Digital Lifescapes

Across the globe, more CEOs and CIOs are attempting to capitalize on digital business transformation initiatives, to create a progressive environment that delivers a strategic competitive advantage. Likewise, vendors seek to offer the cloud, mobility and social commerce solutions that these companies require. Worldwide spending on digital transformation (DX) technologies will grow to more than $2.1 billion in 2019 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8 percent, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). According to the IDC assessment, spending on DX technologies within the United States market will follow a similar trajectory, reaching nearly $732 million in 2019. IDC defines digital transformation as the continuous process by which enterprises adapt to or drive disruptive changes in their customers and markets (external ecosystem), by leveraging digital competencies to innovate new business models, products and/or services. Transf

Each new year brings a fresh set of industry and market predictions from the leading analysts. This year, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic. The Analysys Mason annual Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) predictions reveal which trends will make an impact in the marketplace during the next 12 months. According to their assessment, telecom network operators and their suppliers must pay close attention to these 10 key trends for their decision-making during 2016 -- note, they are listed in order of significance. Top-Ten TMT Predictions for 2016 The contest for worldwide dominance in low-power, wide-area (LPWA) wireless networking technology will be confined to NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) and LoRa wide area networks for IoT. The most important M2M sector in 2016 will be connected cars – the number of connected vehicles will increase to over 150 million, with the largest network operators reaping the benefits. Google will decisively intervene in the communication services mar

More enterprises are adopting a cloud-first strategy, taking advantage of the speed and agility of cloud computing for infrastructure, platforms and application services. Some nations now have a national movement. Case in point: many South Korean companies have a public cloud-first strategy, with 70 percent of IT organizations reporting an increase in cloud service investments through 2017. As demand blossoms, the worldwide public cloud services market is projected to grow by 16.5 percent in 2016, reaching a total of $204 billion -- that's up from $175 billion in 2015, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. According to the Gartner assessment, the highest increase in cloud adoption will come from Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), which is projected to grow by 38.4 percent in 2016. Cloud advertising, the largest segment of the global cloud services market, is expected to grow 13.6 percent in 2016 to reach $90.3 billion (see Table 1, click to enlarge). &

The automotive industry is transforming rapidly as it embraces new paradigms -- such as active safety, on-board automation and car sharing services. The onset of the Internet of Everything (IoE) has also created new applications for sensor data that can be applied toward the development of new business models. As an example, the Usage Based Insurance (UBI) subscriber base broke through the 10 million member barrier, mainly driven by the ongoing adoption of these offerings within the U.S. and Italy. While it's been a turning point for the market, many obstacles remain. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, fundamental UBI impediments include privacy concerns, low awareness and perceived value, lack of scalability of on-board diagnostics (OBD) approaches and unclear future business models. Market Development Challenges UBI first-mover profitability gains -- based on the self-selection of low-risk drivers -- will ultimately not be sustainable. The auto insuranc

The overall public cloud computing service provider market will likely experience a period of ongoing consolidation in 2016, as more vendors choose to exit the sector. Others will continue to develop their existing market niche and thereby focus more on meaningful value-added options, rather than the lowest price. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on public cloud services will grow at a 19.4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) -- that's about six times the overall IT spending growth -- from nearly $70 billion in 2015 to more than $141 billion in 2019. IDC Public Cloud Services Forecast Software as a Service (SaaS) will remain the dominant cloud computing method, capturing more than two thirds of all public cloud spending. That being said, global spending on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) will grow at a faster rate than SaaS -- with five-year CAGRs of 27 percent and 30.6

Worldwide, many enterprise IT organizations are experiencing an exponential growth of data storage requirements as employees create more digital content. Multimedia asset storage is a key driver -- in particular, a variety of video content. In today's enterprise, video is a primary method for engaging with customers, employees and channel partners, via a wide range of media assets. Common video applications include online webcasts, conference sessions or keynotes, training sessions or educational webinars and new customer care use-cases. Demand for object storage systems has blossomed as a results of the growing need to archive unstructured data, such as video and other forms of multimedia content. This growth has fueled the deployment of new cost-effective storage solutions that can scale to support hundreds of petabytes and beyond. Enterprise IT Storage Market Development According to the findings from the latest 451 Research 'Voice of the Enterprise' survey, org

Asian buyers increased investment within the U.S. market in 2015, particularly as the semiconductor space consolidated. According to Mergermarket intelligence, this outbound trend will continue in 2016, with the Chinese government pushing companies to upgrade technology through its "Made in China 2025" initiative. The worldwide Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) market activity during 2015 reached an all-time high with 3,021 transactions valued at $768.3 billion, that's up by 46.6 percent by value compared to 2014 ($524.1B, 2,988 deals), according to the latest global study by Mergermarket . TMT mergers and acquisitions (M&A) increased its presence in global dealmaking, accounting for an 18 percent market share of total activity, up from 16 percent in 2014, and the second highest on Mergermarket record (since 2001) following 2013 (23 percent). M&A activity targeting the Technology sub-sector (2,225 deals, $421.6B), drove overall TMT value dur

