This is courtesy, Deloitte.
BANGALORE, INDIA: The Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice at Deloitte announced its 2010 predictions for the technology sector, forecasting that 2010 will be the breakout year for net tablets.
The connected portable devices are expected to offer a more appealing balance of form and function, and are anticipated to be purchased by tens of millions of people in the year ahead.
Rajarshi Sengupta, Senior Director, Deloitte & Touche Consulting comments: “The rise of the net tablet could constrain the growth of the nascent e-reader market. For every million net tablets sold there will be a corresponding impact on e-readers. We also predict that in 2010 many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees, rather than traditional IT department criteria.”
Deloitte also forecasts that Virtual Desk Infrastructure, a computing model based on thin or stateless clients, centralised applications and processing power, will be taken far more seriously than in previous years. An anticipated 1 million seats are expected to go thin client in 2010, with the largest deployments involving tens of thousands of seats. By 2015, thin client may reach 10 percent of all enterprise client devices.
The CleanTech sector’s performance is anticipated to be mixed, according to Deloitte. Although solar demand is likely to grow strongly in 2010 and 2011, some subsidy cuts and cheaper-than-expected electricity rates may prevent that growth from being as strong as some might hope. It is expected that the solar technology subsector will be outperformed by the broader CleanTech industry.
Rajarshi Sengupta said: “2010 will also see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant delivering significant reductions in global CO2 emissions. In contrast, solar power technology could struggle in 2010 due to the cost of solar equipment, tools and raw materials, overcapacity and weak economics.”
Thinking thin is in again: virtual desktop infrastructures challenge the PC
Deloitte predicts that in 2010 thin client will be taken far more seriously than in previous years, even if it does not outsell its thick client counterpart. Over the next five years, thin client should reach 10 percent of organisations’ computers, with the majority of medium to large businesses considering a shift to virtual desktop infrastructure.
Thin client can help to deliver direct savings by minimising and making IT support and maintenance more efficient, as well as reducing hardware costs and licensing fees. There are other less tangible benefits to virtual desktop infrastructure including; mobility, increased productivity, lower real estate costs, lower power consumption and better security.
Those charged with deploying thin client may need to convince workers who begrudge the lack of a local hard disk drive that pure forms of thin client entails. However, abetted by a backdrop of recession or slow recovery, employers may consider it a good opportunity to reshape working conditions.
IT procurement stands on its head
In the past, technology and telecommunications hardware and software manufacturers have targeted products to the enterprise market, specifically the gate-keeping IT department. In 2010, many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees.
With the rise of the ‘prosumer’—employees who buy a phone for both work and play—more and more enterprises are likely to allow employees to choose their own phones, or at least allow prosumer-selected phones to integrate better with enterprise networks.
Enterprise-focused vendors will need to alter sales techniques originally designed to sell to monolithic buyers whose concerns were enterprise in scale. While IT departments will have to become more flexible, best practices are still necessary, such as deleting data on employees’ devices if they change jobs.
Also, given the faddish nature of consumer sentiment, processes that reduce product churn will be needed. The future of many enterprise computing and telecom tools will likely involve compromises between work and personal life, that is, employees being available 24/7 but allowed to choose their own smartphone.
CleanTech makes a comeback. But solar stays in the shadows
After the CleanTech industry’s near-collapse during the economic crisis, government stimulus and investor interest has caused a sharp recovery. However, not all areas are sharing the bounty.
Although the CleanTech Index is up 75 percent since its market lows, the view for the dominant solar technology—crystalline silicon photovoltaic (C-Si PV)—and its infrastructure is less positive in the next year or two. Currently, C-Si PV faces two challenges that could limit its recovery: overcapacity and weak economics.
Prior to the 2008 economic downturn, governments created a spike in demand for C-Si PV manufacturing capacity and installation. Capacity expansion continues unabated, largely in China and the United States. By 2010, over-capacity will mean C-Si PV utilisation will be barely above 25 percent.
The economic crisis has also caused conventional energy prices to be lower than forecasted and some developers of PV installations are seeing payback on investment remain at around 15 to 20 years without subsidies. Consumers and utilities will benefit from the significant drop in PV silicon prices, making solar more affordable for those with longer-term investment horizons.
