Digital Lifescapes

While traditionally sharing has been an activity between friends and family, the sharing of items as a business model is not in fact a new concept. Previously, we have seen the rise and fall of the loaning of some physical items (i.e. movies on DVD). However, with the introduction of new digital formats, alongside the rapid expansion of the online ecosystem, the sharing of not just physical goods, but also skills and talent, has grown exponentially. Today, the Sharing Economy includes numerous and varied service offerings and business models. Sharing Economy Market Development A new market study from Juniper Research has found that the sharing economy is now primed to experience substantial growth, as players in more established sectors -- such as transport and residential or commercial space -- press their first mover advantage. The market study findings have resulted in a forecast that the sharing economy will reach $40.2 billion in 2022, in terms of platform provider revenue

U.S. West Coast technology companies are expected to remain the driving targets for M&A transactions in the TMT sector. Bidders are likely to come from American firms across the country, plus from Europe, Asia, and Canada. Though a return to huge mega-mergers are not anticipated this year, given the continued uncertainty in the political environment, software companies are still heavily sought-after assets, with deal volume expected to gain new momentum. Moreover, growing concern about cyberattacks led to an increase in interest for cybersecurity companies, with the potential for more M&A in the security technology sector. Concerns over state sponsored internet-based hacking have motivated governments across the globe to develop digital defense strategies. Furthermore, corporate data attacks via ransomware have caused a great deal of anxiety in the information technology arena. That being said, digital transformation innovations will likely continue to disrupt markets and

Open source software adoption continues to disrupt the traditional IT markets, as enterprise CIOs and CTOs seek ways to evolve by working with progressive vendors and service providers who have a proven track record of Open Innovation. The growth of digital business transformation and the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to drive large investment in IT operations management (ITOM) through 2020, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. A primary driver for organizations moving to ITOM open-source software (OSS) is lower cost of ownership. OSS ITOM Market Development While acceptance of OSS ITOM is increasing, traditional closed-source ITOM software still has the biggest budget allocation today. Moreover, complexity and governance issues that face users of OSS ITOM tools cannot be ignored. "In fact, these issues open up opportunities for ITOM vendors. Even vendors that are late to market with ITOM functionality can compete in this area," said Laurie W

Digital transformation projects have fueled the IT budgets of all business types. Total IT spending by small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) will approach $568 billion in 2017, and exceed $676 billion by 2021, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). With a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5 percent, spending by businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees on IT hardware, software, and services, including business services, is expected to be slightly stronger than IDC's previous forecast. SMB IT Market Development "SMB IT spending growth continues to track about two percentage points higher than GDP growth across regions. But beneath that slowly rising tide are faster moving currents that reflect the changing ways SMBs are acquiring and deploying technology," said Ray Boggs, vice president at IDC . SMBs will spread their IT investments about equally across the three major categories -- hardware, softw

The shift of IT workloads to hybrid cloud computing continues to grow, fueled in part by the rise of digital transformation projects. Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure is forecast to reach $266 billion in 2021, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although spending growth will likely slow during 2016-2021, the market is still expected to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 percent. Moreover, public cloud services spending will reach $128 billion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 25.4 percent over 2016. Public Cloud Market Development The United States will be the largest market for public cloud services accounting for more than 60 percent of worldwide revenues throughout the forecast, and total spending of $163 billion in 2021. Western Europe and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) will be the second and third largest regions with 2021 spending levels of $52 billion and $25 billion

Telecom network operator revenues from international mobile roaming are expected to experience an 11 percent decline in 2017, as service providers introduce ‘Roam Like at Home’ packages in key markets -- including Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. ‘Roam Like at Home’ enables mobile users to utilize their monthly voice, data, and messaging allowance while roaming on other service provider networks, without incurring additional charges. Implications for Mobile Service Providers Juniper Research forecasts that the annual revenues, worth an estimated $54 billion in 2016, will decline to $48 billion in 2017 as revenues generated from increased usage in many markets fail to offset those lost by lower roaming charges in the EU countries. "This decline in global revenues is due to a 33 percent fall in European roaming revenues, following the EU regulation to end roaming surcharges," said Nitin Bhas, head of research at Juniper Research . While they expect roaming tari

