Digital Lifescapes

The global enterprise IT modernization and migration to SaaS cloud computing platforms has been accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as more CIOs and CTOs adapt to the increased demand for flexible online working models that enable their knowledge worker employees to work from virtually anywhere. Clearly, IT infrastructure vendors directly benefited from this phenomenon. Vendor revenue from sales of IT infrastructure products for cloud environments -- including public and private cloud -- increased 9.4 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20). However, investments in traditional, non-cloud, IT infrastructure declined -8.3 percent year-over-year, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ). These growth rates demonstrate the market response to major adjustments in business, educational, and societal activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the role IT infrastructure plays in these adjustments. Across the globe...

The COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges within the enterprise, but it also generated technology application innovation. Augmented Reality (AR) has helped to fuel remote worker enablement, including high-value use cases such as remote assistance, training, and workflow instruction. Combine this with an increasingly viable consumer AR market over the next few years, the market growth potential is significant. ABI Research estimates that the worldwide augmented reality market will surpass $140 billion in total market value by 2025. "While enterprise usage has dominated the augmented reality conversation over the past few years, the tides are shifting. All of the tech companies that can shift markets on a global scale are directly involved in AR already, and many are planning more dedicated AR hardware efforts over the next two to three years," said Eric Abbruzzese, research director for ABI Research . Augmented Reality Market Development According to the ABI assessment, th...

Savvy CEOs are inspiring their executive leadership team to clearly articulate a 'Digital Workspace' strategy that will differentiate them from their peer group within the Global Networked Economy. Today, a compelling digital business growth agenda is a paramount goal for all forward-looking board of directors. As Chief Human Resource Officers (CHRO) continue to address the changes in disrupted business environments, as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Gartner has identified five key 'future of work' decisions that the enterprise human resources (HR) team must address in 2021 and beyond. Major shifts in macroeconomic factors -- such as customer behaviors and government regulations -- and in micro factors -- including organizational strategy and policy -- have substantially shortened HR leaders’ time horizons when planning for the inevitable future commercial environment. Digital Workspace Market Development "2021 will be a year of not just recovery, but re...

Access to centralized cloud servers had led telecom network operators and their enterprise customers to assume that hyperscale public cloud service offerings would potentially enhance the storing and processing of all data being generated. However, performance issues arising from network latency translate into public cloud services being unsuitable for some data-intensive computing activities, such as analyzing complex data workloads and delivering real-time insights. Cloud edge computing, a form of distributed computing, where the device that collected the data, or an on-premises gateway, or an off-premises edge node close by, solves many problems associated with wide-area network latency. Cloud Edge Computing Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research , the telecom network operator spend on Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) will grow from $2.7 billion in 2020 to reach $8.3 billion in 2025.  Multi-access edge computing (formerly mobile ed...

How agile organizations enable online communication and collaboration for their distributed workforce is top of mind for most senior executives today. More savvy CEOs, across all industries, have rapidly increased investments in IT systems and services that empower employees to work from anywhere. The global unified communications & collaboration (UC&C) market grew 26.7 percent year-over-year and 6.6 percent quarter-over-quarter to $12.2 billion in the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20), according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). As enterprise leaders moved their teams from the crisis phase to the recovery phase, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide growth of UC&C applications was driven by organizations across all business types and sizes. Unified Communications Market Development The IDC study uncovered a special interest in cloud-based solutions for voice, video, messaging, and collaboration for driving initiatives...

While forward-looking banks and other progressive financial service companies explore ways to develop new eCommerce offerings for online customers, there's still growing momentum within some legacy organizations to pursue an enhancement to traditional in-store payment technologies. Up to 2.5 million biometric payment cards will be issued in 2021 as the market reaps the benefits of significant ecosystem efforts, tailored specially to help reduce product cost, improve yield, and simplify manufacturing processes, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Today over 20 biometric payment card pilots are active globally, and the first commercial launch, by BNP Paribas, was announced earlier in 2020. The biometric payment card is a form-factor to help enhance secure authentication, providing a new 'contactless' Point-of-Sale (POS) payment experience. Digital Payments Market Development "It’s taken time for the biometric payment card market to take shape ...

Enterprise CEOs are looking to their most senior technology leaders to deliver competitive digital business transformation projects that enable new revenue growth. Furthermore, they crave business technology champions that are skilled in motivating and developing IT talent for their top priorities. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform how CIOs manage, collaborate, and respond to their key stakeholders. Seventy percent of hiring processes for new CIOs rank individual determination and sensitivity as critical characteristics in 2021, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Digital Business Talent Development "CEOs are looking for executives who are capable of weathering crises," said Daniel Sanchez-Reina, senior research director at Gartner . "They are still unsettled about the future and want determined CIOs who make and implement timely decisions while displaying emotional dexterity to be tactful and supportive." Gartner says determination...

