Digital Lifescapes

Digital transformation fuels upside market opportunities, and related growth goals are now the CEO's top business priority, according to the latest worldwide study by Gartner. Moreover, a growing number of CEOs will focus more on financial priorities -- especially profitability improvement. The annual survey of CEO and senior business executives in the fourth quarter of 2018 examined their business issues, as well as some areas of technology agenda impact. In total, 473 business leaders of companies with $50 million or more -- and 60 percent with $1 billion or more -- in annual revenue were qualified and surveyed. Digital Business Market Development  "After a significant fall last year, mentions of growth increased this year to 53 percent, up from 40 percent in 2018," said Mark Raskino, vice president at Gartner . "This suggests that CEOs have switched their focus back to tactical performance as clouds gather on the horizon." The survey results showed th...

The benefit of a digital wallet is that, for both online and offline transactions, it enables the wallet user to easily make secure, quick transactions, thereby removing the requirement for a plastic card -- or the need to enter bank account details for every online purchase. For the 'unbanked' populous across the globe, the availability of a digital wallet and cryptocurrency on a mobile phone will provide a means of financial inclusion, both as an alternative to cash payments and as a way of accessing services such as personal loans and savings accounts. Digital Wallet Market Development For the savvy digital wallet provider, the fintech revolution in online payments and person-to-person remittance has enabled several new players to achieve a growing presence across the global financial services and retail ecosystems. In some cases, this transition enables vendors to provide offline or online payments on their own and via third-party storefronts, together with consumer...

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...

Simulation software applications have more upside growth potential across the globe. Industrial companies have already applied the software for use cases to build manufacturing systems, deploy new production lines, and evolve factory planning methodologies. While no single manufacturing technology drives this transformation movement, simulation software now holds the potential to act as a significant catalyst for a new Industry 4.0 platforms. Simulation Software Market Development If simulation software can accurately predict the effects of other technologies on the core goals of manufacturers -- i.e. more production, more uptime, improved time to market, improved quality, fewer delays, more efficiencies, greater utilization of assets, all at lower costs -- then companies will deploy more technologies at scale with greater confidence. The market for factory simulation software products will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11 percent to reach $4.1 billion for over 172,0...

The World Bank estimates that remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached $529 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.6 percent over the previous record high of $483 billion in 2017. All global remittances -- including money transfer flows to high-income countries -- reached $689 billion in 2018. Mobile and online (digital) money transfer offerings will continue to transform the market. New technologies, such as blockchain, will further accelerate the trend. Money Transfer Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, international digital remittances will reach $525 billion by 2024 -- that's up from an estimated $332 in 2019. The mobile channel will become increasingly popular; accounting for 41 percent of international digital money transfers by volume in 2024 -- that's up from 33 percent in 2019. Meanwhile, blockchain-based payments have the potential to increase digital payments further, as the technology has a ...

More CIOs and CTOs seek vendor expertise as demand for digital transformation guidance grows. Worldwide revenues for IT Services and Business Services totaled $513 billion in the second half of 2018 (2H18) -- that's an increase of 4.5 percent year-over-year, according to the latest study by International Data Corporation (IDC). For the entire year, worldwide IT services revenues crossed the $1 trillion mark in 2018. Annual growth accelerated slightly to 4.3 percent. This largely reflects overall healthy corporate IT spending sustained by large enterprises' cautious yet optimistic business outlook. "Steady growth in the services markets are driven by continued demand for digital solutions across the regions with the Americas continuing to contribute to the bulk of the revenue growth," said Lisa Nagamine, research manager at IDC . IT Services Market Development Looking at different services markets, project-oriented revenues (i.e. consulting, integration, applic...

The pace of change from a traditional capital-intensive IT infrastructure model to a more flexible hybrid multi-cloud services model is influencing enterprise spending trends across the globe. Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total $3.79 trillion in 2019 -- that's an increase of just 1.1 percent from 2018, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. IT Infrastructure Market Development "Currency headwinds fueled by the strengthening U.S. dollar have caused us to revise our 2019 IT spending forecast down from the previous quarter," said John-David Lovelock, vice president at Gartner . "Through the remainder of 2019, the U.S. dollar is expected to trend stronger, while enduring tremendous volatility due to uncertain economic and political environments and trade wars." In 2019, technology product managers will have to get more strategic with their portfolio mix by balancing products and services that will post growth in 2019 with those large...

