Digital Lifescapes

CIOs in Europe see themselves moving away from routine IT operational roles and thereby becoming true leaders of digital transformation. They're also guiding their organization towards more strategic business technologies, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Similar to their peers in other parts of the world, the bar of expectations has been raised. IDC analysts believe that CIOs are now focused on commercial innovation-related goals -- such as enabling new business models, streamlining business processes, increasing competitiveness and improving their overall customer experience. That being said, legacy IT custodian tasks such as reducing costs, ensuring operational continuity and basic service efficiency are not among their top priorities. Current Focus of IT Investment Big Data analytics, enhanced cyber security, mobile apps, and private cloud represent the emerging IT trends in the region. Necessary operations that should secure...

Wearable devices will be a key component of the potential upside opportunities for many vendors pursuing applications within the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market. New use cases are being explored by a growing ecosystem of software app developers. While you may initially think of fitness tracker applications, wearable devices are quickly migrating into the office and other work environments, with the wearable scanner market experiencing rapid expansion. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, enterprise wearable scanner shipments will reach nearly 22 million by 2021 -- that's an increase from just seven million in 2016. Wearable Scanner Market Development "Wearable scanners boost business productivity, offering workers a faster, hands-free alternative to the need for traditional hand-held scanners and paper picklists," says Stephanie Lawrence, research analyst at ABI Research . Ring barcode scanners, glove scanners, and smart glass...

IT security is top-of-mind for most UK business leaders. A recent Juniper Research market study revealed that three quarters of survey respondents believe they're secure -- even though half of those organizations also reported having previously experienced a cyber attack. While more companies are moving their IT infrastructure online, the transition could make them more vulnerable to security threats. Yet, the study found that despite increased concern and spending on cyber security over the last year, there is a high degree of complacency. Overall, 86 percent of respondents believe they are doing enough to mitigate the impact of cyber attacks. Most respondents still think it’s enough to have the IT or security department involved in mitigating the effect of cyber attacks, with 33 percent considering the IT department solely responsible for security threats. Inconsistent Security Plans are Common Moreover, almost two thirds of respondents stated that cyber security is not t...

The next generation of wireless communications will apply 5G technologies, and demand for service offerings is evolving slowly. The very first discussions about 5G started in 2012, and in 2013 NTT DoCoMo considered the possibility of deploying 5G in time for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Soon after, South Korea set the target for 5G pre-standard national service -- in reality, a 4.5G offering -- for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.  Since then, 5G R&D developments have occurred in China, Europe and Japan -- fueling the hype to a level never seen for 3G and 4G. Moreover, Verizon announced last year at the CTIA show that it has a progressive 5G plan -- with first commercial deployments anticipated in 2017. 5G Service Market Development According to the latest worldwide study by IHS Markit , 5G will come in two waves: first, sub-6GHz in 2017, followed by the real 5G at higher spectrum bands in 2020. Sub-6GHz spectrum is not new: it’s where existing wireless communica...

During the last couple of years, machine-to-machine (M2M) technology has become an integral part of the services offered by global telecom providers and a significant revenue stream for M2M app specialists. They've already developed comprehensive offerings, designed to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Meanwhile, the associated business models are beginning to account for new use case concepts and application developments; one of the latest to gain significant traction being the Internet of Things (IoT). M2M refers to the wireless communications fabric between multiple devices. M2M is a supporting infrastructure for the IoT. M2M performs the connections, and provides the device interfaces, allowing data to be transferred between machines over wireless networks. M2M Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, new in-vehicle infotainment services such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will generate large amounts of new cellular M...

Video entertainment demand has been evolving rapidly. Yet traditional pay-TV service providers are still challenged to address the needs of more progressive consumers. Case in point: subscriber awareness of their "TV Everywhere" offerings -- the ability to watch programming from their pay-TV provider on devices other than a TV -- remains low at 36 percent, which is unchanged since 2013. Meanwhile, pay-TV marketers are attempting to capitalize on another growing trend. Skinny bundles, TV subscription packages composed of selected channels targeting specific customer segments, have the potential to attract elusive younger consumers to pay-TV, according to the latest market study by Altman Vilandrie & Company. However, their survey also finds that two-thirds of older consumers, typically the most loyal subscribers of legacy pay-TV, say they are wasting money for channels they don’t use -- so, skinny bundles could cannibalize the service provider's existing subscriber...