From grey to green: technology re-invents cement
In 2010, technology’s contribution to CO2 reduction could result in electric cars, more efficient airplanes and leaner data centres. Yet there is another largely-overlooked industrial segment that may deliver equal benefit: cement. Cement production represents about 5 percent of global emissions – almost double that of the aviation sector – but is an essential driver of economic growth.
2010 should see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant, with an industrial scale plant expected in 2011. The total resulting reduction in global CO2 emissions and construction costs could be significant. The full benefits of carbon-negative cement could be realised after five to 10 years, with sidewalks and driveways likely to be the first carbon negative constructions rather than skyscrapers.
Smaller than a netbook, and bigger than a smartphone – net tablets arrive
NetTabs, connected portable devices will be purchased by tens of millions of people in 2010. These devices have an advantage over smartphones—which are small for watching videos or web browsing—and notebooks, netbooks, and ultra-thin PCs, which are too heavy or expensive.
The likes of Apple and Microsoft teaming up with Hewlett-Packard, are anticipated to launch their products early this year, following news out of the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010. Custom-designed tablets are also likely to be released by start-ups, some existing phone and PC makers, netbook leaders, and various smaller manufacturers using open-source phone operating systems.
Since netTabs are designed to connect wirelessly over WiFi, wireless carriers are likely to try to push users off cellular networks and onto WiFi as much as possible. NetTabs are also more expensive than most smartphones, and consumers are likely to demand big upfront subsidies.
Moore’s Law is alive and well in 2010
Despite forecasts of a gloomier scenario, Moore’s Law will probably work in 2010, with advances allowing for greater transistor density. However, this may not yield more powerful chips. Moore’s Law — the traditional ability of the global semiconductor industry to double the number of transistors in a square centimetre of silicon every 18-24 months — is not expected to come to a screeching halt in 2010, or even slow down.
The increased density is unlikely to be used to produce larger or more computationally powerful chips. Instead, “good enough” chips that are smaller, use less electricity and cost less money could emerge. With current growth of lower cost laptops and ultra low-cost netbooks, the next generations of PC chips are likely to be optimised for price, with consideration given to power consumption, but little focus on performance.
Other hot markets - smartphones, and perhaps tablets - will likely be optimised for power consumption, and possibly price, however, performance will be almost irrelevant. Although some chips will remain performance-driven, this segment may not see much growth.
Many IT applications (server farms, etc.) are large users of electrical power, so more efficient chips are a good thing. New equipment that uses less electricity and requires less cooling may allow for re-architected or larger data centres without necessitating increased refrigeration or power supplies.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Strong rebound for domestic Indian IT services market: Ovum
INDIA: Ovum, the global ICT advisory and consulting firm, predicts 2010 to be a good year for the domestic Indian IT Services market.
According to a market sizing and forecasting model titled “India Market Trends 2009: IT services forecast”, the Indian IT Services market is anticipated to grow about 23 percent during 2010. Despite the positive outlook, the market will not see pre-recessionary growth levels until the tail end of the forecast period in 2013.
End users are expected to remain cautious with discretionary spending not picking up until 2011. By the end of the forecast period in 2013, the Indian IT services market will grow to over $24 billion, from $11 billion in 2010, mainly propelled by large e-governance projects being undertaken by central government.
2008 was a particularly buoyant year for the Indian IT Services market as strong economic growth helped propel IT spending. However, the latter part of 2008 and 2009 witnessed slowing growth as the global economic crisis made customers tighten purse strings. But India never technically went into recession, and with the global economy on its way to recovery, economic activity has also picked up in India.
"The recession did impact the IT services market in India, with spending growth across all service lines witnessing a decline. However, growth in the Indian IT Services market is picking up as customers have renewed spending and are putting out work that was on hold during the past year. The resilience of the Indian economy and its rapid progress to normalisation should bring more investment, driving growth in the sector," commented Hansa Iyengar, co-author of the forecast, who is based out of Ovum’s India office.
"The pent-up demand from key verticals has resulted in a strong rebound. Still, the market remains fragmented with the top 10 vendors accounting for only 33 percent market share. We anticipate deal sizes to get larger as customers look at the consolidating contracts to reap greater cost benefits which ought to play well to the strength of the top vendors in the region," added co-author Nishant Singh.
According to a market sizing and forecasting model titled “India Market Trends 2009: IT services forecast”, the Indian IT Services market is anticipated to grow about 23 percent during 2010. Despite the positive outlook, the market will not see pre-recessionary growth levels until the tail end of the forecast period in 2013.
