Digital Lifescapes

According to 451 Research, the leading acquirers will spend hundreds of billions of dollars to buy innovative technology companies in the coming year. They're reacting to the rapidly changing marketplace, where information security and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the focus for major new investments. Two key trends will drive much of the action in software M&A activity -- the movement of business applications and IT infrastructure to hybrid cloud-based service models, plus the need for new data management capabilities to address the growing demand on IT resources anticipated from IoT. Furthermore, the digital transformation and big data analytics sectors will also drive M&A activities throughout the year. The pool of likely candidates to either be acquired or have a public stock offering is significant. As an example, their forecast for the software market identified more than 90 companies as potential M&A targets in 2016, and another 13 private companies as pot...

Activity tracker shipments continued to grow in 2015 -- up almost 80 percent over 2014. Shipment totals will top 87 million in 2021 as these devices continue to lead consumers into the emerging wearable wireless connected health and well-being market, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. "Activity trackers are the current vanguard device for bringing consumers into connected medical services,” said Jonathan Collins, principal analyst at ABI Research . "As they continue to proliferate, they will spur greater investment in mHealth device development and adoption, as well as the services that can help bring the data these devices collect into health care provision." Essential Network Platforms and Infrastructure Despite the increasing popularity of activity trackers, the professional medical device market still awaits the shift to connected devices that has been underway in the consumer fitness market over the past few years. Connected medical devic...

Today, there's growing concern about market disruptions. Savvy CEOs want to be certain they have a sustainable business model that's enabled by the best digital technologies. Are you ready for the next wave of Internet-enabled innovation? Gartner has compiled a list of essential Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that should be on every organization's radar through the next two years, and beyond. "The IoT demands an extensive range of new technologies and skills that many organizations have yet to master," said Nick Jones, vice president at Gartner . "In many technology areas, lack of skills will also pose significant challenges." The technologies and principles of IoT will have a very broad impact on many organizations, affecting business strategy, risk management and a wide range of technical talent areas such as architecture and network design. According to Gartner's assessment, the Top 10 IoT Technologies for 2017 and 2018 are: IoT Secur...

Expect to see more vendors exit the highly-competitive Cloud market in 2016, due to their inability to clearly differentiate their capabilities. As the cloud computing market matures and buyer preferences evolve, basic cloud infrastructure offerings reach commodity status -- with common technology and similar product features. When vendor services are virtually identical, buyers will seek to place increasing emphasis on factors that extend beyond the basic product. However, when the internally-focused 'me-too' vendor fails to translate their capabilities into business outcomes, they more than likely will be judged based upon price. How to Survive the Cloud Wars According to the latest worldwide market study by Frost & Sullivan, an enterprise buyer's choice of cloud service provider are influenced by criteria that are the primary responsibility of the marketing organization -- including provider cloud pricing, service level agreements and developing meaningful bran...

When we look back on 2016, it will likely be remembered as a year of transition for many business technology vendors -- particularly those that were unable to react quickly to the pervasive enterprise IT buyer trends in the marketplace. Meanwhile, there's always an upside for those who have foresight. Worldwide IT spending is expected to post a slowdown in 2016. Having achieved annual growth of 5-6 percent (in constant currency) since a recovery from the financial crisis in 2010, the global IT market is expected to increase by just 2 percent overall this year. Total IT spending on hardware, software and services will reach $2.3 trillion in 2016. Including telecom services, total information and communication technology (ICT) spending will increase by 2 percent to $3.8 trillion, according to the latest worldwide study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Exploring the Key Performance Indicators IT spending was relatively stable in 2015, in spite of the volatile global ec...

Wireless communications around the globe has been greatly enhanced by Wi-Fi technologies and the associated unlicensed radio bands. Many consumer electronics devices use Wi-Fi to gain access to the public internet and a variety of cloud-based services. Wi-Fi technology and associated telecom regulation continues to evolve to meet the growing demand. As the 2.4 gigahertz band became saturated in many dense urban markets, vendors and users switched to routers and access-points that utilized the 5 gigahertz band. Wi-Fi access points based on the 802.11ac global standard have steadily gained momentum over the past year, rising to represent 39 percent of total Wi-Fi access points shipped in 2015. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, adoption will continue to accelerate in 2016 as more 802.11ac Wave 2 products enter the market, along with the introduction of tri-band access points. Evolving Market Development for Wi-Fi Innovation "Wave 2 access points are base...

British CIOs are reaping the benefits from the take-up of cloud computing. Now, 63 percent of UK enterprises are planning to move their entire IT demand to the cloud in the near future, according to the latest market study by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF). The cloud adoption rate among UK-based organizations in 2015 was 78 percent -- that's about the same as 2014, but much higher than when the CIF study was first conducted in 2011, when it stood at 53 percent. Of those organizations that use cloud services, 77 percent use at least two services and 12 percent have deployed five or more. This represents an increase in cloud computing service penetration in UK businesses from the levels reported in 2014, suggesting that the application of cloud offerings is deepening. "This is the sixth major body of research we have conducted into the UK end user community, and while we are continuing to analyze and report on trends and adoption rates within the UK, we also wanted to expl...

