Digital Lifescapes

Open IT solutions are gaining momentum. Most savvy CIOs and CTOs already have plans to increase their applications for open-source software projects. While that software is an established component of on-premises enterprise data centers, the untapped opportunity is open IT hardware infrastructure. Worldwide revenue from the Open Compute Project (OCP) infrastructure market will reach $33.8 billion in 2024, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). While year-over-year growth will slow slightly in 2020 due to capital preservation strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, the market for OCP compute and storage infrastructure is forecast to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6 percent over the 2020-2024 forecast period. Open IT Hardware Market Development The IDC forecast assumes a rapid improvement for this market in 2021-22, fueled by a robust economic recovery worldwide. However, a prolonged crisis and economic uncertainty co...

More CIOs and CTOs are seeking actionable insight from the new technologies that are driving digital transformation within the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Manufacturing plants generate mountains of data throughout the day, every day. That data is a valuable asset. Traditionally, data has been noted on paper or analyzed in spreadsheets. However, today it can be collected automatically via sensors and analyzed with tools that far exceed spreadsheet capabilities. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, manufacturers and industrial companies will be spending $19.8 billion on data management, data analytics, and associated professional services by 2026. Data Management and Analytics Market Development "For many manufacturers, there is an appreciation that operational decisions need to be based on empirical evidence rather than guesswork. The challenges are not necessarily capturing and analyzing data, rather what to analyze in the first place,...

Mobile messaging is evolving. Traditional services include offerings such as carrier SMS, as well as over-the-top software app-based services. Now new offerings based on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging standard, and in-application AI chatbots, may disrupt that legacy market. RCS is a next-generation mobile messaging standard supported by mobile network operators that enable media-rich content and payment services. Juniper Research has forecast that total revenues from RCS traffic in North America will reach $712.8 million during 2020. North America will drive 28 percent of total messaging revenue in 2020 -- due in part to the adoption of RCS messaging, and the supporting efforts of the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI) which is a joint venture between AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. While CCMI will initially focus on U.S. market deployment, the technology developed by the joint venture will eventually be available in the broader worldwide mobile co...

Even the most reluctant CEOs have discovered that supporting their remote workers was less disruptive than they anticipated. Moreover, productivity often increased as jubilant workers were freed from the noise and other distractions at their employer's poorly designed open-plan offices. Short audio or video conference meet-ups have replaced the typical 1-hour long mind-numbing in-person meetings that were common at many enterprises prior to the pandemic. Legacy business leaders that were not previously Agile converts have now embraced these online collaboration tools. It's amazing. Conferencing Solutions Market Development Global end-user investment on cloud-based web conferencing solutions will grow 24.3 percent in 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Global workplace restrictions spurred by the coronavirus pandemic will expand the cloud conferencing user base throughout 2020, but growth may actually taper off in 2021 as the lasting effects...

Many senior executives are resolute in their commitment to increasing business technology investments. The C-suite continues to support the strategic projects that CIOs and CTOs are championing within their organization. Cloud and edge computing are still gaining momentum. Spending on the digital transformation (DX) of business practices, products, and organizations will continue at a solid pace despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global spending on DX technologies and services is forecast to grow by 10.4 percent in 2020 to $1.3 trillion. While this is slower growth than the 17.9 percent in 2019, it remains one of the few bright spots in a year characterized by dramatic reductions in overall IT spending. Digital Transformation Market Development "COVID-19 has upended the global economy, with direct negative implications on the way businesses invest in IT," sa...

Mobile communication service providers have started to build out fifth-generation (5G) wireless network infrastructure. There are many use cases for this new technology. What benefits will 5G bring to the media and entertainment industry? One example: 5G will empower cloud-based entertainment on the go. While 2019 has seen the first deployments of 5G in the consumer domain, 2020 will be the year of large scale commercial 5G rollouts across the globe. As a result of this network investment, 5G generated revenues for cloud-based entertainment services are forecast to rise rapidly. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, 5G alone will contribute revenues of almost $1.9 billion to cloud gaming -- accounting for 42 percent of overall cloud gaming revenues, as well as $67.5 billion in cloud video -- accounting for 31 percent of cloud video revenues by 2024. 5G Edge Computing Market Development "These numbers underline the growing demand for cloud-based en...

Banking relationships are important to financial service providers. Traditionally, a banking relationship could reasonably be expected to last a customer's lifetime. However, the introduction of online and mobile banking has fundamentally altered expectations, disrupting the legacy banking business model. Measures to increase competition and make switching accounts easier have eroded friction, while the commoditization of services in the U.S. market has led to reductions in profit margins. Moreover, following the introduction of open technologies, APIs have begun to be a disruptive force in banking. APIs enable different systems to share data and initiate transactions, which can simplify the creation of new financial service offerings. This has helped to facilitate the Open Banking phenomenon. Open Banking Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total number of Open Banking users -- who share data via Open Banking APIs to a...

