Digital Lifescapes

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is somewhat resilient to the current volatility in the Global Networked Economy. Forward-thinking CEOs will continue to invest in their high-priority strategic initiatives. For example, here is a case in point on the European continent. ICT spending in Europe will reach $1.2 trillion in 2023 and will surpass $1.4 trillion by 2026, posting a 5.4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). European ICT Market Development Overall European ICT spending is forecast to grow by 4.2 percent year-on-year in 2023, driven by the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, sanctions imposed by the EU and the growing number of companies leaving Russia will result in the Russian ICT market shrinking by 9.4 percent year-on-year. "While organizations in most countries are anticipating a recession this year, the outlook for European ICT spen...

Public cloud computing platforms serve as the foundation for enterprise digital business. Increasingly, telecom service providers seek to partner with hyperscale cloud providers to use their scalable compute capacity and flexible object storage. Affordable compute capacity is the primary reason a growing number of network equipment vendors and telecom service providers are now exploring global public clouds as a complement to telco 5G core and cloud-edge infrastructure. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the public cloud is set to spur new growth for the telco cloud market, which is forecasted to grow to $29.3 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 27 percent. Telco Cloud Infrastructure Market Development The perceived low cost of ownership, little or no implementation risk, plus increased business agility and innovation are some of the key drivers that are propelling the advance of cloud computing capacity in the telecom sector. "...

Talent development was a reoccurring topic at the WEF 2020 event in Davos this week. In related news, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) full-time employment (FTE) will reach 55.3 million worldwide in 2020 -- that's an increase of 3.9 percent over 2019, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Moreover, the global ICT FTE workforce will maintain this pace of growth over the 2019-2023 forecast period, reaching more than 62 million people in 2023, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent. ICT Talent and Emerging Staffing Trends IDC believes a person can, as part of an occupation, perform several roles and split their time across those roles. The combination of roles for an occupation may vary over time between industries and organizations, even though the activities performed by a role remain relatively stable. Within ICT job roles, activities are performed within projects, programs, and lines of busi...

Digital business growth continues to fuel the Global Networked Economy, which requires a corresponding investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure. Despite the trade war between the United States and China, purchases of ICT systems and services will maintain steady growth over the next five years. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), ICT spending on hardware, software, services, and telecommunications will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent over the 2019-2023 forecast period, reaching $4.8 trillion in 2023. ICT Infrastructure Market Development Digital transformation and the adoption of automation technologies will be driving ongoing investment in applications, analytics, middleware, and data management software -- as well as increasing demand for IT server and storage capacity. Commercial purchases will account for nearly two-thirds of all ICT spending by 2023 -- that...

Business spending on information and communication technologies (ICT) may evolve over the next five years as the global economy puts pressure on organizations to increase technology investment because growth and competitiveness are increasingly dependent upon digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics leadership. Worldwide ICT spending on hardware, software, services and telecommunications will reach $4.6 trillion by 2022, representing average growth of 4 percent per year. Commercial customers will represent around 63.5 percent of total spending by 2022 ($2.9 trillion), while consumers will still account for 36.5 percent ($1.7 trillion), according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global ICT Market Development Consumer spending growth will lag behind business and government spending due to increasing saturation in smartphones and media tablets. The fastest growth will come from the professional services segment (7 pe...

Across the globe, savvy CIOs and CTOs are deploying a wide variety of new technologies to enable their digital strategies. A hybrid IT infrastructure is the norm, where on-premises systems coexist with public cloud service offerings. Together, these ICT platforms create the foundation for an evolving suite of software applications and associated digital business processes. Worldwide spending on the technologies and services that enable the digital transformation (DX) of business practices, products, and organizations is forecast to reach $1.97 trillion in 2022, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Digital Transformation Market Development IDC now forecasts that DX spending is expected to steadily expand throughout the 2017-2022 period, achieving a five-year compound annual growth rate of 16.7 percent. "IDC predicts that, by 2020, 30 percent of G2000 companies will have allocated capital budget equal to at least 10 percent of revenue...

Worldwide information and communications technology (ICT) spending -- including new technologies -- is expected to exceed $5.6 trillion in 2021 with growth accelerating through the end of the forecast period, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). By 2021, new technologies, including Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, robots and drones, augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets, and 3D printers, will account for almost a quarter (23 percent) of total ICT spending. ICT Market Development Overall, new technology investments -- including the four pillars of cloud, mobile, big data analytics, and social -- will make up more than 70 percent of worldwide ICT spending. IDC reports that the fastest-growing technology markets last year were AR/VR, cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing, and robotics. Meanwhile, IoT has already grown to account for 15 percent of ICT spending, including new operational technol...