While the majority of mobile network service providers around the globe are busy with their 4G LTE deployments, forward-looking vendors are already positioning the fifth-generation (5G) technologies. In the past, cellular wireless networks were viewed primarily as voice communication and mobile internet access enablers. Today, that vision is evolving. 451 Research believes that 5G will have a catalytic effect on a wide range of IT technology and services, impacting almost all parts of industry and society far beyond mobile technologies and business models. 451 recommends that any IT supplier that is touched by the mobile ecosystem, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing services, consumer electronics or automation needs to assess the coming impact of 5G technologies. "IT players need to think about IoT now and 5G soon," said Ken Rehbehn, principal analyst, mobile telecom, at 451 Research . "Whether it is real-time analytics, data center design, location-base...

According to the latest market study by Gartner, 274.6 million wearable electronic devices will be sold worldwide in 2016 -- that's an increase of 18.4 percent from 232.0 million units sold in 2015. Wearables will generate revenue of $28.7 billion in 2016, $11.5 billion of that total will be from smartwatches. "From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 percent growth largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend. Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching $17.5 billion," said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner . However, although Gartner believes that smartwatches are likely to be one of the popular types of wearables, their adoption is unlikely to reach mainstream status, in the same way that smartphones have achieved globally. Market Development Trends for Wearables Fitness wearables -- which include wristbands, smart garments, chest straps, sports watches and other fit...

Digital business transformation requires an investment in new people, process and technology. That being said, typically the most expensive part of achieving a bold digital strategy is overcoming the resistance from passive-aggressive middle managers that try to hold back progress. Once a CEO and their leadership team have exposed the worst change-blocking cynics -- and removed them from the equation -- then the remaining two steps in the transformation agenda can proceed. Obsolete processes can be streamlined or eliminated and essential IT systems can be updated or replaced. Investments in modernizing IT infrastructures will be critical to most businesses, driving up global data center server and storage array revenues at a 1.2 percent CAGR from 2015 to 2020 -- reaching $88 billion in revenue, according to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). Criteria for Selecting Digital Transformation Partners "Emerging business requirements, such as increased...

If there's a 'new-rule' the consumer electronics and PC industry learned from the successful rise of low-cost Chromebooks in the global marketplace, it's that less product capabilities can equate to significant new upside market opportunity. With the recent introduction of the compute stick form-factor -- such as ASUS Chromebit, Intel Compute Stick, and Lenovo Ideacentre Stick 300 -- key players in the PC sector have uncovered yet another gap in which existing devices are sub-optimal for specific use cases. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, compute stick shipments are forecast to top 5 million units by 2021. Truly, this would be a meaningful accomplishment, when you consider the other potential growth alternatives. "With 2015 concluding compute stick's first full year of shipments, we anticipate the devices to show an impressive CAGR of 49 percent between 2015 and 2021 as the ecosystem continues to grow," said Jeff Orr, ...

The vast majority of American mobile phone users already have a smartphone, many are using second or third-generation devices with a large display and ample storage for their needs. So, what's missing in this scenario? Enough new customers to fuel ongoing demand for profitable mobile data services. comScore reported the key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for December, 2015. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 42.9 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the number one smartphone platform with 53.3 percent platform market share. Facebook continues to be ranked as the top individual smartphone software application, with Google maintaining the most apps on a typical user's device. That being said, mobile network service providers are now seeking upside opportunities for growth. Clearly, it's a significant market development challenge. Smartphone OEM Market Share 197.4 million people in the U.S. market owned smartphones (79.3 perc...

Business technology is a strategic investment for most CEOs that seek a lasting competitive edge in the marketplace. As a result, worldwide IT spending is forecast to grow from $2.46 trillion in 2015 to more than $2.8 trillion by 2019, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). North America will provide the largest share of global IT spending throughout the 2015-2019 forecast period. This key market is predicted to pass the $1 trillion mark in 2017. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) will be the second largest region, followed closely by the Asia-Pacific region. Latin America will be the fastest growing region with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3 percent while IT spending in North America will grow at a 3.8 percent CAGR. Asia-Pacific and EMEA will both grow more slowly than the overall market, which is forecast to have a CAGR of 3.3 percent. "With the global economy entering a new and uncertain phase, IT spending will b...

Most industry analysts agree, cloud computing applications have gained new momentum in the global networked economy because they serve a purpose that Line of Business leaders demand -- enabling the rapid deployment of compelling business models that are made possible via the adoption of digital transformation. According to the latest worldwide market assessment by Technology Business Research ( TBR ), 2016 will mark a turning point in cloud computing adoption. Moreover, the market won't be dominated -- in market share or in the minds of customers -- by IT vendors delivering only stand-alone public cloud services. Customer ability, skill and desire to use public, private and hybrid cloud options will accelerate the adoption of more complex, heterogeneous and integrated cloud computing use cases. This changing customer behavior, combined with mature services from IT vendors, will result in a 'Cloud 2.0' scenarios during 2016. TBR believes that progressive CIOs already s...