The Personal Computer (PC) market has been very volatile for several years. Meanwhile, each new year an industry analyst predicts a small recovery, but the forecast results fail to materialize. We've seen this cycle of refutal over and over again. Case in point: worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015 (4Q15), reaching a year-on-year decline of -10.6 percent, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC ). Although total shipments were similar to analyst expectations, 2015 still ended as the first year below 300 million units since 2008. The holiday quarter achieved a small boost compared to the prior quarter, but the year-on-year decline in 2015 shipments was the largest in history -- surpassing the decline of -9.8 percent in 2013. The PC market continued to face persistent challenges from longer-PC lifecycles and competition from mobile phones and media tablets, despite the slowing growth in those markets

More informed CEOs and their leadership teams are asking the CIO to step-up and take on new bold goals. Meanwhile, evolving senior executive needs for substantive business-led digital transformation projects continue to fuel ongoing opportunities for hybrid cloud infrastructure vendors. Fulfilling these specific Line-of-Business (LOB) requirements is prompting IT organization shifts from traditional, stand-alone data center infrastructure to operationally efficient hyperconverged platforms, according to the latest worldwide market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). In turn, this transition creates a market that will grow at a 60.1 percent CAGR from 2014 to 2019, according to TBR's latest global market forecast. Growing Demand for Efficient IT Infrastructure "The typical customer of hyperconverged platforms requires ongoing infrastructure transformation to improve efficiency of internal processes and management of operations," said Christian Perry, practi

Maintaining enterprise IT security is a significant challenge. With the ubiquity of public internet access and cloud-based software applications, they're essential tools to interconnect enterprises with customers and prospects, but they're also the potential target of cyber attacks from domestic and foreign criminals. Sophisticated hackers continuously capitalize on the exposed security flaws of software applications to steal customer information, disclose or sell sensitive customer records and harm the reputation of the public company and its senior executive leaders. According the the latest worldwide study by ABI Research, the security testing market will develop to reach $6.9 billion in revenue by 2020. That being said, secure software development remains a significant long-term problem for most businesses today. "The biggest challenge for company software developers lies in market forces and funding," said Monolina Sen, senior analyst at ABI Research . So

Internet-enabled robotic devices intrigued many of the people who learned about new applications for the first time at CES 2016, others may have already known the numerous commercial use-cases for what's commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). A variety of advances in batteries, power electronics, motors, sensors, processors, artificial intelligence and other technology fields are now creating an environment where robotics can finally surge ahead in many different ways. According to the latest worldwide market study by IDTechEx Research , the greatest trend will be the growing adoption of mobile robotics. Over the next decade the statically-mounted robots of today will become a minority as next generation robots travel across the ground, in the air and even across oceans and in space. Advancing the Applications for Robotic Devices Autonomous unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) will transfer goods within warehouses, down highways alongside conventional passenger ve

More American marketers will shift their focus to mobile-first marketing channels in 2016. The adoption of responsive web design methodologies means that content looks appealing on all internet user devices -- personal computer, media tablet or smartphone. Moreover, now that more than three-quarters of the U.S. mobile phone owner population uses a smartphone, it's possible to reach and engage just about every demographic group via multimedia content. Case in point: comScore released data reporting the key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for November 2015. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 43.1 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the number one smartphone platform with 53.1 percent platform market share. Facebook ranked as the top individual smartphone software application, and Google continues to rank highly in the overall top apps list. That being said, many people view web content on their mobile devices. Smartphone OEM Market S

The most informed CEOs across the globe have already put their digital business transformation plans in motion. Others will surely follow their lead in 2016, but many will require the insights and guidance of consulting firms that have a proven track record of helping senior executives achieve their bold goals. Finding qualified forward-thinking advisers can be challenging. Navigating the path to success often requires deep-domain knowledge that enables these consultants to help their clients redesign business models, streamline legacy processes and realign organizations around a new commercial vision and associated objectives. Management and IT Consulting Landscape The consulting firms that are attempting to fulfill the market demand have varied expertise. Leading a digital business transformation project compels the professional service team to span both business-oriented and technology-centric issues. Traditionally, few consulting companies have subject-matter experts that are

Wireless communication will adapt to meet the growing needs from the Internet of Things (IoT). Meanwhile, Bluetooth enabled device shipments will increase from 2.8 billion units in 2015 to more than 4.6 billion in 2020, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. More than 19 billion devices to be equipped with Bluetooth technology over the next 5 years. Smartphones will continue to represent the bulk of the Bluetooth product market, accounting for more than 45 percent of shipments in 2020. However, the shares of emerging IoT market segments -- including beacons, smart lighting, home automation and consumer robotics devices -- will increase within the next five years to collectively represent more than 20 percent of the total market by 2020. "The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which added more than 2,800 new members this year alone, made significant enhancements to Bluetooth specifications in order to increase its viability for IoT applications," said Andre