Where can you find the most value for your hard-earned money? Informed people everywhere seek the best consumer product purchase options via their mobile device and buy what they need with the expectation of reliable and fast delivery. This trend forces legacy retailers to shift their strategies and increase their digital presence and product availability. Moreover, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the omni-channel retail laggards. Most retailers feel under pressure to offer streamlined shopping experiences and support omni-channel payments. The line between physical and digital commerce is becoming increasingly blurred. These key trends are truly transformational. Omnichannel Mobile Payments Market Development It's now forecast that mCommerce payments will reach $3.1 trillion in 2025 -- that's up from $2.1 trillion in 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. The analyst found that the pandemic’s massive boost to digital wal...

Across the globe, CEOs have learned that achieving digital growth requires an ongoing investment in their digital business transformation projects. Furthermore, legacy assumptions about the ways that enterprises should address business disruptions are no longer valid. Industry analysts believe superior 'change management' is about being resilient to market disruptions. International Data Corporation (IDC) has launched the Digital Resiliency Investment Index, which provides a view of the progress organizations are making in their investments towards digital resiliency. The initial Index results show that overall investments in resiliency have increased steadily throughout the year as businesses prioritize or accelerate the adoption of cloud computing, collaboration platforms, and other digital transformation projects. Digital Growth Resilience Market Development Modern IT infrastructure and network security have also been a major investment area, driven by the shift to more remo...

Commercial wireless communications have evolved rapidly over the last decade. Also, private cellular connectivity differs between enterprise verticals. Exploring the various applications and industry use cases provides an important indication of where infrastructure deployment will occur next. With fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology maturing, the importance of private networking solutions for the enterprise domain will continue to grow. Looking ahead, the growing demand for private network deployments will be driven primarily by heavy industry verticals. Industrial manufacturing, energy production (including mining, oil and gas, and logistics) alone will generate private network revenues of $32.38 billion by 2030, representing half of the $64 Billion overall private network revenues, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Private 5G Network Market Development "These findings show the importance of private networks, particularly for automating missio...

CEOs agree, enabling 'remote working' options for their highly skilled talent is now essential to their digital growth goals. For many CHROs, supporting remote work is routine. HR leaders must cater to parts of their workforce that drive key growth initiatives, and deliver new human resource policies that are most beneficial. A survey of HR leaders has revealed that 90 percent of respondents plan to allow employees to work remotely at least part of the time, even after the COVID-19 pandemic vaccine is widely adopted. Furthermore, 65 percent of respondents reported that their organization will continue to offer employees flexibility on when and where they choose to work. That's a 'talent retention' imperative for 2021. Hybrid Work Infrastructure Market Development As the global distribution of various COVID-19 vaccines begin, HR leaders who responded to a recent Gartner survey predict that about 50 percent of their workforce may want to return to the workplace – at l...

The concept of a 'digital identity' is now established as a high priority, in an online world that's plagued with cybercriminals and others that profit from fraudulent activities. That said, digital identity is less about presenting a digital persona, and more about sharing verified identifiable data. A digital version of ‘you’ does have a place in the commercial ecosystems being built today. With the versatility inherent in many modern digital identity systems, life events and portable identities take on new meaning. Besides, there's a significant market opportunity for telecom service providers. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, mobile network operator (MNO) revenue from digital identity will reach $8.1 billion in 2025 -- that's up from just $1.3 billion in 2020. Secure Digital Identity Market Development Juniper analysts found that, as the online identity space evolves, MNOs will play an increasingly important role in providing v...

Many organizations across the globe have considered ways to optimize and contain their information technology (IT) investments, due to the current economic environment. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually proven to be an accelerator of cloud services adoption, driving the quest for greater results from digital business transformation projects. Total worldwide spending on cloud computing -- the hardware and software components underpinning cloud services, and the professional and managed services opportunities around cloud -- will surpass $1 trillion in 2024 while sustaining a double-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.7 percent, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Whole Cloud Computing Market Development "Cloud in all its permutations – hardware/software/services/ 'everything-as-a-service', as well as public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, multi-cloud and edge computing – will play ever greater, and even domi...

