Digital Lifescapes

Mobile payment service app adoption is on the rise. According to the latest worldwide market study by IHS Markit, 3.4 billion smartphones will be ready for Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google's Android Pay by the end of 2017 -- that will increase to 5.3 billion devices by 2021. Moreover, 11 percent of active smartphones globally will be compatible with Apple Pay; 61 percent with Android Pay; and three percent with Samsung Pay (which overlaps with Android Pay that's also available on Samsung smartphones). Mobile Payments Market Development "To reach these smartphones, Apple, Samsung and Google must strategically expand mobile payments services and build partnerships with banks and financial institutions," said Ruomeng Wang, analyst at IHS Markit . By the end of the first quarter of 2017, Apple had launched Apply Pay in 15 international markets, Samsung had rolled out Samsung Pay in 14 markets, and Android Pay was available in 10 markets. IHS Markit analysts bel...

Most chief executives are now focused on growth during 2017. New growth is the primary business priority for 58 percent of CEOs, according the latest market study by Gartner -- note, that's up from 42 percent of CEOs in 2016. Moreover, product innovation and technology are gaining in significance. "IT-related priorities, cited by 31 percent of respondents, have never been this high in the history of our CEO survey," said Mark Raskino, vice president at Gartner . "Almost twice as many CEOs are intent on building up in-house technology and digital capabilities as those plan on outsourcing it (57 percent and 29 percent, respectively)." Gartner analysts refer to this trend as the re-internalization of IT -- the process of bringing the capability back toward the core of the enterprise because of its renewed importance to achieving a competitive advantage. It's essentially the digital technology skills and capabilities that more forward-thinking senior executi...

As more business technology infrastructure moves online, so does the potential for exposure to cyber threats. Cybercrime is a great concern to most companies. Mobile computing and an expected 46 trillion connected devices in use by 2021 translates into more demand for effective security solutions. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, while the growing enterprise spend on cybersecurity is increasing rapidly, it's apparently not keeping pace with the corporate liabilities caused by potential data breaches. IT Security Market Development Their latest study findings have resulted in a forecast that global IT security revenue will reach nearly $135 billion in 2022 -- that's up from an estimated $93 billion in 2017. However, over the next five years, corporate data breaches will likely have cost organizations a cumulative total of $8 trillion in fines, lost business and associated remediation costs. The research also found that businesses a...

Cloud computing adoption and growth is a worldwide phenomena. Every region of the globe now has markets where traditional IT infrastructure applications are migrating over to public cloud platforms. That said, prior on-premises IT infrastructure continues to play a key role in digital transformation projects. The Latin American cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market is set to grow as cloud service providers flock to the region to take advantage of the massive customer pool. Public, private and hybrid cloud service models as well as customized, best-fit solutions are accelerating the adoption of IaaS solutions. Latin America Cloud Market Development Hybrid cloud models will be particularly popular among enterprises due to their ability to support clients' strategy implementation, migration, and infrastructure management requirements. "To ensure the optimal use of existing infrastructure and compliance certificates, most companies will invest in hybrid cloud dep...

Just when industry analysts were starting to believe that the buyers of cloud computing services were motivated more by upside business opportunity, and less by cutting IT infrastructure costs, a new price war has erupted that's driven yet another vendor race to the bottom. In its latest analysis of cloud computing services, 451 Research revealed that the cloud price battlefield has shifted from virtual machines (VMs) to cloud object storage. The analyst firm predicts that other services -- particularly databases -- will undergo the same pricing pressures over the next 18 months. Cloud Services Market Development Until recently, the prices of cloud related services beyond compute held steady in the face of intense vendor competition, according to the latest market study by 451 Research. Virtual machines have been the traditional battleground for price cuts, as providers have sought to gain attention and differentiation. The tide has now turned, with cloud object storage pri...

Nearly all segments of the Internet of Things (IoT) market recorded double-digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16), driving an overall 19.3 percent year-to-year revenue gain to $8.2 billion, according to the latest study by Technology Business Research (TBR). This market is still evolving. "We expect growth to continue apace as more customers undertake implementations due to the emergence of packaged use cases, standards are adopted and pricing models become more rationalized," said Daniel Callahan, analyst at TBR . Cloud services was the fastest-growing segment, at 63.5 percent year-to-year as customers increasingly adopted centralized analytics, storage and other intensive computing applications -- such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. IoT Solution and Services Market Development However, despite its growing popularity and market mind-share, cloud services accounted for only a small portion of the total. Software remains a giant part o...

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments totaled 62.2 million units in the first quarter of 2017 -- that's a 2.4 percent decline from the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Moreover, it's the first time since 2007 that shipments fell below 63 million units in one quarter. That said, the PC industry experienced modest growth in the business market, but this was offset by declining consumer demand. Some people will refrain from replacing older PCs, and others have abandoned the PC market altogether. Gartner's study did not include Chromebooks, which are in greater demand. Regardless, Garner has emphasized that the business segment of the market still considers the PC as an important device, and it's the main work computer device for many businesses. Personal Computer Market Development "While the consumer market will continue to shrink, maintaining a strong position in the business market will be critical to keep sustain...