The term 'Fintech’ has been applied to describe the transformation taking place in the financial services sector across the globe. Traditional forms of payment such as cheques have been displaced by debit and credit cards. In turn, contactless payment and digital wallets will likely replace the cards. Moreover, new and evolving banking business models have resulted in both the legacy financial services industry and fintech start-ups investing in digital technologies. Initially, the focus was an organization's website or automating aspects of their customer service call center. Now the focus has shifted to service delivery via smartphone software apps. The savvy financial services start-up entrepreneurs embrace innovative methodologies to differentiate themselves from the incumbents, but the CIOs and CTOs at traditional banks are now starting to catch-up. Fintech Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, driven by the increasi...

Applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) are helping to transform the global cargo sector. According to the latest market study by Berg Insight, the number of active tracking devices deployed for cargo loading units -- including trailers, intermodal containers, rail freight wagons, air cargo containers, cargo boxes and pallets -- reached 6.1 million worldwide in 2018. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.3 percent, the number of devices is expected to reach 20.4 million by 2023. Cargo Tracking Market Development Trailer telematics is today the most developed market, followed by tracking devices for general cargo applications and intermodal containers. The markets for rail freight wagon and air freight cargo tracking are considerably smaller but will grow substantially during the coming five years. The total market value for trailer and cargo container tracking solutions reached at the same time an estimated € 857 million in 2018. The market for remote trac...

The North America retail market is an example of incumbent disruption and slow-moving, executive responses to technology-fueled change. The world's largest consumer-driven economy is likely a precursor to market shifts that will impact retailers across the globe. Clearly, prior success with traditional retailer business models is no indication of the potential for future performance. The emergence of eCommerce giants such as Amazon and eBay from the mid-1990s has created a long-term challenge for most old-school retailers. Many legacy in-store retailers have met this challenge by attempting to offer a compelling omnichannel experience, where the physical retail and online channels merge through the use of solutions such as 'click and collect'. While this has improved the customer experience, it has not prevented the disruption of traditional retailers, with multiple large-scale insolvencies -- including Toys R Us and Sears. Therefore, the surviving retail CxOs must fu...

The global agricultural sector is currently evolving, as applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) technology disrupts more traditional methods of farming. With use cases that target several different segments of the market already available, new solutions are being created to evolve more segments. The fact that there is no single, specific problem experienced by all farmers and ranchers has led to the development of a variety of different solutions, notably including water usage concerns from the government and projected population growth over the next three decades. Agriculture IoT Market Development By 2024, over 2 million farms and 36 million cattle will be connected, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. There's a significant upside opportunity for IoT apps within the agricultural market -- specifically connected agriculture in field crops, tree crops, and livestock. For field and tree crops, the primary driver for the introduction of conn...

Globalization has removed several barriers for companies to conduct business abroad. However, exposure to foreign exchanges remains a challenge. The fees involved in international money transactions can make the process onerous, particularly to small organizations that lack financial expertise. Meanwhile, incumbent banks have typically been resistant to re-invest in new technologies within the business-to-business (B2B) payment sector. However, they now face new competition from non-bank start-ups that offer less-expensive services by using automated processes, reducing the need for intermediaries. Digital Payments Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research , B2B transactions processed by pureplay digital payment operators will reach $14 trillion by 2023 -- that's up from $6.7 trillion in 2018. Juniper analysts found that traditional banks can struggle to quantify a return-on-investment from the implementation of digital technologi...

Actionable insights from data help to fuel the Global Networked Economy, which drives demand for new technologies. Revenues for big data and business analytics (BDA) solutions are forecast to reach $189.1 billion in 2019 -- that's an increase of 12 percent over 2018. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), BDA revenues will maintain this pace of growth throughout the 2018-2022 forecast period, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2 percent. By 2022, IDC expects worldwide BDA revenue will be $274.3 billion. Big Data Analytics Market Development "Digital transformation is a key driver of BDA spending with executive-level initiatives resulting in deep assessments of current business practices and demands for better, faster, and more comprehensive access to data and related analytics and insights," said Dan Vesset, group vice president at IDC . IT services will be the largest category of the BDA ma...

Leading hyperscale cloud service providers continue to disrupt the traditional IT infrastructure vendor landscape, as more enterprise CIOs and CTOs expand their adoption of multi-cloud strategies that marginalize the remaining applications for on-premises data centers. Legacy IT vendors that were reluctant to evolve their business model will now seek niche cloud market segments where they can differentiate their offerings. There's no viable growth path that's based upon hardware or software market status-quo assumptions. However, distinctive professional services are still a source of new opportunities. Cloud Computing Market Development The worldwide public cloud services market is projected to grow 17.5 percent in 2019 to total $214.3 billion -- that's up from $182.4 billion in 2018, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. The fastest-growing market segment will be cloud system infrastructure services, or infrastructure as a service (IaaS), which i...