End users are expected to remain cautious with discretionary spending not picking up until 2011. By the end of the forecast period in 2013, the Indian IT services market will grow to over $24 billion, from $11 billion in 2010, mainly propelled by large e-governance projects being undertaken by central government.
2008 was a particularly buoyant year for the Indian IT Services market as strong economic growth helped propel IT spending. However, the latter part of 2008 and 2009 witnessed slowing growth as the global economic crisis made customers tighten purse strings. But India never technically went into recession, and with the global economy on its way to recovery, economic activity has also picked up in India.
"The recession did impact the IT services market in India, with spending growth across all service lines witnessing a decline. However, growth in the Indian IT Services market is picking up as customers have renewed spending and are putting out work that was on hold during the past year. The resilience of the Indian economy and its rapid progress to normalisation should bring more investment, driving growth in the sector," commented Hansa Iyengar, co-author of the forecast, who is based out of Ovum’s India office.
"The pent-up demand from key verticals has resulted in a strong rebound. Still, the market remains fragmented with the top 10 vendors accounting for only 33 percent market share. We anticipate deal sizes to get larger as customers look at the consolidating contracts to reap greater cost benefits which ought to play well to the strength of the top vendors in the region," added co-author Nishant Singh.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Symantec 2010 state of the data center study shows mid-sized enterprises emerging as data center vanguards
This release is courtesy, Symantec
BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. released the India findings of its 2010 State of the Data Center study.
Now in its third year, the study found that mid-sized enterprises (2,000 to 9,999 employees) are more likely to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, de-duplication, replication, storage virtualization, and continuous data protection than small or large enterprises to reduce IT costs and manage increasing complexity.
Further, mid-sized enterprise data centers show more activity, with more IT managers predicting major changes to the data center and new applications in 2010. Mid-sized enterprises also place a higher importance on staffing and training than their small or large enterprise counterparts.
“Although mid-sized enterprises tend to evaluate and adopt new technologies at a faster rate than larger organizations, they still face similar data center complexities that are compounded by adopting new initiatives,” said Anand Naik, director, systems engineering, Symantec. “Standardizing on cross-platform solutions that can manage new technologies and automate processes will drive immediate cost reduction and make their jobs easier in the long run.”
Study highlights:
* Mid-sized enterprises are more aggressive and pioneering than either small or large enterprises. They are adopting new technology initiatives such as cloud computing, replication, and de-duplication at 10-15 percent higher rates than small or large enterprises.
* Top data center concerns include increased complexity and too many applications. Most enterprises have 10 or more data center initiatives rated as somewhat or absolutely important and fifty percent expect “significant” changes to their data centers in 2010. Half of all the enterprises say applications are growing somewhat/quickly and half of them are finding it difficult and costly to meet service level agreements (SLAs).
One-third of all enterprises say staff productivity is hampered by too many applications. Adding to the complexity is the continued increase in data causing 52 percent of organizations to consider data reduction technologies such as de-duplication. Controlling storage growth is also one of the major data center objectives for Indian mid- sized enterprises for 2010. Forty-six percent of enterprises consider that controlling storage growth is an absolute requirement while another 32 percent think it is somewhat important for 2010.
* Security, backup and recovery, and continuous data protection are the most important initiatives in 2010, ahead of virtualization. Sixty-eight percent of enterprises rated security somewhat or absolutely important. Sixty-two percent said backup and recovery is somewhat/absolutely important and 60 percent rated continuous data protection as one of their top initiatives.
* Staffing and budgets remain tight with half of all enterprises reporting they are somewhat/extremely understaffed. Finding budget and qualified applicants are the biggest recruiting issues. Seventy-nine percent of enterprises have the same or more job requisitions open this year.
* There continues to be room for improvement in disaster recovery (DR). One-third of disaster recovery plans are undocumented or need work and important IT components, such as cloud computing, remote office and virtual servers are often not included. Compounding the issue, almost one-third of enterprises haven’t re-evaluated their disaster recovery plan in the last 12 months. But at the same time, 65 percent of the companies seemed confident on their organization's DR plan unlike last year.
Recommendations
* Software that supports heterogeneous environments and eliminates islands of information is particularly important for mid-sized enterprises that are aggressively adopting new technologies because they can reduce complexity in the data center.
