Digital Lifescapes

What if the employees in your organization had access to intelligent automation that augmented their own skills and abilities? What if the routine processes and repetitive tasks could be executed by a trained computing system? Given that scenario, how might your organization improve employee productivity and enhance their job satisfaction? That's the promise of cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It's becoming a new reality, as numerous organizations across the globe start to embrace these trained computing systems. Cognitive and AI Market Development Worldwide spending on cognitive and AI systems is forecast to reach $57.6 billion in 2021, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). With many industries investing in cognitive and AI solutions, spending is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50.1 percent over the 2016-2021 forecast period. Worldwide spending on cognitive and AI systems...

Many organizations are now actively considering blockchain deployments, and a significant proportion are already anticipating integration of blockchain into their IT systems within the next 18 months, according the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. The Juniper survey found that among the largest companies (those with 20,000 of more employees) that were considering deploying or were in the process of deploying blockchain, 54 percent had reached the PoC (Proof of Concept) stage, with a further 16 percent involved in trial deployments. Among all companies that have reached the PoC stage, 66 percent expected blockchain to be integrated into their systems by the end of 2018. Integration was expected to take longer as companies got larger among the smaller companies surveyed (i.e. those with less than 1,000 employees), 81 percent expecting integration to be completed by the end of 2018 -- compared with 57 percent of companies with over 20,000 employees. IBM Leads Bl...

CIOs and CTOs are developing comprehensive Hybrid IT infrastructure models, in response to growing demand from CFOs and line of business leaders that request access to applications hosted via both on-premises private cloud and off-premises public cloud offerings. That's why savvy technology leaders must therefore align with the most qualified vendors and service providers that enable them to manage and support these complex multi-cloud scenarios. Furthermore, the chosen provider must demonstrate vertical industry knowledge and prior experience. A major shift is taking place in how enterprises select their financial management applications, with a migration to cloud applications happening faster than expected, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Multi-Cloud Service Market Development A recent Gartner survey of senior finance executives found that by 2020, 36 percent of enterprises will use the cloud to support more than half of their transactional syst...

Much of the initial interest in cryptocurrencies centered around their potential as alternatives to fiat currencies. Increasingly, however, attention has shifted to the potential of the technology that underpins them: blockchain. A clear indication of blockchain’s increasing maturity is the extent to which an industry that was once the preserve of fintech start-ups is now being driven by leading IT platform providers -- many of whom are developing their own offerings. Blockchain Market Development A number have been involved in joint ventures and consortia while at the same time developing their own solutions. For example, IBM unveiled Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) for developers in February 2016 based on Hyperledger Fabric -- one of the Hyperledger blockchain framework implementations hosted by The Linux Foundation. A new worldwide market study by Juniper Research has found that the value of cryptocurrency transactions is expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2017 -- that's ...

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), global shipments of personal computing devices (PCDs), comprised of traditional PCs (desktops, notebooks, and workstations) and media tablets (slates and detachables), will continue a decline through 2021. The study results show PCD shipments declining from 435.1 million units in 2016 to 398.3 million in 2021, which represents a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -1.7 percent. Personal Computing Market Development While growth for the overall PCD market is not expected at any point within the forecast period, there are a few interesting trends that continue to develop. Apart from 2018, notebook PCs show small but steady year-over-year growth throughout the forecast period. Detachable tablets and convertible notebooks, which represent more versatile designs, will be the fastest growing segments in PCD with a 5-year CAGR of over 14 percent. Ultraslim notebooks are also expected to...

Smart City projects have gained momentum over the last decade, as more municipalities across North American have launched a wide variety of digital transformation initiatives. That said, some cities have achieved significant outcomes that enable them to improve services for citizens. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago are the smartest cities in the United States, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Cities were evaluated across various metrics such as deployment of LED streetlights, smart meters, renewable energy, electric mobility, smart parking, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies, smart waste, and first responder communications. American Smart City Project Assessment "New York is the leading city with the highest deployment of LED streetlights in the U.S., followed closely by Los Angeles," said Raquel Artes, analyst at ABI Research . Chicago will have the highest upgrade of current legacy streetlights as the local gov...