Incumbent telecom service providers are consumed by the ongoing quest for substantive new revenue opportunities, beyond the delivery of internet access via wired and wireless broadband infrastructure. The leaders have long held the belief that value-added offerings were the key to sustainable growth. Once again, that quest has led them to explore potential upside opportunities within the cloud computing arena. Global telco cloud computing revenue is now forecast to reach $29.3 billion by 2025, up from $8.7 billion in 2020, at a 5-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 27 percent. That ongoing growth will be driven primarily by cloud infrastructure-related investments, such as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), Management and Network Orchestration (MANO), and Cloud-Native Functions (CNFs). Telco Cloud Computing Market Development By 2025, the telco cloud computing market will be worth $10 billion in North America, $9 billion in Asia-Pacific (APAC), and $8.2 billion in Europe, accordi...

The traditional enterprise software landscape has evolved significantly over the last decade. CTOs and line of business leaders look to online service offerings that deliver functionality via a usage-based pricing model. It's often the fastest path to demo application software and determine user acceptance. Furthermore, while new agile software development methodologies have replaced legacy waterfall approaches that were common during the mainframe and client-server computing era, today's app developers seek on-demand IT infrastructure solutions that they can easily provision and deploy themselves. Worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 18.4 percent in 2021 to total $304.9 billion -- that's up from $257.5 billion in 2020, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Public Cloud End-User Market Development "The pandemic validated cloud’s value proposition," said Sid Nag, vice president at Gartner . "The ability to use on-...

More CEOs in the wholesale and retail sectors have accelerated the adoption of digital business models. As a result, it's now relatively easy for anyone to seek out the best product deals online or on their mobile devices, and purchase whatever they need via eCommerce platforms. This transition has forced many traditional wholesalers and retailers to shift their strategies and increase their digital presence and product availability, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the fortunes of those lagging behind into sharp focus. In particular, both traditional and online retailers are under immense pressure to offer improved shopping experiences and to meet growing consumer demand for omnichannel digital payments, while also adhering to evolving financial services sector regulatory requirements. Global eCommerce Market Development That said, the line between physical and digital commerce is becoming increasingly blurred. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research,...

As more CEOs of forward-looking organizations accelerate their digital business growth agenda, the adoption of cloud computing continues to gain momentum as savvy CIOs and CTOs seek the most effective ways to support the demand for just-in-time IT computing and storage resources.  Vendor revenue from sales of IT infrastructure products for cloud environments -- including public and private cloud -- increased 34.4 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20). Meanwhile, investments in traditional, non-cloud, IT infrastructure declined by 8.7 percent year-over-year in 2Q20, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ). These growth rates show the market response to major adjustments in business, educational, and societal activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the role IT infrastructure plays in these ongoing adjustments. Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Development Across the globe, there were massive shifts reported to...

IT vendors seeking to convince CIOs and CTOs about their blockchain-related solutions have been challenged by an apparent shift in market perception. Distributed ledger technology hype reached a peak and as a result, the upside growth potential had fallen significantly. Global blockchain revenues fell by 35 percent between 2018 and 2020. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the potential loss could have reached $2.8 billion. Moreover, the reported 'crypto winter' of 2018 removed 80 percent of the aggregate market cap, and more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies collapsed. However, that market correction was enlightening. Blockchain Market Development This dampened overall blockchain adoption significantly in other markets, with many startups folding and different verticals showing a distinct lack of market adoption. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on investment opportunities and appetite for new blockchain applications. That said,...

Across the globe, many forward-thinking leaders continue to provide funds for Information Technology (IT) innovation that's intended to fuel their digital growth. Some apply proven ways to reduce their Communication Services spend, which is typically the largest IT expense, and thereby reinvest that budget. As an example, despite the disruptive impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic, 47 percent of organizations plan to increase their investments in the Internet of Things (IoT), according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Following the COVID-19 lockdown, the survey found that 35 percent of organizations reduced their investments in IoT, while a larger number of organizations are planning to invest more in IoT implementations. IoT and AI Market Development One reason behind the increase is that while companies have a limited history with the Internet of Things use cases, those implementers did produce a predictable ROI within a specified timeframe. "They use key ...

Forward-thinking CIOs and CTOs in the financial services sector have evolved. The increased competition from digital-only challenger banks has redefined customer expectations. While some traditional banks have been disrupted by the rise of fintech, others have advanced and prospered. Tech-savvy bankers chose to adapt and transform the way they operate, in order to lower their operating costs and compete more effectively. The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning has been essential to their digital transformation, plus the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platforms. While many of these workflow optimizations are in the back-office processes, most also have a positive customer experience impact. Chatbots are being used to offer a better online user experience. Several banks also offer AI-based insights within their mobile banking apps, or AI-assisted investing via Robo-Advisors. Fintech AI Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by...