Information and communications technology (ICT) is an enabler of economic progress, and a driving force of the Global Networked Economy. Those organizations that have mastered the applications of next-generation technologies are making waves of market disruption everywhere. That said, expect more of the same, at an accelerated pace in future. Worldwide spending on ICT will be nearly $4 trillion in 2018, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Ongoing growth will be driven by enterprise investment on cloud services, software and Hybrid IT infrastructure. Global ICT Market Development The consumer market will account for more than $1.5 trillion in ICT spending in 2018 and will deliver more than one third of all worldwide spending throughout the forecast period. Consumer spending will also experience the slowest growth over the forecast period with a CAGR of 1.2 percent. Roughly 80 percent of consumer spending will go to devices and mobil...

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...

Government use of business technology is primed for change. Next-generation IT solutions developed for the more progressive commercial markets are starting to contribute to the recovery of the public sector IT and professional services market, according to the latest worldwide market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). After five years of consistently declining revenues in the sector, government services contractors realized aggregate weighted average growth of 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16) -- that's a 640 basis-point improvement over year-to-year. While TBR attributes a return to growth in part to industry consolidation among a few vendors, average organic revenue declined 0.9 percent year-to-year among the 18 companies included in their research study. Governement IT Market Development "The public sector IT and professional services market recaptured growth during 1Q16, marking the turnaround of a long-pressured industry," said Sebasti...

When we look back on 2016, it will likely be remembered as a year of transition for many business technology vendors -- particularly those that were unable to react quickly to the pervasive enterprise IT buyer trends in the marketplace. Meanwhile, there's always an upside for those who have foresight. Worldwide IT spending is expected to post a slowdown in 2016. Having achieved annual growth of 5-6 percent (in constant currency) since a recovery from the financial crisis in 2010, the global IT market is expected to increase by just 2 percent overall this year. Total IT spending on hardware, software and services will reach $2.3 trillion in 2016. Including telecom services, total information and communication technology (ICT) spending will increase by 2 percent to $3.8 trillion, according to the latest worldwide study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Exploring the Key Performance Indicators IT spending was relatively stable in 2015, in spite of the volatile global ec...

According to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR), most of the growth for telecom vendors is coming from China during the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), where network operators are deploying 4G LTE, optical fiber, fixed-access and IP equipment. More growth is also coming from infrastructure deployment in India, where there is selective 4G LTE investment as well as 3G mobile network build-outs and managed services deals. This Capex spend is fueling growth for vendors entrenched firmly in those markets -- particularly Huawei and ZTE in China, and Ericsson in India. "LTE investment in China continued to drive Huawei's peer-leading telecom revenue as well as strong growth for ZTE,” said Michael Soper, telecom analyst at TBR . Outside of China, network operator spending is variable, reflecting the impact of post-peak LTE spend in North America, Japan and South Korea and economic issues in certain emerging markets, such as the Caribbean and Latin Americ...

In hindsight, the reported ongoing IT security breaches during 2015 have paved the way for a significant cyber security solutions marketplace in 2016 and beyond. Savvy IT leaders have already started to address the need for real-time policy updates, ongoing employee training and an evolving systems architecture. Data trends show that the global cyber threat and Vulnerability Management (VM) market is expected to grow from $5.3 billion in 2015 to $8.6 billion in 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research . This study was launched to uncover the commercial implications of newly discovered ICT security vulnerabilities, while also assessing current solutions to the known people, process and technology-related challenges that most CIOs must address with proactive enterprise security measures. "Each day, organizations are deluged with warnings about newly discovered security vulnerabilities," says Monolina Sen, senior analyst at ABI Research. "W...

In most developed markets around the globe, there's a key trend that has been in motion for some time. The convergence of digital business technology and internet connectivity is disrupting, transforming and sometimes collapsing industries. Technologies like cloud computing, enterprise mobility, big data and the Internet of Things are driving the surge in digital business transformation and rapidly accelerating the pace of change. "Customers are no longer interested in silo-based apps or services. They demand holistic, end-to end solutions for their connected lives and companies understand the importance of convergence for those solutions to materialize, thus creating partnerships between many sectors," said Andrew Milroy, senior vice president at Frost & Sullivan . Milroy says connectivity is enabled by the proliferation of connected devices and digital technology enablers create disruptions in various commercial sectors that are already in transition, forcing ...