Billions of people around the world use the internet to share ideas and trade with one another. With worldwide internet penetration at nearly 50 percent, the global digital economy has become a space of immense opportunity. It’s clear that business transactions are becoming heavily reliant on us being connected onlne. Digital flows are now responsible for more GDP growth globally than trade in traditional offline goods and services. Digital transformation is now driving globalization. As such, achieving a competitive advantage in the global digital arena has become a key priority for governments and businesses who strive for inclusion and relevance. It is also clear that trust has a critical role to play when countries look to improve their eCommerce adoption. It's in this context that The Fletcher School at Tufts University, in partnership with Mastercard , present findings from the 2017 edition of the  'Digital Evolution Index' (DEI 17). Exploring National Digital...

Following a disappointing year in 2016, when the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) payment cards market nearly came to a complete halt, ABI Research now expects that the market will bounce back this year with an anticipated annual growth rate of 4.6 percent. The EMV market problems began in 2016 with overstocking issues in the U.S., causing shipments to drop by 18 percent. Additionally, the market in China reached saturation and was further impacted by new legislation limiting the number of accounts one citizen is permitted to own at a singular bank. Both issues in China resulted in a card shipment decrease of 8 percent YoY. Global EMV Market Development All eyes are now firmly fixed on the U.S., China, and India, driven by an expectation that over 56 percent of all EMV cards issued globally in 2017 will be issued into one of these three countries. India will be one of the positive growth factors in the near-term future, currently in the early stage of EMV migration which will...

Much of the initial interest in cryptocurrencies centered around their potential as alternatives to fiat currencies. Now attention has shifted to the upside potential of open distributed ledger technologies know as blockchain. A clear indication of blockchain's increasing maturity is how the emerging Fintech sector, which was once dominated by tech start-ups, is becoming crowded with leading IT platform providers -- many of whom are developing their own offerings. The market leaders have been involved in collaborative ventures and consortia. As an example, IBM unveiled Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) for developers back in February 2016 that's based upon the Hyperledger Fabric. Blockchain Market Development Meanwhile, market demand is growing rapidly across vertical industries. Juniper Research has found that 57 percent large corporations are either actively considering, or are in the process of deploying, blockchain technology, according to the analysis of the data f...

Telecom service providers in the Asia-Pacific region are actively virtualizing their network architecture. A flurry of new applications development is driven by open source communities -- such as OPNFV and ONAP -- as well as from individual efforts by telcos. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the network function virtualization (NFV) market in the Asia-Pacific region will grow to $9.24 billion in 2022. NFV Market Development in Asia-Pacific Japan is the largest single market within the Asia-Pacific region, constituting 25.7 percent of the total NFV revenue. This is followed by South Korea and China, at 22.7 percent and 14.6 percent of the revenue growth respectively. "Japan leads in the region, not only because of the desire to design resilient and reliable networks in preparation for future disaster threats, but also to prepare for the 2020 Summer Olympics," said Lian Jye Su, senior analyst at ABI Research . South Korea and China are actively pr...

Cloud computing services supported by converged networks will create new opportunities for forward-looking senior executives to make informed decisions and gain significant new strategic competitive advantages. According to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan, transaction data is the new currency for the digital enterprise and high-speed, dedicated and secure network connections are crucial for senior decision makers to monetize their commercial data residing in cloud services. Furthermore, an integrated network with cloud services will ensure a secured network to deliver business-critical applications and data to support executives in achieving their digital transformation agenda and related business outcomes. Converged Infrastructure Market Development Industry verticals, both traditional and emerging, are already investing heavily in integrated networks as part of their cloud-first journey to leverage next-generation technologies -- such as big data, analytics, a...

Expect to see more announcements about business video applications for new emerging technologies, throughout the remainder of 2017 and beyond. This growth will span across numerous industries. Virtual Reality (VR) is often viewed through the lens of consumer-driven gaming, but in a recent B2B technology survey of 455 U.S.-based companies across nine vertical markets, ABI Research finds that while only 4 percent of respondents have VR in operation, 85 percent are at least in the stages of early investigation. In fact, of the thirteen technologies highlighted in the survey, VR fell roughly in the middle of the pack, ahead of other innovative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and indoor location. Virtual Reality Market Development "Despite VR being a new technology, with some setbacks already evident, the survey yielded some surprisingly positive results for VR in enterprise and commercials spaces," said Michael Inouye, principal analyst at ABI Research . ...

Three significant business technology trends will enable business leaders to thrive over the next five to ten years. Artificial intelligence (AI), transparently immersive experiences and new digital platforms will provide the foundation that enables organizations to connect with new business ecosystems. "Enterprise architects who are focused on technology innovation must evaluate these high-level trends and the featured technologies, as well as the potential impact on their businesses," said Mike J. Walker, research director at Gartner . In addition to the commercial impact, these trends provide an upside opportunity for enterprise architecture experts to help their senior business leaders respond to digital transformation opportunities by creating actionable plans that guide IT investment decisions. Digital Transformation Market Development Artificial intelligence technologies will be the most disruptive trend over the next decade, due to radical computational power,...