Converged devices, such as media tablets, are driving the telematics market with global shipments forecast to reach more than 5 million units by 2020, according to an ABI Research study. Moreover, the introduction of these devices creates the emergence of new business model opportunities and more data applications. The key advantages of utilizing converged devices, such as tablets in commercial vehicles, include the ability to employ automated vehicle inspection in rental car fleets, signature capture for delivery truck fleets, as well as aggregating crowdsourced data and generating customer community feedback. "The adoption of converged devices opens the door for entire application ecosystems and the emergence of dedicated commercial telematics application marketplaces," said Dominique Bonte, vice president at  ABI Research . Case in point: telematics service providers (TSPs) will accumulate crowdsourced data as a means to provide drivers with updated information on r...

Demand for mobile devices also drives the associated software upside potential. Recent estimates show that 1.74 billion smartphones, media tablets, two-in-one PCs and notebooks shipped in 2015 -- that's a year-on-year increase of 5 percent, according to the the latest worldwide market study by Canalys. Growth was driven by two-in-ones and smartphones, while tablets and notebooks declined. According to the Canalys analyst assessment, Microsoft has experienced the greatest challenge from the pivotal shift to mobility. Its share of the total mobility market was just 12 percent, against Google (Alphabet) at 70 percent and Apple at 17 percent. Shipments of mobility products running the Linux-based operating system (OS) increased by over 200 percent. This was primarily driven by YunOS shipments, which became the third largest smartphone platform in China within the fourth quarter of 2015. In the notebook PC space, there are similar shifts in the OS landscape. Open Source OS Ga...

More enterprises are opting for the convenience and lower-costs of next-generation computing platforms that enable them to scale their IT capabilities rapidly. Frequently referred to as web-scale of hyper-scale solutions, these integrated systems deliver cloud-like economics within enterprise data centers. Hyper-convergence is a type of IT infrastructure with a software-centric architecture that tightly integrates compute, object storage , networking and virtualization resources -- typically in a commodity x86-based hardware platform -- which are supported by a single vendor. Upcoming data center refresh projects are driving 2016 enterprise investments in servers and converged infrastructure, according to the latest comprehensive market study by 451 Research. Hyperconverged Infrastructure Market Development Among enterprises in the study, 60 percent plan to increase spending on servers, and 79 percent plan to spend more on converged infrastructure in 2016. Spending on hyperco...

Software as a Service (SaaS) applications continue to lead the ongoing enterprise migration to cloud-based service offerings. Given the recent trends, corporate email is a SaaS application that's likely to experience significant new growth during 2016. The cloud email market is still in the early stages of adoption with 13 percent of identified publicly listed companies globally using one of the two main cloud email vendors, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Gartner found that 8.5 percent of public companies use cloud email from Microsoft's Office 365 service, while 4.7 percent use Google Apps for Work. The remaining 87 percent of companies surveyed have on-premises, hybrid, hosted or private cloud email managed by smaller vendors. These findings are based on an automated examination of a large number of publicly available email routing records. Gartner used the email server addresses in the domain records of nearly 40,000 public companies globall...

As average price for smartphones continue to fall, enterprise workers across the world -- particularly those in emerging markets -- are seeking to improve their productivity via Mobile Cloud applications while away from their office. This additionally signals an advantage for mobile network operators, whose handset data plan revenues from the enterprise segment can expect to exceed $200 billion in 2020, according to the latest global market study by ABI Research. "The importance of smartphones to the enterprise worker cannot be underestimated," says Dan Shey, managing director and vice president at ABI Research . ABI believes that network operator services need to focus on driving the most value from the smartphone to the enterprise user, such as assisting in choosing the right devices and applications, and offering services to manage device content and functionality. Outlook for Enterprise Mobility Apps Looking ahead, operators also need to help businesses leverage...

Why are traditional pay-TV services being disrupted by alternative lower-cost video entertainment services? Perhaps it's due to the apparent ease-of-use in searching for something to watch. Or, maybe it's the variety of video consumption options, as well as the huge depth of available television series and movie content. Whatever the primary reason, and despite the widespread availability of inexpensive ancillary online video streaming devices, 32 percent of over-the-top (OTT) TV Users still prefer having the native connectivity of a Smart TV set. This finding is according to data from the latest TDG market study, a survey of 2,000 U.S. adult broadband users -- 60 percent of which use an OTT video streaming service on their home television set. Streaming Online Video Device Preference  When asked which TV streaming platform they prefer, 32 percent of OTT TV Users selected their smart TV. Interestingly, this is pretty much equal to the penetration of smart TVs in general...

Video entertainment viewing in the typical American household has evolved. Gone are the days where broadcast television gained the lion's share of consumer attention. Meanwhile, legacy pay-TV services have struggled to keep pace with shifting customer preferences and numerous alternative lower-cost offerings. Average monthly spending on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services among U.S. broadband households increased from $3.71 per month in 2012 to $6.19 per month in 2015, according to the latest market study by Parks Associates. Parks examined new business models emerging from the increasing consumption of over-the-top (OTT) content in the American video entertainment market -- including new experiments in content windowing. How the OTT Trend Disrupted the Market "Multiple content players have held onto traditional content windowing strategies for years, but OTT technologies and emerging business models have finally forced these companies to experiment with new w...