Digital Lifescapes

Business-to-Business (B2B) payments represent a significant upside growth opportunity for fintech vendors. While many businesses have been transferring funds to each other for a long time, the typical process remains difficult to navigate due to the many workflow challenges. B2B payments can take a variety of forms ranging from basic cash payments to sophisticated instruments like virtual cards, which solve the problems of B2B payments to varying degrees, but some core challenges remain. The ever-greater use of process automation is also a key trend within the B2B payments arena and represents a potential solution if the underlying payment systems can support the necessary elements. B2B Payments Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the transaction value of B2B domestic payments across payment methods will exceed $54 trillion in 2023 -- that's up from $49 trillion in 2021. The research findings predict a growth rate of 10 percent, re...

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ), spending on compute and storage products for cloud computing infrastructure -- including dedicated and shared environments -- decreased 2.4 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q21) to $16.8 billion. This decrease comes after six quarters of year-over-year growth, and most notably compares to the 39.1 percent annual growth seen by the market in 2Q20, when the world just entered the pandemic with the first wave of business and country closures causing a spike in investments in cloud services and infrastructure. In contrast, investments in non-cloud infrastructure increased 3.4 percent year-over-year in 2Q21 to $13.4 billion recovering from a 7.2 percent decline in 2Q20. Proving, once again, that the demand for Hybrid IT infrastructure continues to fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year. Cloud Computing Infrastructure Market Development Spending on shared cloud infrastr...

The traditional media and entertainment (M&E) industry continues to undergo a transformative process, adapting to customer preferences, new tech, and government regulations. Meanwhile, new direct-to-consumer online entertainment services and pay-TV cord-cutting have created disruptive challenges. These rapidly evolving trends also include handling the high volumes of data generated, complexities in audience targeting and identity resolution, and the need for deeper levels of personalization. All these changes are making artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) essential to automating many digital media processes -- including content selection, content management, media workflows, customer relations, and digital advertising. Media and Entertainment Tech Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the upside market potential for AI/ML revenue growth within the M&E sector will reach $16.5 billion by 2026. Personalization is becomi...

Leaders of Customer Care and Support teams have discovered that the legacy approach of designing and building call centers with rows upon rows of agents in tiny cubicles is obsolete. Staff turnover is typically very high in these environments. Now, there's a better approach on the horizon, as a result of experience gained from the COVID-19 pandemic era. Contact center as a service (CCaaS) will likely reach full mainstream adoption in less than two years, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Some customer service and support early adopters of CCaaS have overcome the initial hurdles and are beginning to experience the benefits. "CCaaS is a growth market," said Drew Kraus, vice president at Gartner . "The technology offers greater software agility with a lower cost of ownership, making it a key area of investment in innovation and customer service applications that surpasses the offers of legacy premises-based or server technology." Contact Ce...

If you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it's likely a robocall. A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message. In 2020, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 2.8 million consumer complaints about robocalls. Offering solutions to robocalling and associated fraudulent business practices, computerized mitigation platforms are an integral part of the solution. Platforms that are focused on actionable systems to disrupt unsolicited and potentially criminal phone calls help telecom service providers and industry regulators. Issues of whether one-size-fits-all developments are sufficient to be effective across the spectrum need to be addressed, and whether a single telecom network operator working unilaterally with a third-party platform could compromise desired or mandatory industry-wide standards. Robocall Mitigation Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Jun...

While most senior executives at progressive organizations have already evolved their human resource policies to accommodate employee desire for flexible working models, others still resist change. Unfortunately, many of the laggards are now experiencing the "Great Resignation" phenomenon. The global pandemic required business leaders to rethink when, where, and how their knowledge workers and front-line employees perform their work. Yet even with the ongoing pandemic recovery slowly underway, some organizations are still trying to determine their workforce approach. According to the latest worldwide market study and recent survey data from International Data Corporation (IDC), stability and geography will likely define the balance of future work strategies. Distributed Workforce Market Development On a global basis, physical office sites are expected to be the dominant location for work as legacy organizations eventually find themselves in a more stable environment. However, ...

The adoption of fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology apps will create demand for new categories of software and related services. Topping that list of requirements is securing connections and devices from cyber threats. ABI Research forecasts that by 2026, Internet of Things (IoT) cellular wireless network connections will number more than 3 billion -- with 4G LTE and LPWA networks bearing most of these connections -- driving the $8 billion market for IoT security services. IT Security Services Market Development The opportunity to deliver secure IoT communications on these networks will be key to the successful deployment of connected things on a global scale, and for the eventual transition to 5G New Radio (NR). According to the ABI assessment, the security industry is amid significant new technology developments to provide secure cellular connectivity solutions to IoT stakeholders across the board. With the emergence of new cellular standards such as NB-IoT, LTE-M and 5G MMTC, ...

Across the globe, more organizations are investing in the modernization of information technology (IT) infrastructure and associated service offerings. For many senior executives, the motivation is obvious and compelling. While most of the IT spending within the commercial enterprise sector is targeted at fueling their digital business growth agenda, the public sector also has its own compelling goals and objectives. Worldwide government IT spending is now forecast to total $557.3 billion in 2022 -- that's an increase of 6.5 percent from 2021, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. Government IT Market Development "Governments will continue to accelerate investments in digital technologies to respond and recover from the continuing evolution of public health uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Irma Fabular, vice president at Gartner . According to the Gartner assessment, the disruptions caused by the pandemic have also reinforced a key digit...

Building on significant advances in big data, analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), more innovative transit service offerings aim to increase public transport ridership and reduce emissions or congestion within metropolitan areas. By providing these services through smartphone apps, the transit services also significantly increase user convenience, providing information on different human mobility offerings -- including public transport, ridesharing, and autonomous vehicles. Mobility-as-a-Service Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) subscribers will generate $53 billion in revenue for MaaS platform providers by 2027 -- that's rising from $5.3 billion in 2021. Let's start with a basic definition. MaaS is the provision of multi-modal end-to-end travel services through single platforms, by which users can determine an optimal route and price. The study identified a monthly subscription model as key to incr...