Digital Lifescapes

Open IT solutions are gaining momentum. Most savvy CIOs and CTOs already have plans to increase their applications for open-source software projects. While that software is an established component of on-premises enterprise data centers, the untapped opportunity is open IT hardware infrastructure. Worldwide revenue from the Open Compute Project (OCP) infrastructure market will reach $33.8 billion in 2024, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). While year-over-year growth will slow slightly in 2020 due to capital preservation strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, the market for OCP compute and storage infrastructure is forecast to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6 percent over the 2020-2024 forecast period. Open IT Hardware Market Development The IDC forecast assumes a rapid improvement for this market in 2021-22, fueled by a robust economic recovery worldwide. However, a prolonged crisis and economic uncertainty co...

More CIOs and CTOs are seeking actionable insight from the new technologies that are driving digital transformation within the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Manufacturing plants generate mountains of data throughout the day, every day. That data is a valuable asset. Traditionally, data has been noted on paper or analyzed in spreadsheets. However, today it can be collected automatically via sensors and analyzed with tools that far exceed spreadsheet capabilities. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, manufacturers and industrial companies will be spending $19.8 billion on data management, data analytics, and associated professional services by 2026. Data Management and Analytics Market Development "For many manufacturers, there is an appreciation that operational decisions need to be based on empirical evidence rather than guesswork. The challenges are not necessarily capturing and analyzing data, rather what to analyze in the first place,...

Mobile messaging is evolving. Traditional services include offerings such as carrier SMS, as well as over-the-top software app-based services. Now new offerings based on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging standard, and in-application AI chatbots, may disrupt that legacy market. RCS is a next-generation mobile messaging standard supported by mobile network operators that enable media-rich content and payment services. Juniper Research has forecast that total revenues from RCS traffic in North America will reach $712.8 million during 2020. North America will drive 28 percent of total messaging revenue in 2020 -- due in part to the adoption of RCS messaging, and the supporting efforts of the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI) which is a joint venture between AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. While CCMI will initially focus on U.S. market deployment, the technology developed by the joint venture will eventually be available in the broader worldwide mobile co...

Even the most reluctant CEOs have discovered that supporting their remote workers was less disruptive than they anticipated. Moreover, productivity often increased as jubilant workers were freed from the noise and other distractions at their employer's poorly designed open-plan offices. Short audio or video conference meet-ups have replaced the typical 1-hour long mind-numbing in-person meetings that were common at many enterprises prior to the pandemic. Legacy business leaders that were not previously Agile converts have now embraced these online collaboration tools. It's amazing. Conferencing Solutions Market Development Global end-user investment on cloud-based web conferencing solutions will grow 24.3 percent in 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Global workplace restrictions spurred by the coronavirus pandemic will expand the cloud conferencing user base throughout 2020, but growth may actually taper off in 2021 as the lasting effects...

Many senior executives are resolute in their commitment to increasing business technology investments. The C-suite continues to support the strategic projects that CIOs and CTOs are championing within their organization. Cloud and edge computing are still gaining momentum. Spending on the digital transformation (DX) of business practices, products, and organizations will continue at a solid pace despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global spending on DX technologies and services is forecast to grow by 10.4 percent in 2020 to $1.3 trillion. While this is slower growth than the 17.9 percent in 2019, it remains one of the few bright spots in a year characterized by dramatic reductions in overall IT spending. Digital Transformation Market Development "COVID-19 has upended the global economy, with direct negative implications on the way businesses invest in IT," sa...

Mobile communication service providers have started to build out fifth-generation (5G) wireless network infrastructure. There are many use cases for this new technology. What benefits will 5G bring to the media and entertainment industry? One example: 5G will empower cloud-based entertainment on the go. While 2019 has seen the first deployments of 5G in the consumer domain, 2020 will be the year of large scale commercial 5G rollouts across the globe. As a result of this network investment, 5G generated revenues for cloud-based entertainment services are forecast to rise rapidly. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, 5G alone will contribute revenues of almost $1.9 billion to cloud gaming -- accounting for 42 percent of overall cloud gaming revenues, as well as $67.5 billion in cloud video -- accounting for 31 percent of cloud video revenues by 2024. 5G Edge Computing Market Development "These numbers underline the growing demand for cloud-based en...

Banking relationships are important to financial service providers. Traditionally, a banking relationship could reasonably be expected to last a customer's lifetime. However, the introduction of online and mobile banking has fundamentally altered expectations, disrupting the legacy banking business model. Measures to increase competition and make switching accounts easier have eroded friction, while the commoditization of services in the U.S. market has led to reductions in profit margins. Moreover, following the introduction of open technologies, APIs have begun to be a disruptive force in banking. APIs enable different systems to share data and initiate transactions, which can simplify the creation of new financial service offerings. This has helped to facilitate the Open Banking phenomenon. Open Banking Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total number of Open Banking users -- who share data via Open Banking APIs to a...

Healthcare services in the United States are notoriously expensive when they are compared to other developed nations. Some of the high cost is due to inefficiency in the delivery of routine procedures. Like other industries, America's healthcare sector is exploring the application of new technology. Half of U.S. healthcare providers will invest in robotic process automation (RPA) in the next three years -- that's up from 5 percent this year according to the latest market study by Gartner. The need to optimize costs and scarce healthcare resources during the pandemic is advancing RPA adoption. Robotic Process Automation Market Development Healthcare providers are caught in a perfect storm of shrinking payments, improving outcomes, enhancing the patient experience and bolstering innovation credentials. However, many Americans are very sick. And, treating and managing chronic conditions and mental health consumes nearly 90 percent of the $3.3 trillion in U.S. healthcare spen...

Digital data growth is already an ongoing challenge for many enterprise organizations across the globe. That said, the global pandemic has accelerated the digital data deluge, with a surge in video-based content, and other emerging trends that will fuel additional growth in 2020 and 2021. More than 59 zettabytes (ZB) of data will be created, captured, copied, and consumed in the world this year, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The COVID-19 pandemic is contributing to this growth by causing an increase in the number of remote employees, and that's fueled more adoption of video conferencing applications and a significant increase in streaming video webcasts or events. Digital Data Analytics Market Development IDC measures the amount of data created and consumed in the world each year. The ratio of unique data (created and captured) to replicated data (copied and consumed) is roughly 1:9 -- but the trend is a slow migrati...