Contactless payment cards offer an array of benefits to both the retailer and consumer, such as faster throughput at the Point of Sale (POS) terminal, potentially leading to increased sales and reduced operating costs from cash handling. However, to succeed the contactless card needs the attendant payment infrastructure to be upgraded to support contactless transactions, thus requiring co-operation from the various stakeholders in retail payments. Contactless Payment  Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, the number of OEM-Pay contactless users -- including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay -- will exceed 100 million for the first time during the first half of 2017, before surpassing 150 million by the end of this year. The combined market share of Apple, Samsung, and Google (via Android Pay), increased from 20 percent in 2015 to 41 percent in 2016, as a proportion of total mobile contactless payment users. Juniper forecasts that...

Agile regulation technology (RegTech) solutions are in high demand in the global financial services industry. Financial service organizations are embracing RegTech solutions for enhanced efficiency, proactive compliance, real-time risk monitoring and improved governance. Collaboration with RegTech solution providers will be key for financial service organizations to gain a better return on investment, mitigate implementation and complex IT infrastructure barriers, and enable quicker conversion to dynamically evolving regulatory changes. The RegTech solutions market is expected to reach $6.45 billion by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 76.1 percent by 2020, according to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan. "A rising demand for easy-to-use, regulatory-compliant solutions for anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements are steering RegTech start-ups to enter these segments and -- with the help of cloud computing, big...

Across the globe, the development and practical application of robotic technology has gained momentum during the last decade. While it's true that automation is typically applied to lower costs and improve productivity, new and emerging use cases will drive demand. Investment in robotic systems and related services will more than double in China, growing from $24.6 billion in 2016 to $59.4 billion in 2020, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Robotic Systems Market Developement "China continues to lead the growth of worldwide robotics adoption, primarily driven by strong spending growth in process manufacturing and cross-industry applications," says Dr. Jing Bing Zhang, research director at IDC . "In China, we are also seeing an accelerated growth in the adoption of commercial service robots especially for automated material handling in factories, warehouses and logistics facilities. China is the single largest and ...

Wireless communications and mobile internet access over cellular networks continue to be an essential component of next-generation telecommunication system enhancements. While deployments of 4G network technologies are still occurring across the globe, plans are underway for 5G. That being said, 5G deployments indoors and in venues may be delayed by one year or more, when compared to outdoor 5G deployments starting from 2020. ABI Research estimates the global equipment market for in-building wireless -- including active distributed antenna systems (DAS), passive DAS, and repeaters -- will reach close to $10 billion by 2025. 5G Wireless Infrastructure Market Development The overall system revenue in 2025, which includes services and equipment, will grow at a CAGR of 15 percent to reach $19 billion in 2025. Out of this market, 5G in-building wireless equipment will account for $509 million in 2025. "As 5G nears full specification, mobile network operators will face challenge...

Cloud computing adoption continues to disrupt the traditional IT infrastructure marketplace, as more CIOs and CTOs execute their ongoing plans for digital business transformation. While some regional expansions have tapered off, there are still many significant upside opportunities. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products -- server, storage, and Ethernet switches -- for cloud IT (including public and private cloud) grew by 9.2 percent year-over-year to $32.6 billion in 2016, with vendor revenue for the fourth quarter (4Q16) growing at 7.3 percent to $9.2 billion. Cloud IT infrastructure sales as a share of overall worldwide IT spending climbed to 37.2 percent in 4Q16 -- that's up from 33.4 percent a year ago. Revenue from infrastructure sales to private cloud grew by 10.2 percent to $3.8 billion, and to public cloud by 5.3 percent to $5.4 billion. Cloud Computing Market Develo...

Business technology trends across the hardware, software, services and telecom markets have evolved as more enterprise procurement is driven by senior executives that are leading their organization's digital transformation agenda. Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.5 trillion in 2017 -- that's a 1.4 percent increase from 2016, according to the latest market study by Gartner. That said, this growth rate is down from the previous quarter's forecast of 2.7 percent, due in part to the rising value of the U.S. dollar. "The strong U.S. dollar has cut $67 billion out of our 2017 IT spending forecast," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner . "We expect these currency headwinds to be a drag on earnings of U.S.-based multinational IT vendors through 2017." Worldwide IT Market Development According to the Gartner assessment, global IT and business executives have been seeking information and guidance on market opportunitie...

