Digital Lifescapes

As we move deeper into 2025, the global technology sector is at a crossroads of innovation acceleration and market recalibration. The latest Gartner forecast projects worldwide IT spending to reach $5.43 trillion this year, marking a 7.9 percent increase over 2024. Despite the global economic uncertainty and lingering market caution, organizations are forging ahead with Cloud Computing adoption, and especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven transformation. Let's explore where new investment is flowing, what’s guiding decision-makers, and how key technology trends will define the global IT trajectory through the rest of the decade. Enterprise IT Market Development Data Center Systems experience 42.4 percent growth, a historic surge linked directly to global investments in AI-ready infrastructure. Software and IT Services remain pillars of growth, showing significant expansion as organizations persist in their digital transformation journey. Device spending, including PCs and mo...

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth...

Organizations are now in the digital business transformation era, where acting as a digital-first enterprise is a CEO mandate, and a strategic differentiator to ensure future prosperity and growth. Enterprise investment in business technology and related digital application growth initiatives has been remarkably robust, in spite of the currently projected outlook of global economic headwinds. Worldwide information technology (IT) and business services revenue will grow by 5.7 percent this year and is forecast at 5.2 percent for 2023, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Business Technology Market Development IDC has maintained its outlook for the worldwide Services market against the backdrop of a potential global recession. Worldwide GDP growth worsened since earlier in the year and is now expected to grow by 2.7 percent this year and 2.4 percent in 2023. IDC remains cautiously optimistic based on reported results from vendors in the ...

In uncertain times, such as the post-pandemic economy, smart business leaders will consistently invest the time and effort to gain a competitive edge. Moreover, these savvy leaders have a keen sense of the need for ongoing digital transformation. The worldwide artificial intelligence (AI) market -- including software, hardware, and services -- will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6 percent in the 2022-2026 forecast period to reach $900 billion in 2026, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). "The COVID-19 pandemic quickly revealed that our current systems are not as resilient as we thought they were," says Martin Nuska, AI analyst at IDC . Artificial Intelligence Market Development The quest for substantive digital transformation became an urgent necessity, due to disrupted supply chains, and a critical need for fast and accurate insight to support key decision-making processes. This is expected to lead to huge opportuniti...

After years of slow growth and limited use cases, the Virtual Reality (VR) market is now forecast to grow significantly over the next five years. Consumer interest in VR games and media continues to grow after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated activity. At the same time, the need for employee enablement and immersive content within the enterprise environment remains strong. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, over 90 million Head Mounted Display (HMD) shipments in 2027 will drive total VR market revenues to reach over $95 billion across hardware, software, and services. Virtual Reality Market Development "The virtual reality market is no stranger to false starts, with identifiable efforts in VR dating back to the 1980s and 1990s. While the technology never found purchase results, the increased capability of VR hardware combined with the demand for immersive content in numerous markets, presents a significant opportunity," says Eric Abbruzzese, research direc...

Many senior executives remain upbeat about the potential of a business technology investment to drive digital business growth. Worldwide information technology (IT) spending is projected to total $4.5 trillion in 2022 -- that's an increase of 5.1 percent over 2021, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Despite the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and commercial disruption fueled by the Omicron variant, economic recovery with high expectations for digital market prosperity will continue to boost technology investments. Hybrid Enterprise IT Market Development "2022 is the year that the future returns for the CIO," said John-David Lovelock, vice president at Gartner . "They are now in a position to move beyond the critical, short-term projects over the past two years and focus on the long term." Simultaneously, staff skills gaps, wage inflation, and the demand for digital transformation talent will push CIOs to rely more on consultancies and ma...

Cloud computing infrastructure is moving out to the edge of enterprise networks as more organizations explore ways to re-engineer their architecture in support of new and emerging information technology (IT) use cases. Managed cloud edge services will become a high-growth market as enterprises look for low-latency edge services to address process efficiencies, support new applications, comply with data sovereignty, and deal with IT security threats. According to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide revenues for managed edge services will reach $445.3 million in 2021 -- that's an increase of 43.5 percent over 2020. Over the 2021-2025 forecast period, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for managed edge services will be 55.1 percent. Managed Edge Services Market Development Given the nascent demand for managed edge services, a wide range of IT service providers and business technology vendors are looking at this market as the next big r...