Healthcare services in the United States are notoriously expensive when they are compared to other developed nations. Some of the high cost is due to inefficiency in the delivery of routine procedures. Like other industries, America's healthcare sector is exploring the application of new technology. Half of U.S. healthcare providers will invest in robotic process automation (RPA) in the next three years -- that's up from 5 percent this year according to the latest market study by Gartner. The need to optimize costs and scarce healthcare resources during the pandemic is advancing RPA adoption. Robotic Process Automation Market Development Healthcare providers are caught in a perfect storm of shrinking payments, improving outcomes, enhancing the patient experience and bolstering innovation credentials. However, many Americans are very sick. And, treating and managing chronic conditions and mental health consumes nearly 90 percent of the $3.3 trillion in U.S. healthcare spen...

Digital data growth is already an ongoing challenge for many enterprise organizations across the globe. That said, the global pandemic has accelerated the digital data deluge, with a surge in video-based content, and other emerging trends that will fuel additional growth in 2020 and 2021. More than 59 zettabytes (ZB) of data will be created, captured, copied, and consumed in the world this year, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The COVID-19 pandemic is contributing to this growth by causing an increase in the number of remote employees, and that's fueled more adoption of video conferencing applications and a significant increase in streaming video webcasts or events. Digital Data Analytics Market Development IDC measures the amount of data created and consumed in the world each year. The ratio of unique data (created and captured) to replicated data (copied and consumed) is roughly 1:9 -- but the trend is a slow migrati...

Some technology sector M&A activity is relatively immune to market disruptions. The robotics industry received significant investment in 2019, reaching $46 billion. A total of $17.8 billion went to acquisitions and a further $29 billion went into investments, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Most of the funding was focused on autonomous passenger vehicles (APV’s), surgical robotics, and warehouse automation, with significant new growth for field robotics and drone services. Robotics Technology Market Development "Despite not having commercialized their technology, autonomous passenger vehicle developers like Waymo, Cruise, Zoox and company have continued to amass enormous funding from the corporate and VC world," said Rian Whitton, senior analyst at ABI Research . Surgical robots also received significant new funding, and have already been commercialized to a considerable extent, with Intuitive Surgical selling over 5,000 Da Vinci ro...

The internet continues to fuel the Global Networked Economy as more innovators develop and deploy their digital business offerings. Global trade will be enhanced by trusted online entities that ensure their peer-to-peer network transactions are secure and verifiable. Frost & Sullivan has completed a worldwide market study of a blockchain-enabled world, laying out a long-range view of potential industry impacts as IT vendors race to build the foundations of the next-generation internet. Blockchain Applications Market Development "Existing IT systems are not fit-for-purpose when it comes to addressing the most pressing systemic problems of our time. Enterprises are being forced to adapt to complex structural change as the technology industry undergoes a paradigm shift that undermines long-held assumptions," said Maya Cotton, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan . According to their assessment, all organizations and institutions will be challenged to keep track o...

Voice-enabled user interfaces have reached mainstream adoption. The value chain for voice assistants is rapidly expanding to include emerging applications. Device vendors, system integrators, software app developers and cloud providers will offer solutions for a growing list of voice assistant use cases. Juniper Research estimates that voice assistants will be in use on over 4 billion devices by the end of 2020. The mass adoption of artificial intelligence, and chatbots in particular, is fueling the rapid shift towards voice-activated services. Voice Assistant Market Development Internet of Things (IoT) devices and more practical applications are enabling voice assistants to deliver tangible value. Microphones are everywhere and access to voice assistants has become ubiquitous, with more technology companies eager to monetize this trend. Voice communication isn't the only method of interaction with artificial intelligence (AI) software. For example, Google Assistant also su...

When we look back throughout history, market disruptions to the status quo create challenges for the many unprepared executives and opportunities for the few leaders that are able to envision a new environment that's free from the limitations of the past. The Information Technology (IT) sector is essential to digital transformation within the enterprise. That said, we're about to witness the growing distinction between the visionary leaders and organizations, versus those that try to follow along and keep up with the trailblazers. Ongoing IT Investment Strategies Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.4 trillion in 2020 -- that's a decline of 8 percent from 2019, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. The coronavirus pandemic economic effects are causing traditional CIOs to prioritize spending on technology and services that are deemed 'mission-critical' over initiatives aimed at growth or transformation. Few will have the foresight ...