The emergence of Bitcoin, an alternative cryptocurrency, has been a catalyst of change for the financial services sector. A significant amount of these currencies has been traded across the globe on the dedicated exchanges, while some forward-thinking merchants already support Bitcoin as a payment option. However, with a relatively small base of current users, attention is turning away from Bitcoin towards the wider potential of the Blockchain technology that underpins them. Several traditional banks are now testing the core blockchain technology as a means of reducing settlement costs, while a host of other use cases -- i.e. smart contracts and ID verification -- are also seeing their first deployments. Blockchain Application Market Development Meanwhile, blockchain technology will likely have a key role to play in the future of transaction settlements. Many of the legacy 'clearing houses' currently process many millions of commodities derivatives and securities transact...

Urban transportation is undergoing a revolution that's being driven by a variety of technologies. They've enabled new and disruptive business models. Recent research findings now indicate more changes are coming. Where there's big change, there's often big opportunities. The emerging category of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), which provides aggregated, single account, on-demand multi-modal transportation services, is quickly gaining momentum. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, global MaaS revenues will exceed $1 trillion by 2030. The anticipated impact on traditional transportation modes -- such as car ownership, buses, trains, taxis, and rental cars -- is causing a reevaluation of the economic foundation for legacy transportation companies. Everything as a Service Market Development "Driverless technology, through the Car as a Service (CaaS) paradigm, will be the defining factor for the success of on-demand mobility, offering consumers th...

Telecom service providers are embracing open source software and are moving beyond trial deployments. Moreover, they're seeking ways to free themselves from the technology constraints and associated costs of maintaining legacy networking equipment. Three-quarters of carriers participating in a survey of software-defined networking (SDN) technology demand say they've already deployed, or will deploy, in 2016 -- plus, 100 percent say they plan to deploy at some point in the future. Ongoing SDN Market Development The top drivers for service provider SDN investments are simplification and automation of network and service provisioning. Meanwhile, most operators are moving from initial SDN proof-of-concept evaluations to their first commercial deployments in 2016 and 2017. According to findings from the latest survey of carrier SDN strategies by IHS Markit , it’s clear that service providers around the globe are investing in SDN as part of a larger move to transform their in...

The mobile phone already does so much more than enable person-to-person communication. It's being used to browse across the world wide web, capture digital photos, access social network apps, play games and get travel directions. The introduction of smartphones has been a game changer, impacting what we expect from a mobile handset. Now mobile device manufacturers have created new modes of voice control, utilizing cognitive computing capabilities in the cloud, that allow smartphone users to operate the device without touching it. A new study from Juniper Research concluded that increased use of Digital Voice Assistants -- such as Google Now, Siri and Cortana -- on smart devices will provide new paid search advertising opportunities within the coming years. Digital Assistant Market Development Juniper forecasts that over $12 billion of advertising spend per year will be made through this rapidly growing medium by 2021 -- that's an increase of over 3,000 percent on est...

Most of the large IT systems vendors have shifted their focus to cloud computing. Meanwhile, more enterprise CIOs have adopted a cloud-first mindset -- that's an approach where a cloud solution is primarily considered for new workload deployments, whenever possible. By and large, outside forces are pushing for IT infrastructure to support digital transformation projects. From the line of business (LoB) leader's perspective, the motivation is compelling. Cloud is being driven by a desire to become more agile and innovative, with the goal to create a competitive advantage. It's a key point that should always be top of mind. This market transition is less about the underlying technology capabilities, it's more about applying technology to achieve bold strategic business outcomes. Cloud Computing Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by 451 Research, 41 percent of all enterprise IT workloads are now in some type of public or private cloud...