The relative ease, convenience and reach facilitated by online channels for businesses has led to the development of a broad set of digital services. The accessibility of the Internet and the ability to commit fraud remotely creates an appetizing prospect for criminals. Meanwhile, the potential attack surface for miscreants is enormous; some 94 billion transactions were made for remote goods purchases in 2016, which is only a fraction of the total eCommerce landscape. A new market study from Juniper Research has found that spending on online fraud detection and prevention (FDP) solutions will reach $9.3 billion by 2022 -- that's an increase of 22 percent over this year’s anticipated spend. FDP Market Development The research found that perceptions of high software costs, combined with relatively low awareness of effective solutions in the eCommerce space, were slowing service adoption. Nevertheless, it predicted that several factors would prove instrumental in driving the m...

Worldwide revenues for the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) market are forecast to increase by more than 100 percent over each of the next four years, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Total spending on augmented and virtual reality products and services is expected to soar from $11.4 billion in 2017 to nearly $215 billion 2021, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 113.2 percent along the way. AR and VR Market Development The United States will be the region with the largest AR/VR spending total in 2017 ($3.2 billion), followed by Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) ($3.0 billion) and Western Europe ($2.0 billion). But then APeJ jumps ahead of the U.S. in total spending for two years before its growth rate starts to slow in 2019. The U.S. then pushes back into the top position in 2020 driven by accelerating growth in the latter years of the forecast. Meanwhile, Western Europe is expected to overtake APeJ f...

While traditionally sharing has been an activity between friends and family, the sharing of items as a business model is not in fact a new concept. Previously, we have seen the rise and fall of the loaning of some physical items (i.e. movies on DVD). However, with the introduction of new digital formats, alongside the rapid expansion of the online ecosystem, the sharing of not just physical goods, but also skills and talent, has grown exponentially. Today, the Sharing Economy includes numerous and varied service offerings and business models. Sharing Economy Market Development A new market study from Juniper Research has found that the sharing economy is now primed to experience substantial growth, as players in more established sectors -- such as transport and residential or commercial space -- press their first mover advantage. The market study findings have resulted in a forecast that the sharing economy will reach $40.2 billion in 2022, in terms of platform provider revenue...

U.S. West Coast technology companies are expected to remain the driving targets for M&A transactions in the TMT sector. Bidders are likely to come from American firms across the country, plus from Europe, Asia, and Canada. Though a return to huge mega-mergers are not anticipated this year, given the continued uncertainty in the political environment, software companies are still heavily sought-after assets, with deal volume expected to gain new momentum. Moreover, growing concern about cyberattacks led to an increase in interest for cybersecurity companies, with the potential for more M&A in the security technology sector. Concerns over state sponsored internet-based hacking have motivated governments across the globe to develop digital defense strategies. Furthermore, corporate data attacks via ransomware have caused a great deal of anxiety in the information technology arena. That being said, digital transformation innovations will likely continue to disrupt markets and...

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...

Digital transformation projects have fueled the IT budgets of all business types. Total IT spending by small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) will approach $568 billion in 2017, and exceed $676 billion by 2021, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). With a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5 percent, spending by businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees on IT hardware, software, and services, including business services, is expected to be slightly stronger than IDC's previous forecast. SMB IT Market Development "SMB IT spending growth continues to track about two percentage points higher than GDP growth across regions. But beneath that slowly rising tide are faster moving currents that reflect the changing ways SMBs are acquiring and deploying technology," said Ray Boggs, vice president at IDC . SMBs will spread their IT investments about equally across the three major categories -- hardware, softw...

The shift of IT workloads to hybrid cloud computing continues to grow, fueled in part by the rise of digital transformation projects. Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure is forecast to reach $266 billion in 2021, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although spending growth will likely slow during 2016-2021, the market is still expected to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 percent. Moreover, public cloud services spending will reach $128 billion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 25.4 percent over 2016. Public Cloud Market Development The United States will be the largest market for public cloud services accounting for more than 60 percent of worldwide revenues throughout the forecast, and total spending of $163 billion in 2021. Western Europe and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) will be the second and third largest regions with 2021 spending levels of $52 billion and $25 billion...