IT Security is going to be top-of-mind for many CIOs during 2016 -- most will seek the help of leading vendors. More than 32 percent of the enterprises surveyed name Splunk as their primary Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platform provider, according to the latest market study by 451 Research. Responding enterprises rated Splunk highest especially for querying capability and the ease of integrating new data feeds. Intel Security is the second highest rated vendor based on evaluations from its 380 existing customers. Spending on IT security remains strong, with 44 percent of enterprise security managers expecting to increase their budget in the next 90 days. Only 4 percent of enterprises are decreasing security spending. While security budgets are stable or increasing for almost all organizations, security managers reported significant obstacles in fully realizing the benefits of SIEM solutions because of lack of staff expertise (44.4 percent) and inadequate staff

While the deployment of information and communications technology (ICT) in the public sector has been negatively impacted by several years of tight budgets and limited growth, there are pockets of targeted investment that reflect the need to evolve essential government systems and applications. The public sector IT and associated professional services market continued to improve during the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15). The nineteen vendors in the Technology Business Research (TBR) Public Sector IT Services Benchmark achieved a combined year-to-year revenue decline of -1.4 percent in 3Q15 -- however, that's a 360-basis-point improvement over 3Q14 and the best performance since 1Q13. According to the latest TBR market assessment, six vendors actually achieved year-to-year growth during the quarter, while five others were down by less than 2 percent compared to 3Q14. The savvy U.S. IT vendors have diversifying their portfolios, expanding into adjacent international markets and a

Reporting on the American pay-TV market during the last couple of years was somewhat predictable -- it's been an ongoing decline of subscribers as price increases motivated consumers to consider other video entertainment options. More and more American baby boomers in urban areas bought a digital TV indoor antenna and switched to free over-the-air HDTV broadcast services. For younger adults, traditional pay-TV wasn't viable -- why pay for advertiser-supported content that's available online for free or at a much lower cost via Hulu? Furthermore, as more online subscription video-on-demand services -- such as Netflix and Amazon Prime -- gained momentum, it became clear that the traditional mass-media TV was losing its appeal. Besides, a movement toward the adoption of over-the-top video entertainment seemed to be perpetual. But this market shift could still decelerate, given some of the recent trends. According to the latest market study by Leichtman Research Group (L

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016) is happening this week in Las, Vegas. It's the world's gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. One of the exciting emerging product categories featured at this year's event is the Internet of Things (IoT). The key IoT segments that are likely to gain the most attention at CES 2016 is personal robotics and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) -- also known as drones. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the consumer robotics market reached approximately 33 million unit shipments with total revenues of $3.5 billion during 2015. By 2025, both shipments and revenues are expected to increase dramatically. ABI Research has forecast that total shipments will increase to 165 million and total revenue could quadruple, reaching $17 billion. "In 2015, robotic toys accounted for more than half of the year's total shipments, but consumer UAVs is proving to

Hyperscale public cloud services offer agility, scalability and significant cost benefits that are difficult to achieve in traditional enterprise data centers. These services will serve a strategic role as the foundation for the digital business transformation of the future. At the end of the third quarter of last year, Gartner is predicting a 13.5 percent growth in public cloud services for 2015. This growth is forecast to peak in 2016 and will likely stay constant through 2019, although the actual spend should increase through to 2019. The public cloud computing market is maturing, across the globe. Public cloud services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is forecast to grow by 19.3 percent in 2016 to reach a total of $880 million -- that's up from an estimated $737 million in 2015, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Public Cloud Service Market Development Moreover, Business Process as a Service (BPaaS), the largest segment of the cloud servic

According to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR), most of the growth for telecom vendors is coming from China during the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), where network operators are deploying 4G LTE, optical fiber, fixed-access and IP equipment. More growth is also coming from infrastructure deployment in India, where there is selective 4G LTE investment as well as 3G mobile network build-outs and managed services deals. This Capex spend is fueling growth for vendors entrenched firmly in those markets -- particularly Huawei and ZTE in China, and Ericsson in India. "LTE investment in China continued to drive Huawei's peer-leading telecom revenue as well as strong growth for ZTE,” said Michael Soper, telecom analyst at TBR . Outside of China, network operator spending is variable, reflecting the impact of post-peak LTE spend in North America, Japan and South Korea and economic issues in certain emerging markets, such as the Caribbean and Latin Americ

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons have emerged as a major new wireless technology with a multi-billion dollar market development opportunity -- and it's a key part the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. BLE Beacons provide a long list of next-generation uses cases in growing markets -- including indoor location proximity, in-store retail, smart home, smart city, industrial, mobile payments, wearables, mobile advertising, and ambient intelligence. BLE beacons are now ready for mainstream adoption in 2016, following a strong 2015 third quarter in shipments and new contract signings, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Moreover, the current use cases also create significant new demand for big data storage and software analytics applications. "We populated our contract tracker with a handful of company names in the last quarter, including IKEA, H&M, Macy’s, Target, Pizza Hut, Elle, Espirit, McDonalds and Carrefour," said Patri