Given the current economic environment, all business and technology decision-makers must come together in support of a cohesive strategy for ongoing information technology (IT) investment. In order to deliver custom digital products and services, resilient organizations will pivot from an 'operational mindset' to a more 'market-driven mindset'. As IT and Operations Technology (OT) converge, companies will focus on using digital business capabilities to improve processes via better instrumentation, infrastructure, integration and insight. To help organizations expand to the OT buyer and become resilient decision-makers, International Data Corporation (IDC) has published a new 'Future of Operations' (FoO) framework. Digital Engineering Market Development By 2025, intelligent enterprises will see a 100 percent increase in productivity, resulting in half the response time of peers due to the ability to anticipate market and operational changes and 25 percent...

Forward-thinking wireless communications policy is essential to every nation's plan to fully participate in the rapidly expanding Global Networked Economy. Faster, more reliable, more efficient, and more widespread Wi-Fi coverage is becoming increasingly vital to progress. Wi-Fi-enabled devices will increase from 3.3 billion annual unit shipments in 2019 to more than 4.6 billion by 2024, a growth that underscores the need for a more robust Wi-Fi network, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. While the growing reach of Wi-Fi will be driven by several advancements -- such as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi’s expansion into the 60 Gigahertz (GHz) and sub-1 GHz bands through WiGig and HaLow -- the most exciting change is the anticipated availability of 6 GHz spectrum over the next few years. Wi-Fi Innovation Market Development “It is hard to overstate the potential that 6 GHz and Wi-Fi 6E can bring to Wi-Fi networks,” says Andrew Zignani, principal analyst at ABI Re...

The Internet of Things (IoT) has moved into the mainstream by virtue of the rapidly evolving key benefits across a variety of industries. Due to developments in radio technology and falling component costs, the Internet is now being used for machines to communicate with each other and/or directly with humans. Juniper Research has identified private cellular wireless networks as a key driver of the growth of IoT adoption over the next five years. This trend has been slowly establishing itself as LTE networks can be leveraged to do so, offering a wireless data connection. With the introduction of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networking technologies, Juniper Research now anticipates that the infrastructure deployment will serve to accelerate the adoption of private cellular networks over the next five years. IoT Technology Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total number of IoT connections will reach 83 billion by 2024 -- ri...

More informed healthcare executives will apply artificial intelligence (AI) strategies to leverage this new technology in five core areas that improve decision making during the current pandemic, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "In the fight against COVID-19, AI offers an important arsenal of weapons," said Erick Brethenoux, research vice president at Gartner . "It allows predictions to be made about the spread of the virus, helps diagnose cases more quickly and accurately, measures the effectiveness of countermeasures to slow the spread, and optimizes emergency resources, to name a few." Early Detection and Epidemic Analysis AI techniques are used to understand, analyze and predict how and where the virus is spreading or slowing down. Automated contact tracing, for example, is used to build detailed social interaction graphs by analyzing a myriad of citizen data such as mobile phone locations and public facial recognition and back...

Total spending on IT infrastructure for cloud computing environments -- including public and private cloud -- recovered in the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q19) after two consecutive quarters of decline, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The 12.4 percent year-over-year growth in 4Q19 yielded $19.4 billion in spending. The results also brought the full year into positive territory with annual growth of 2.1 percent and total spending of $66.8 billion for 2019. Meanwhile, the overall IT infrastructure market results were mixed after a strong performance in 2018, up 3.3 percent to $38.1 billion in 4Q19 but declining 1.1 percent to $134.4 billion for the full year. In contrast, non-cloud IT infrastructure fell 4.6 percent to $18.7 billion for the quarter and declined 4.1 percent to $67.7 billion for the year. Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Development In 4Q19, growth in spending on cloud IT infrastructure was driven by the public clo...

Especially in times of crisis, technology can be the catalyst for much-needed change. The vendors that enable the Global Networked Economy have become essential to all forward-looking leaders that seek innovation as a tool to uncover new solutions to significant challenges. Medical-related industries have discovered their New Normal. The Coronavirus outbreak has proven that healthcare institutions can no longer ignore the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their daily workflow. And, cognitive systems are essential components of their solutions to the current crisis. AI systems infrastructure spending in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries is expected to increase from $463 million in 2019 to more than $2 billion over the next 5 years, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Medical AI Apps Market Development "Artificial Intelligence is playing a key role in responding to the pandemic," said Lian Jye Su, principal analyst at ABI Res...

Given the current global economic environment, the retail market has shifted to customer convenience, forcing all surviving retailers to offer more online shopping, coupled with omnichannel payment options. Moving deeper into the digital era, retailers are now fighting for customer retention and reduced costs through new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology, internet of things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M), among others. Despite these advances, the existing inhibitors to progress -- such as payment regulations, fraud and security -- must be addressed and resolved. The adequate balance between innovating and reducing pain points will help payment providers stay profitable and navigate ongoing retail transformation. While credit and debit cards continue to be the focus of online payments, innovation continues to encourage platform-integrated spending. The payment ecosystem, driven by fintech pioneers and mobile app...