The evolving Internet of Things (IoT) sector within the Asia-Pacific region will continue its rapid expansion, with the number of units connected to increase from 3.1 billion today to 8.6 billion by 2020, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Over this same period, the total Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) market size will increase from $250 billion to $583 billion in revenue. "The Internet of Things industry has matured considerably over the past year, with a number of large government initiatives across APeJ, and China in particular, driving demand," said Charles Reed Anderson, associate vice president at IDC . "This increase in market demand has led to an increased focus on IoT from the leading ICT vendors." China will continue to dominate IoT within the Asia-Pacific region -- accounting for 59 percent of the APeJ market opportunity by 2020 -- and is one of the leading markets globally with nearly 1 out of every 5...

International Data Corporation (IDC) announced its top predictions for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector during 2015. Worldwide ICT spending will grow 3.8 percent in 2015 to reach $3.8 trillion. Nearly all new investment will be focused on what IDC calls 3rd Platform technologies. "IDC first identified the 3rd Platform in 2007 and predicted that it would eventually become the new core of ICT market growth. In 2015, the 3rd Platform will account for one third of global ICT spending and 100 percent of spending growth," said Frank Gens, senior vice President and chief analyst at IDC . On a geographic basis, ICT spending in emerging markets is forecast to grow 7.1 percent year over year, while mature markets across the globe will reach just 1.4 percent growth. Wireless data will emerge as the largest ($536 billion) and fastest growing (13 percent) segment of telecom spending. Mobile devices and software apps adoption will continue grow in 2015. Sale...

Massive technology-led disruption across all industries is moving everyone globally towards an Internet of Everything -- where into the 2020's, tens of millions of people will be connected by trillions of digital things and software applications. This evolution started in the 1970's that had specialized activities driven by proprietary equipment and mainframes, then increased productivity in the 1990's propelled by the advent of PC's and the internet, followed by bursts of disruption and innovation in 2010 onward -- through open-source cloud and mobility. Connected Living, according to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan, is defined as a world in which people use many different devices to experience compelling new services that integrate video, voice, and data services to provide access and ubiquitous connectivity anytime and anywhere. "Mobility and cloud computing are two pillars of growth that has brought about significant changes in the ICT ind...

According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), the Big Data technology and services market will grow at a 27 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to $32.4 billion through 2017. Expect to hear more about Big Data and associated analytics software in 2014. To put this forecast into perspective, consider that's about six times the growth rate of the overall information and communication technology (ICT) market. Although there are multiple scenarios that could unfold and many demand and supply variables remain in flux, IDC expects the market to exhibit strong growth over the next five years. "The Big Data technology and services market represents a fast-growing multi-billion dollar worldwide opportunity," said Dan Vesset, Vice President at IDC . "The Big Data market is expanding rapidly as large IT companies and start-ups vie for customers and market share." Because of the rapidly developing nature of this market, IDC con...

​Cyber security for critical infrastructures has become an issue of primary importance to nation states. Policy is playing an increasingly important role alongside the deployment of technical measures. The cornerstone of implementing a viable digital society relies heavily on the concept of ensuring trust in the underlying infrastructure, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Energy, telecoms, healthcare, and transport systems and other critical sectors are making use of Internet connectivity and next generation technologies to boost productivity and improve efficiency. Protecting these networks from cyber threats requires a national approach. Governments have a duty to ensure the digital security of critical infrastructures. This requires accompanying technical efforts with policies in order to implement a coherent cyber security strategy across all sectors. From national defense through to water management, all connected networks require strategic planning and...

According to the latest market study by IDC Energy Insights , smart grid infrastructure investment will increase by 17.4 percent globally -- Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for hardware, software and services -- from 2010 to 2015 while overall spending will reach nearly $46.4 Billion worldwide in 2015. The Asia-Pacific region is forecast to experience the most growth in spending with a five-year CAGR of 33.7 percent. IDC Energy Insights identified 14 smart grid project types to help profile top investment priorities across the various regions of the world. They then reviewed data based on technology type (hardware, software and services), utility ownership (government owned or investor owned) and whether the utilities are electric only or a combination electric and gas. Utilities across the globe share the same or similar pressures and business drivers to make information and communications technology (ICT) investments in smart grid infrastructure. However, differences in re...