Organizations should deploy de-duplication closer to the information source to eliminate redundant data and reduce storage and network costs.
* Data center administrators need to manage storage across heterogeneous server and storage environments in a way that enables them to stop buying storage by leveraging new technology adoption such as storage resource management, thin provisioning, de-duplication, storage virtualization and continuous data protection and recovery. Organizations leveraging a holistic approach to storage management can control storage budget growth and often postpone storage purchases.
* Disaster recovery testing is invaluable, but can significantly impact business. Enterprises should seek to improve the success of testing by evaluating and implementing testing methods which are non-disruptive.
* Organizations should deploy a single, unified platform for physical and virtual machine protection to simplify information management.
BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. released the India findings of its 2010 State of the Data Center study.
Now in its third year, the study found that mid-sized enterprises (2,000 to 9,999 employees) are more likely to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, de-duplication, replication, storage virtualization, and continuous data protection than small or large enterprises to reduce IT costs and manage increasing complexity.
Further, mid-sized enterprise data centers show more activity, with more IT managers predicting major changes to the data center and new applications in 2010. Mid-sized enterprises also place a higher importance on staffing and training than their small or large enterprise counterparts.
“Although mid-sized enterprises tend to evaluate and adopt new technologies at a faster rate than larger organizations, they still face similar data center complexities that are compounded by adopting new initiatives,” said Anand Naik, director, systems engineering, Symantec. “Standardizing on cross-platform solutions that can manage new technologies and automate processes will drive immediate cost reduction and make their jobs easier in the long run.”
Study highlights:
* Mid-sized enterprises are more aggressive and pioneering than either small or large enterprises. They are adopting new technology initiatives such as cloud computing, replication, and de-duplication at 10-15 percent higher rates than small or large enterprises.
* Top data center concerns include increased complexity and too many applications. Most enterprises have 10 or more data center initiatives rated as somewhat or absolutely important and fifty percent expect “significant” changes to their data centers in 2010. Half of all the enterprises say applications are growing somewhat/quickly and half of them are finding it difficult and costly to meet service level agreements (SLAs).
One-third of all enterprises say staff productivity is hampered by too many applications. Adding to the complexity is the continued increase in data causing 52 percent of organizations to consider data reduction technologies such as de-duplication. Controlling storage growth is also one of the major data center objectives for Indian mid- sized enterprises for 2010. Forty-six percent of enterprises consider that controlling storage growth is an absolute requirement while another 32 percent think it is somewhat important for 2010.
* Security, backup and recovery, and continuous data protection are the most important initiatives in 2010, ahead of virtualization. Sixty-eight percent of enterprises rated security somewhat or absolutely important. Sixty-two percent said backup and recovery is somewhat/absolutely important and 60 percent rated continuous data protection as one of their top initiatives.
* Staffing and budgets remain tight with half of all enterprises reporting they are somewhat/extremely understaffed. Finding budget and qualified applicants are the biggest recruiting issues. Seventy-nine percent of enterprises have the same or more job requisitions open this year.
* There continues to be room for improvement in disaster recovery (DR). One-third of disaster recovery plans are undocumented or need work and important IT components, such as cloud computing, remote office and virtual servers are often not included. Compounding the issue, almost one-third of enterprises haven’t re-evaluated their disaster recovery plan in the last 12 months. But at the same time, 65 percent of the companies seemed confident on their organization's DR plan unlike last year.
Recommendations
* Software that supports heterogeneous environments and eliminates islands of information is particularly important for mid-sized enterprises that are aggressively adopting new technologies because they can reduce complexity in the data center.
Organizations should deploy de-duplication closer to the information source to eliminate redundant data and reduce storage and network costs.
* Data center administrators need to manage storage across heterogeneous server and storage environments in a way that enables them to stop buying storage by leveraging new technology adoption such as storage resource management, thin provisioning, de-duplication, storage virtualization and continuous data protection and recovery. Organizations leveraging a holistic approach to storage management can control storage budget growth and often postpone storage purchases.
* Disaster recovery testing is invaluable, but can significantly impact business. Enterprises should seek to improve the success of testing by evaluating and implementing testing methods which are non-disruptive.
* Organizations should deploy a single, unified platform for physical and virtual machine protection to simplify information management.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Forrester: IT spending to rebound in 2010
Happy new year, dear friends. Here's a release from Forrester, for the enterprises.