Mobile messaging today encompasses both the more traditional forms of messaging and the popular Over The Top (OTT) messaging services from providers such as WhatsApp and WeChat. Communication has never been so rapid or efficient, with new technologies and apps driving demand. One of the key developments has been the growth of OTT mobile messaging services. Where Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) once saw a good portion of revenue come from SMS, MMS and voice calls, OTT players have offered people a free option -- in the form of messages which can be sent over Wi-Fi or Internet connections, driving demand away from mobile operator networks. OTT Messaging Market Development Juniper Research forecasts that OTT messaging applications -- such as WhatsApp and WeChat -- will see adoption grow from 2.3 billion unique users in 2016 to 4.2 billion by 2021, representing a growth of over 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). According to the Juniper assessment, the OTT vendors will ...

Cognitive Systems can extract value from all types of data -- including unstructured data -- within new platforms that can learn at scale, reason with purpose and interact with humans via natural language. While the North American market is the focal point for many IT vendors, other markets are growing. Case in point: Western European revenues for cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) systems will reach $1.5 billion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 40 percent over 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Western European spending on cognitive and AI solutions will experience new investment over the next several years, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.5 percent through 2020, when revenues are forecast to be $4.3 billion. Cognitive and AI Systems Market Development "IDC is seeing huge interest in cognitive applications and AI across Europe right now, from different industry sectors such as healthcare and...

The worldwide Optical networking infrastructure market is predicted to grow from $13.6 billion in 2016 to $17.3 billion by 2021, according to the latest market study by ACG Research. Moreover, purchases of Optical Data Center Interconnect (DCI) equipment are expected to grow from $1.69 billion in 2016 to $4.3 billion in 2021. And, there's growth in all geographic regions. In 2016, Metro optical increased 5.5 percent and Long-Haul delivered 10.5 percent growth. Asia-Pacific remains the largest optical networking region, with 10 percent growth in spending in 2016. Driven in part by Verizon network upgrades, the North American Metro Optical market will return to growth in 2017 after a slow 2016. Optical Networking Market Development ACG Research analysts anticipate worldwide Metro Optical spending to increase 9.4 percent in 2017. When combined with the 19.1 percent decline in legacy Optical infrastructure spending in 2016, total Optical infrastructure managed a modest 2.7 perce...

More executives will seek comprehensive vendor guidance on their digital transformation plans. According to latest market study by 451 Research, 80 percent of surveyed organizations report that their IT environments will change in order to meet forward-looking business requirements over the next five years. That includes creating plans to migrate current enterprise workloads to cloud computing platforms, and developing expertise to ensure that cloud service spending continues on an upward trajectory. The survey found that only 22 percent of enterprises have thus far adopted a cloud-first approach, with public cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings identified as the fastest-growing deployment model. Cloud Service Delivery Market Development With organizations now choosing IaaS for their core business applications, qualified service provider selection is a key component of digital transformation project assessment. However, survey respondents indicate concern about so...

There's an explosion of data being created by a variety of existing and emerging IT applications. Converting raw data into meaningful insights is a global trend that's driving demand for solutions. Western European revenues for Big Data and business analytics (BDA) will reach $34.1 billion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 10.4 percent over 2016. Commercial purchases of BDA-related hardware, software, and services are likely to maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2 percent through 2020 when revenues will be more than $43 billion, according to the latest study by International Data Corporation (IDC). "Digital disruption is forcing many organizations to reevaluate their information needs, as the ability to react with greater speed and efficiency becomes critical for competitive businesses," said Helena Schwenk, research manager at IDC . Big Data Analytics Market Development According to the IDC assessment, the shift toward cloud deployments, gr...

There's more growth for the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies sector during 2017. According to the latest market study by Berg Insight, global shipments of cellular IoT devices will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.7 percent from 155.6 million units in 2016, to reach 530.1 million units in 2022. Strong growth is fueled by fast-growing demand in China and the global adoption of connected car technology in the automotive industry. Berg Insight believes that the maturity of the ecosystem is a crucial advantage for 3GPP-based standards in the IoT market. "LTE-M and NB-IoT are the latest in a long line of cellular standards already connecting hundreds of millions of devices worldwide," said Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight . "Alternative non-cellular LPWA technologies have a very long way to go before they achieve the same prominence.” Berg Insight estimates that annual shipments of non-cellular LPWA devices for IoT reached 13.5 mi...

Concerns about IT security threats will drive new business technology investment. Worldwide revenues for security-related hardware, software, and services will reach $81.7 billion in 2017, an increase of 8.2 percent over 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global spending on security solutions is expected to accelerate over the next few years, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7 percent through 2020 when revenues will be nearly $105 billion. "The rapid growth of digital transformation is putting pressures on companies across all industries to proactively invest in security to protect themselves against known and unknown threats," said Eileen Smith, program director at IDC . IT Security Technology Market Development On a global basis, the banking, discrete manufacturing, and federal government industries will spend the most on security hardware, software, and services throughout the 2015-2020 forecast. C...