Mobile network operators are investing in infrastructure that enables the delivery of Internet of Things (IoT) service offerings. They're also establishing relationships with leading technology vendor partners -- to create a viable ecosystem that will attract software application developers. Cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) connections will reach 733 million globally by 2021, according to the latest worldwide study by Ovum. Moreover, they also have forecast that total cellular M2M service revenues will reach a global annual total of $67 billion in 2021. Ongoing M2M Market Development The greatest revenue contributions will come from three key regions across the globe -- Asia-Pacific ($22 billion), North America ($16 billion) and Western Europe ($14 billion). Many wireless service providers will maximize their revenue opportunity by extending beyond connectivity, therefore Ovum also includes the proportion of revenue from the M2M service layers. Their forecast has identifie...

The core goals of artificial intelligence (AI) in computing are problem solving and task completion. These capabilities are intended to replace, or complement human function. The application of AI in the emerging new cognitive technology era is driven by big data analytics, cloud computing and abundant Internet access. The confluence of these combined forces have enabled cloud-based Machine Learning concepts to be applied at a much lower cost than was previously possible. Moreover, the productivity advances made possible by cognitive computing are going to be truly remarkable. One of the most promising new use cases is within the media, advertising and smart programmatic marketing-related arena. Machine Learning Market Development Juniper Research has found that machine learning algorithms used to enable more efficient ad bids over real-time bidding (RTB) networks will generate an estimated $42 billion in annual advertising spend by 2021 -- that's up from an estimated $3.5 ...

More people are satisfied with the smartphone they own and have no interest to replace the device -- that's a problem for some vendors. Worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 1.46 billion units with a year-over-year growth rate of just 1.6 percent in 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although growth remains slightly positive, it is down significantly from the 10.4 percent growth in 2015. Much of the smartphone sales slowdown is also being attributed to the ongoing market saturation and decline expected in developed regions (such as North America) during 2016. Developed markets as a whole are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.2 percent, while emerging markets will experience a CAGR of 5.4 percent over the 2015-2020 forecast period. Smartphone Market Development Challenges "Growth in the smartphone market is quickly becoming reliant on replacing existing handsets rather than seeking n...

Wireless technology vendors are preparing for the fifth generation (5G) of mobile communication services. The latest worldwide survey by IHS Markit assessed 5G technologies, market trends and mobile network operator plans for deploying the required infrastructure. 54 percent of the IHS Markit survey respondents see 5G as evolutionary to 4G -- meaning, it's an extension of current Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced and LTE‑Advanced Pro. However, the rest of the survey respondents think 5G is revolutionary, moving away from cellular and requiring a brand new architecture. Meanwhile, three-quarters of respondents believe that 5G should be codependent with LTE and LTE-Advanced, which suggests the evolutionary camp should have garnered a larger lead. 5G and The Internet of Things A variety of industries will drive new Internet of Things (IoT) related applications, and consequently 5G networks should be designed to enable vast IoT device connectivity. This explains why IoT w...

Payments on smartphones via the mobile internet will boost global online retailers. The entry of OS-Pay (Apple Pay and Android Pay) to the market is likely to play an important role in retailer business strategy, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Moreover, with biometric authentication becoming more common as a means of avoiding password or PIN entry, purchase friction can be further reduced. New findings from the Juniper study indicate that the value of digital and physical goods purchased through mobile 'OS-Pay' platforms will increase by fifteen times in the next two years. A combination of in-app purchases and website retail payments is projected to drive worldwide annual spend via Apple Pay and Android Pay to $8 billion in 2018 -- that's up from just $540 million this year. Simple Transactions Key to Mobile Success Their study also found that the integration of OS-Pay into North American eRetail apps will be welcomed by software devel...

Automobile manufacturers have embraced many of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and they're already working on numerous application prototypes with software developers. The vast majority of these apps will rely upon open APIs and the Mobile Internet to gain access to cloud-based services. As an example, with autonomous driving inching closer, cars are incorporating digital user interfaces, in-car 4G LTE, and data analysis through a variety of cloud computing services. ABI Research forecasts more than 143 million operating system (OS) solutions will ship in 2021 to support the software-defined car cockpits, or automotive head units that support cluster displays and in-vehicle infotainment. Automotive Software Market Development As the competitive landscape widens, both proprietary software and open source solutions providers -- including Google Android, Intel Wind River, and Blackberry QNX -- continue to battle for design wins. "Increasingly, OEMs an...