Wearable technology adoption has reached a turning point in developed markets across the globe. Berg Insight released its latest findings of the connected wearables market. Shipments of connected wearables reached 116.8 million worldwide in 2018. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent, total shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, smart clothing, mobile telecare and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 238.5 million units in 2023. Wearable Device Market Development Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in the coming years. A total of 67.7 million of the wearables sold in 2023 are forecast to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and telecare or medical device categories. The connected fitness & activity tracker segment is led by Chinese Xiaomi, which has been successful with its Mi Band fitness tracker. Fitbit is still among the lar...

The emergence of online shopping created a significant disruption for traditional retailers. Some have met this challenge by attempting to offer a compelling omnichannel experience, where the physical retail and online channels merge through the use of solutions that benefit busy shoppers. While this approach has improved the overall customer experience, more retailers must embrace a digital transformation agenda. They can further adapt their business models in the face of forward-thinking competition. And, that's now driving the momentum to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI). Retail AI Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, global spending by retailers on AI services will reach $12 billion by 2023 -- that's up from an estimated $3.6 billion in 2019. Juniper expects over 325,000 retailers to adopt AI technology over the forecast period. According to the study findings, AI use by retailers will unlock efficiencies across...

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), vendor revenue from sales of IT infrastructure products for cloud computing environments -- including public and private cloud -- grew 28 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2018 (4Q18), reaching $16.8 billion. For 2018, annual spending on public and private cloud IT infrastructure totaled $66.1 billion, slightly higher (1.3 percent) than forecast in Q3 2018. IDC also raised its forecast for total spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 2019 to $70.1 billion – that's up 4.5 percent from last quarter's forecast – with year-over-year growth of 6 percent. Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Development That said, quarterly spending on public cloud IT infrastructure was down 6.9 percent in Q418 compared to the previous quarter but it still almost doubled in the past two years reaching $11.9 billion in 4Q18 and growing 33 percent year-over-year, while spending on private cloud infrast...

A Digital Twin is a virtual representation of a connected physical product, process or service across its whole lifecycle. The virtual replica uses operational real-time data to enable the detection of issues and advance learning. It's also used in simulation scenarios for the physical model counterpart. Digital business enablers, such as big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, software analytics and cloud solutions, as well as the growing demand for sensors to capture and process data, have been significant drivers for the adoption of Digital Twin applications. Digital Twin Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, revenues from Digital Twin applications will reach $13 billion by 2023. Recent market growth is estimated at $9.8 billion in 2019 -- with an average annual growth rate of 35 percent during the forecast period. The research found that increased deployments of advanced sensors to capture data, and technolog...

Smart Data is generated by filtering out the noise from Big Data that's generated by media, business transactions, Internet of Things (IoT), and data exhausts from online activity. Smart Data can uncover valuable commercial insights, by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of data analytics. Furthermore, vast amounts of unstructured Big Data can be converted into Smart Data using enhanced data analytics tools that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. Advancements in data processing tools and the adoption of next-generation technologies -- such as augmented analytics used to extract insights from Big Data -- are expected to drive the Smart Data market toward $31.5 billion by 2022. Augmented Analytics Market Development Augmented analytics automates data insights gathering and provides clearer information, which is not possible with traditional analysis tools. Companies such as Datameer, Xcalar, Incorta, and Bottlenose are already f...

Hyperscale cloud service providers continue to leverage their low-cost advantage to drive growth. According to the latest worldwide market study by Canalys, Google Cloud was the fastest-growing cloud infrastructure vendor last year -- up more than 90 percent year-on-year -- increasing its share of the total market from 6 percent in 2017 to 8 percent in 2018. The top four hyperscale cloud service providers accounted for 61 percent of the total market in 2018. Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the leader on 32 percent, followed by Microsoft Azure with 17 percent, Google Cloud in third place with 8 percent and Alibaba Cloud with 4 percent. Hyperscale Cloud Market Development Canalys reports that hyperscale cloud infrastructure services are in a period of sustained growth, with spending up 46 percent in 2018 to more than $80 billion. Expenditure is also forecast to surpass $143 billion in 2020. More businesses are deploying a hybrid multi-cloud strategy, integrating multiple provi...