Large enterprises have an asset that many SMBs do not. They are in possession of massive quantities of historical and current data. In addition, the business case for employing cognitive systems to analyze that data is more compelling, when compared with smaller companies. ABI Research predicts the number of businesses adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technologies worldwide will grow significantly, up from 7,000 this year to nearly 900,000 in 2022 -- that's a CAGR of 162 percent. AI is now making significant strides in cloud processing, storage capacity, and machine learning algorithms to enable cognitive systems and robotics to surpass people in performing some key tasks in manufacturing and other industries. AI and Machine Learning Market Development Increasingly, businesses are applying these emerging technological advancements to deliver various forms of automation and innovation that will eventually equal or exceed human capabilities. "Even though nearly o

New applications for robots are growing rapidly, as more industries adopt the technology. Worldwide purchases of robotics, including drones and robotics-related hardware, software and services, will total $97.2 billion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 17.9 percent over 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC forecasts that overall robotics related spending will accelerate over a five-year period, reaching $230.7 billion in 2021 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.8 percent. Robotics and AI Market Development "The convergence of robotics and artificial intelligence or machine learning are driving the development of the next generation of intelligent robots for industrial, commercial, and consumer applications," said Dr. Jing Bing Zhang, research director at IDC . Robots with innovative capabilities such as ease of use, self-diagnosis, zero downtime, learning and adaptation, and cognitive interaction are em

In-flight entertainment has been available on long-haul flights for several decades and increasingly, in an age where permanent Internet connectivity is becoming the norm, in-flight Wi-Fi is now becoming a standard service offering for airlines. Digital transformation, developing communications technology, the promise of ancillary revenues for airlines and increasing demands from passengers to stay connected at all times are driving the deployment of new services across both large airlines and smaller low-cost carriers. In-Flight Internet Access Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research , commercial aircraft adopting in-flight Wi-Fi services will reach 14,419 globally by 2022 -- that's up from an estimated 5,243 in 2017. This will mean that over half of the global fleet of commercial passenger airplanes will offer these services in 2022, compared with just under a quarter this year. This increase will be driven by the impact of th

Digital transformation projects drive requirements for new business technology investment. Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.5 trillion in 2017 -- that's a 2.4 percent increase from 2016, according to the latest market study by Gartner. That growth is up from the previous quarter's forecast of 1.4 percent. "Digital business is having a profound effect on the way business is done and how it is supported," said John-David Lovelock, vice president at Gartner . "The impact of digital business is giving rise to new categories; for example, the convergence of software plus services plus intellectual property. Digital Business Market Development These next-generation offerings are fueled by business and technology platforms that will be the driver for new categories of spending. Industry-specific disruptive technologies include the Internet of Things (IoT) in manufacturing, blockchain in financial services, and smart machines in retail. According to

As more enterprise CIOs and CTOs increase their planned investment in digital business transformation projects, vendors will witness improved demand in 2017. Worldwide IT spending is forecast to increase by 4.5 percent in constant currency terms -- that's a significant improvement over 2016 growth of 2.5 percent, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Total IT spending this year will reach $2.1 trillion. It's forecast to increase by another 4 percent in 2018. Including telecom services, which will increase by just over 2 percent in constant currency terms this year, the overall information and communications technology (ICT) market is anticipated to reach $3.5 trillion. IT Infrastructure Market Development According to the IDC assessment, the most growth in 2017 will originate from infrastructure hardware, enterprise software, and mobile devices. Public cloud service providers will accelerate their data center investments. Total serv

