) and fastest growing (13 percent) segment of telecom spending.
Mobile devices and software apps adoption will continue grow in 2015. Sales of smartphones and media tablets will reach $484 billion, accounting for 40 percent of all IT spending growth (excluding telecom services). Mobile app downloads will start to slow in 2015, but enterprise mobile app development will likely double.
Cloud services adoption will grow rapidly in 2015, with $118 billion in spending on the greater cloud ecosystem. Adoption of cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will grow at 36 percent, as market leader Amazon comes under attack from all directions and challengers attempt the counter their market dominance.
Similarly, competition among Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers will likely increase, as competitors engage in ongoing battles to attract developers and their apps. Meanwhile, Software as a Service (SaaS) players accelerate their adoption of PaaS and cloud marketplaces.
Overall, IDC believes that the Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most important innovation accelerators for growth and expansion of IT-based value in the global marketplace. The invention of intelligent and connected "things" will drive the development of thousands of new ICT solutions.
One third of IoT spending in 2015 will be focused on intelligent embedded devices outside the IT and telecom industries, helped by partnerships among leading IT companies seeking to kick-start the market for industry-specific solutions.
The majority of raw compute and storage capacity will move to hyperscale data centers operated by public cloud service providers. This shift will spawn new cloud-first hardware innovations and drive greater consolidation among the server, storage, software and networking vendors.
IDC believes a number of significant industry disruptions will emerge in 2015 -- such as alternative payment networks in financial services, expansion of IoT technologies into city government, and the creation of location-based services in the retail industry. IDC also predicts that the number of vertical industry platforms – specialized cloud-based solutions – will expand and double during 2015.
"IDC first identified the 3rd Platform in 2007 and predicted that it would eventually become the new core of ICT market growth. In 2015, the 3rd Platform will account for one third of global ICT spending and 100 percent of spending growth," said Frank Gens, senior vice President and chief analyst at IDC.
On a geographic basis, ICT spending in emerging markets is forecast to grow 7.1 percent year over year, while mature markets across the globe will reach just 1.4 percent growth. Wireless data will emerge as the largest ($536 billion) and fastest growing (13 percent) segment of telecom spending.
Mobile devices and software apps adoption will continue grow in 2015. Sales of smartphones and media tablets will reach $484 billion, accounting for 40 percent of all IT spending growth (excluding telecom services). Mobile app downloads will start to slow in 2015, but enterprise mobile app development will likely double.
Cloud services adoption will grow rapidly in 2015, with $118 billion in spending on the greater cloud ecosystem. Adoption of cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will grow at 36 percent, as market leader Amazon comes under attack from all directions and challengers attempt the counter their market dominance.
Similarly, competition among Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers will likely increase, as competitors engage in ongoing battles to attract developers and their apps. Meanwhile, Software as a Service (SaaS) players accelerate their adoption of PaaS and cloud marketplaces.
Overall, IDC believes that the Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most important innovation accelerators for growth and expansion of IT-based value in the global marketplace. The invention of intelligent and connected "things" will drive the development of thousands of new ICT solutions.
One third of IoT spending in 2015 will be focused on intelligent embedded devices outside the IT and telecom industries, helped by partnerships among leading IT companies seeking to kick-start the market for industry-specific solutions.
The majority of raw compute and storage capacity will move to hyperscale data centers operated by public cloud service providers. This shift will spawn new cloud-first hardware innovations and drive greater consolidation among the server, storage, software and networking vendors.
IDC believes a number of significant industry disruptions will emerge in 2015 -- such as alternative payment networks in financial services, expansion of IoT technologies into city government, and the creation of location-based services in the retail industry. IDC also predicts that the number of vertical industry platforms – specialized cloud-based solutions – will expand and double during 2015.