Corporate risk management leaders must face the trade-off between delivering timely guidance and conducting detailed risk audit assessments. Meanwhile, the ability to protect assets, reputation and sustainability is becoming more challenging amid rapid shifts in the global economic environment. Enterprise information technology (IT) security control failures were listed as the top emerging risk in the first quarter of 2021 during a poll of senior executives, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Despite a myriad of potential risks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic -- such as alternative work locations and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concerns -- cybersecurity risk was consistent across all global regions and most industries, cited by 67 percent of survey respondents. Comprehensive IT Security Market Development The next highest cited risk, "the new working model" was cited by 43 percent of respondents. "Many organizations were forced...

In the past, most CIOs and CTOs would consider Wi-Fi infrastructure as the primary mode of delivering wireless local area network connectivity to their organization. Now, the development of fifth-generation (5G) cellular technologies has created alternative modes of wireless networking. Moreover, the demand for private networks in the enterprise domain continues to rise. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, private cellular network deployments within the enterprise domain will generate equipment revenues of more than $64 billion by 2030. While very large enterprises will likely drive the market for the next 10 years -- accounting for 50 percent of private networks by 2030 -- companies with annual revenues between $250 million and $1 billion will account for 40 percent of private networks by 2030, with their proportion expected to rise further beyond the forecast period. Private Cellular Network Market Development "These numbers underline the huge momentu...

A distributed workforce, and ongoing work-from-home mandates, have evolved the charter of corporate information technology (IT) organizations. CIOs are now tasked to support flexible working arrangements that require them to reconsider prior assumptions about securing the combined infrastructure that enables an employee to perform work remotely. Enterprise spending on IT security products and services has experienced new growth in 2020, as many organizations invest in solutions to meet the needs of a much larger remote workforce, and a wide range of online security threats that create additional requirements. According to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software, and services will be $125.2 billion in 2020 -- that's an increase of 6 percent over 2019. IT Security Market Development As the global economy recovers from the impact of COVID-19, IDC expects worldwide security spending to reach $174...

Demand for cloud computing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is expected to drive the current $45.6 billion market toward $150.7 billion by 2023 -- that's a compound annual growth rate of 27 percent, according to the latest worldwide market study by Frost & Sullivan. Enterprises are using cloud services for strategic benefits such as supporting digital transformation efforts rather than for tactical ones, like reducing IT infrastructure costs and the hardware or software maintenance burden. This market shift has changed the way enterprises choose and manage their IT infrastructure, and led them to deploy applications across multiple infrastructures, from on-premises private cloud to public cloud (multi- and single-tenant), resulting in higher demand for IaaS offerings. Hybrid Multi-Cloud Market Development "As the mix of deployment models and best-of-breed cloud IaaS vendors becomes increasingly diverse, single-tenant IaaS will gain revenue share over multi-tenant...

The rush to move IT applications from on-premises enterprise data centers to public cloud service providers, primarily on the basis of the promise of a low-cost, has once again been challenged by recent market research findings. In fact, savvy CIOs and CTOs are seeking comprehensive solutions that meet all their expectations, rather than merely a limited subset. Even if it costs more to achieve that goal, the demand for superior hybrid cloud services is gaining momentum across the globe. As an example, seventy-five percent of respondents to the latest worldwide market study by 451 Research indicate that enterprise IT leaders are willing to pay a premium for enhancements to their server hosting and cloud services. Cloud Services Market Development The most desired improvements are guarantees of security (48.7 percent of respondents) and service performance (43.3 percent) with less interest in paying service providers to take on the operational management burden (27.9 percent). ...

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...