CAMBRIDGE, USA: After a dismal performance in 2009, the technology sector will see a recovery in 2010 as businesses and governments in the US and around the world begin spending again on information technology, according to a new report by Forrester Research Inc.
After declining 8.2 percent in 2009, US IT spending will grow 6.6 percent in 2010 to $568 billion. Global IT spending, which dropped 8.9 percent last year, will rise 8.1 percent in 2010 to more than $1.6 trillion. Software and computer hardware will see the greatest growth, as Forrester forecasts a new multi-year cycle of technology investment growth and innovation defined by Smart Computing. The Forrester forecast provides Vendor Strategy professionals with recommendations regarding how to align their sales and marketing efforts to the current and future environment for IT spending.
“The technology downturn of 2008 and 2009 is unofficially over,” said Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst. “All the pieces are in place for a 2010 tech spending rebound. In the US, the tech recovery will be much stronger than the overall economic recovery, with technology spending growing at more than twice the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.”
With regard to sector growth, hardware and software will lead the charge. Measured in US dollars, global purchases of computer equipment will be up 8.2 percent, communications equipment buying will rise by 7.6 percent, software spending will increase by 9.7 percent, purchases of IT consulting and systems integration services will grow by 6.8 percent, and IT outsourcing services will be 7.1 percent higher.
On a regional basis, Europe will be the strongest performing region. Measured in US dollars, the strongest growth in 2010 will be in Western and Central Europe, where tech purchases will rise by 11.2 percent, boosted by the dollar’s decline against the euro. IT purchases in Canada will grow by 9.9 percent, Asia Pacific by 7.8 percent, and Latin America by 7.7 percent. The weakest market will be Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, rising by just 2.4 percent.
When measured against local currency, however, the US will actually post the strongest growth of all the regional tech markets.
“We are entering a new six- to seven-year cycle of IT growth and innovation that Forrester calls Smart Computing,” said Bartels. “New technologies of awareness married to advanced business intelligence analytics make computing smart. Smart Computing rests on new foundation technologies such as service-oriented architecture, server and storage virtualization, cloud computing, and unified communications. 2010 marks the beginning of this next phase of technology advancement.”
CAMBRIDGE, USA: After a dismal performance in 2009, the technology sector will see a recovery in 2010 as businesses and governments in the US and around the world begin spending again on information technology, according to a new report by Forrester Research Inc.
After declining 8.2 percent in 2009, US IT spending will grow 6.6 percent in 2010 to $568 billion. Global IT spending, which dropped 8.9 percent last year, will rise 8.1 percent in 2010 to more than $1.6 trillion. Software and computer hardware will see the greatest growth, as Forrester forecasts a new multi-year cycle of technology investment growth and innovation defined by Smart Computing. The Forrester forecast provides Vendor Strategy professionals with recommendations regarding how to align their sales and marketing efforts to the current and future environment for IT spending.
“The technology downturn of 2008 and 2009 is unofficially over,” said Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst. “All the pieces are in place for a 2010 tech spending rebound. In the US, the tech recovery will be much stronger than the overall economic recovery, with technology spending growing at more than twice the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.”
With regard to sector growth, hardware and software will lead the charge. Measured in US dollars, global purchases of computer equipment will be up 8.2 percent, communications equipment buying will rise by 7.6 percent, software spending will increase by 9.7 percent, purchases of IT consulting and systems integration services will grow by 6.8 percent, and IT outsourcing services will be 7.1 percent higher.
On a regional basis, Europe will be the strongest performing region. Measured in US dollars, the strongest growth in 2010 will be in Western and Central Europe, where tech purchases will rise by 11.2 percent, boosted by the dollar’s decline against the euro. IT purchases in Canada will grow by 9.9 percent, Asia Pacific by 7.8 percent, and Latin America by 7.7 percent. The weakest market will be Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, rising by just 2.4 percent.
When measured against local currency, however, the US will actually post the strongest growth of all the regional tech markets.
“We are entering a new six- to seven-year cycle of IT growth and innovation that Forrester calls Smart Computing,” said Bartels. “New technologies of awareness married to advanced business intelligence analytics make computing smart. Smart Computing rests on new foundation technologies such as service-oriented architecture, server and storage virtualization, cloud computing, and unified communications. 2010 marks the beginning of this next phase of technology advancement.”
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