More CIOs and CTOs are choosing to architect and deploy hybrid multi-cloud computing environments in 2017. The trend is being driven by growing demand to support digital transformation projects that are led by the C-suite. Newly released results from the CloudView Survey 2017 reveal the top drivers of cloud adoption -- include improving agility and security, as well as standardizing IT infrastructure. Cloud Computing Market Development As multi-cloud environments and hybrid cloud become more prevalent, the survey revealed that 87 percent of cloud users have adopted some capabilities for a hybrid cloud strategy -- that's an increase of 17 percent compared to 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). "Beyond adoption and maturity, a series of questions on 'why are' or 'why aren't' respondents moving more workloads to the cloud makes up a key part of the study," said Benjamin McGrath, senior research analy

As enterprise CIOs and CTOs rebalance their IT budgets to accommodate new digital business transformation projects, the shift in infrastructure investment continues to evolve. Demand for hybrid cloud scenarios are apparently driving much of the new IT investment. IT vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products -- such as server, storage, and Ethernet switch -- for cloud computing, including public and private cloud, grew 14.9 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17) reaching $8 billion, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Cloud IT infrastructure sales as a share of overall worldwide IT spending climbed to 39 percent in 1Q17 -- that's considered a significant increase from the 33.9 percent a year ago. Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Development Revenue from infrastructure sales to private cloud grew by 6 percent to $3.1 billion, and to public cloud by 21.7 percent to $4.8 billion. In comparison, rev

Many CIOs will expand eCommerce projects in 2017, and beyond. As a result, the supply chain management (SCM) market will exceed $13 billion in total software revenue by the end of 2017 -- that's up by 11 percent from 2016, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Worldwide enterprise SCM vendor deployments are likely to exceed $19 billion by 2021, as software as a service (SaaS) enables new cloud-based revenue opportunities. "Between 2017 and 2021, Gartner forecasts nearly $6 billion in total software revenue will be added to the SCM market," said Chad Eschinger, managing vice president at Gartner . "Digitalization is increasing demand for agility and forcing new business models, which is boosting spending in the SCM market." Supply Chain Management Market Development Gartner analysts believe that SCM vendors are already differentiating themselves from competitors by incorporating digital business transformation technologies -- such as mobility,

Emerging technologies, such as IoT, Robotics, and Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality (AR/VR), will drive the next wave of growth in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, increasing the overall opportunity to $5.5 trillion by 2020, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The IDC forecast illustrates that the ICT sector is dependent upon new technology innovation for growth, as traditional business technology revenue streams begin to decline in the face of cannibalization, substitution, and the shift to cloud-based computing solutions. Global ICT Market Development New technologies, which IDC calls "Innovation Accelerators," will provide almost $7.4 trillion in aggregate industry revenue from 2015-2020 -- adding $1.8 trillion to the overall size of the industry in terms of annual sales by the end of the forecast period. A large proportion of this growth will come from the fast-growing IoT market, which is f

Across a variety of use cases -- online and offline, retail and remittance -- mobile is becoming the key channel for digital payments. However, as the market for mobile payments matured, it has become increasingly difficult for financial service providers across the value-chain to differentiate themselves. Activities which were once the domain of a few niche companies are becoming crowded, with both established payment industry leaders keen to expand their availability and an ever increasing number of pure-play digital operators. In each case, the players face distinct pain points -- but each new disruption can be either an opportunity or a challenge. Digital Payment Market Development A recent market study by Juniper Research highlights the increasing dominance of Chinese companies in the evolving digital payments sector, with vendors such as Alibaba, Tencent and UnionPay seeking to increase their revenues via international expansion. According to their latest research, digita

Enterprise IT infrastructure requirements continue to evolve as CIOs and CTOs seek ways to support their agile DevOps methodologies. Meanwhile, IT vendors are attempting to remove complexity from the typical provisioning and deployment process via automation. The worldwide converged systems market revenues increased 4.6 percent year-over-year to $2.67 billion during the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17), according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) . The market consumed 1.48 exabytes of new storage capacity during the quarter, which was up by 7.1 percent when compared to the same period in 2016. Converged Systems Market Development "Converged systems have become an important source of innovation and growth for the data center infrastructure market," said Eric Sheppard, research director at IDC . "These solutions represent a conduit for the key technologies driving much needed data center modernization and efficiencies such as fla