Effective IT infrastructure security is a growing concern to most organizations that have expanded their use of eCommerce applications. It's especially important to senior executives at public companies that are held responsible for security breaches and any related impact on customers. IT security expertise demand is increasing worldwide, including managed services. As an example, the Latin American managed security services (MSS) market is transforming as CIOs focus on higher levels of security and risk management for their IT infrastructure. According to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan, this is due to increasing threats such as targeted Internet attacks, advanced persistent threats, more sophisticated distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and of course ransomware. IT Security Services Market Development "Traditionally, the mindset about cyber security in Latin America has been more reactive rather than proactive, with investments occurring af...

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...

As the Internet of Things (IoT) market matures during 2017, there's an increased focus on IoT service development, as more vendors explore the various new applications that are helping to stimulate growth in the sector. That said, many more devices will be 'online' this year. Many for the first time. It's estimated that 8.4 billion connected 'things' will be in use worldwide in 2017 --that's up 31 percent from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020, according to the latest market study by Gartner. As a result, total spending on endpoints and IoT services will reach almost $2 trillion in 2017. Moreover, Greater China, North America and Western Europe are driving the use of connected things and it's estimated that the three regions together will represent 67 percent of the overall IoT installed base in 2017. Internet of Things Market Development  The consumer segment is the largest user of connected things, with 5.2 billion units in 2017. That r...

As we look back on the business technology-related trends of 2016, the huge adoption of Hybrid IT methodologies come to mind. More enterprises have combined on-premises systems of record with off-premises systems of engagement to form a cohesive foundation for their digital transformation agenda. Business leaders currently spend about 28 percent of their total enterprise IT budgets on hosting and cloud computing services, according to the latest worldwide market study by 451 Research. Moreover, the outlook for 2017 is encouraging -- that investment is now forecast to reach 34 percent. The analyst believes that there's a growing reliance on external sources of infrastructure, application, management and security services. Although vendors frequently position themselves as primarily suppliers of infrastructure, the study finds that just 31 percent of spending goes towards infrastructure services. Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of enterprise budgets for hosting and cloud is being ...

IT security issues continue to be top-of-mind for many enterprise organizations. Worldwide revenues for security-related hardware, software, and services will grow from $73.7 billion in 2016 to reach $101.6 billion in 2020, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). This security-related spending represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3 percent -- that's more than twice the rate of overall IT spending growth, over the five-year forecast period. The ongoing demand for hybrid cloud infrastructure will likely be a catalyst for enhanced security. "Today's security climate is such that enterprises fear becoming victims of the next major cyber attack or cyber extortion," said Sean Pike, program vice president at IDC . "As a result, security has become heavily scrutinized by boards of directors demanding that security budgets are used wisely and solutions operate at peak efficiency." Security Solutions Market D...

The global managed security services (MSS) market will grow rapidly with the ongoing move towards cloud computing, the adoption of bring-your-own-device (BYOD), and as new cyber security laws require IT organizations to improve their security posture. Sophisticated threats, such as targeted attacks, advanced persistent attacks, and larger distributed denial of service attacks are pushing enterprises to adopt a more mature approach to IT  security , thereby increasing the market opportunity for MSS providers. According to the latest worldwide market study by Frost & Sullivan, the MSS market earned revenues of $7.83 billion in 2014 and is forecast to reach $12.78 billion in 2018. The market in  Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will remain the largest. Moreover, security asset management and monitoring (SAMM) services will represent the prime market segment. The adoption of cloud-based SAMM will gather pace as the need for real-time security intelligence and prot...

Cloud service management is going to become yet one more segment of the legacy enterprise software sector that's being affected by the ongoing adoption of open-source software subscription models. The shift in end-user IT consumption preference to cloud services will trigger disruption and pressures old-school Infrastructure Management (IM) software vendors on two fronts, according to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). Cloud consumption models rely on subscription revenue. The revenue recognition patterns for subscriptions are in stark contrast to the expensive software vendor license models that include ongoing maintenance support agreements, generally purchased after the first year of deployment. The shift to subscription models negatively impact margins as traditional IM software vendors shift go-to-market and delivery strategies to align with end-user consumption preferences -- and the growing demand for a lower-cost IT operations model. ...