Dive Brief:
- Global revenue for IT and business services was about $475 billion in the first half of 2017, and the U.S. brought in $249.2 billion, according to an IDC report. Growth is expected to go beyond the $1 trillion-mark next year.
- Business services spending accounted for the most growth in the market with a 6% year-over-year growth. IT services make up about two-thirds of the market with technology outsourcing, application development and network implementation.
- Because companies are looking to "execute on their 3rd Platform," IT services spending will continue to increase to aid in transition efforts. Digital solutions that require cloud-based services is forecast to exceed $100 billion this year.
Dive Insight:
As technology changes, reliance on experts and services increases. Because the skills gap in IT is widening, companies are forced to bring in outside consultants and professionals, but there is huge potential in the consulting market. Currently, only about 40% of companies have gone digital, leaving the majority to still transition.
Spending on digital transformation is expected to hit $1.2 trillion this year and $2 trillion by 2020. Despite this, resistance looms as less than half of companies have a strategy in place for digitizing. This gives consultants a way into servicing the enterprise.
However, while the use of third party services is inevitable, assessing their security risks is pertinent to company success. Digital transformation has led companies to relinquish control of a lot of data despite many third parties believing security is still the responsibility of its partnered company.
