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Markets and Trends

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Earlier this month, GM announced that it will be adopting Google’s Android Automotive operating system, which included Google’s voice assistance (Google Assistant), embedded navigation (Google Maps), and in-vehicle applications (via the Google Play Store), for all of its vehicle brands beginning in 2021. This landmark deal reinforces the importance of developing and delivering a differentiated in-vehicle experience, as well as demonstrates how large horizontal technology platforms and brands are targeting IoT and key verticals (like automotive) for growth.

We’ve discussed how the term artificial intelligence (AI) covers a wide array of applications; just like many of these functionalities, affective computing is beginning to see some growth in the market. Spanning across computer science, behavioral psychology, and cognitive science, affective computing uses hardware and software to identify human feelings, behaviors, and cognitive states through the detection and analysis of facial, body language, biometric, verbal and/or vocal signals.

Data is the fuel for modernizing and transforming business. While there is no shortage of data – IDC expects data to reach 175 Zettabytes by 2025 – insightful, relevant data is in much shorter supply. I experience this daily in the cloud-related inquiries I receive. In addition to generating timely and relevant insights from data, my role is also to make the data actionable for customers. This means providing the data in a more consumable format and context based on a deeper understanding of what the client needs.

Cloud, hyperscale and digital service providers already account for 20% of IT infrastructure hardware spending, with 75% of that spending from the 8 largest hyperscalers alone. Add in colocation and managed services hosting providers, plus communications service providers, and by 2023 more than 60% of infrastructure hardware spend will come from the overall service provider segment.

While commercial end-users in other industries shift an increasing proportion of their budget to IT ‘as a service’, service providers will increasingly be the driver for IT vendor strategies and product development. From the outsize impact of hyperscalers, to the shifting focus of infrastructure and hosting providers, here are 3 ways in which these IT buyers are changing the IT market.

Earlier this summer, my friend’s daughter began a new job, her first one right out of college. Amidst all the usual starting-a-new-job hubbub of picking health insurance and setting up her direct deposit, she was also faced with getting her hardware – laptop, tablet, and smartphone – selected and set up. It’s a task many of us are usually faced with, and don’t spend too much time thinking about. However, not long after starting her job, she called me at work with a question:

“Ramon, which wearable should I get?”

The business of IT is changing. Service providers moving away from pure infrastructure services, digital transformation, and the advent of the cloud have all created a major shift in dynamics in the traditional supply chain.

The market is evolving, and many companies are offering cloud services now. So, where will the market go in the next two years, and what role will technology vendors play in the success of the opportunities this trend represents?