International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed its annual predictions for the coming year in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. IDC's predictions for 2014 were heavily influenced by the third Platform, the industry's emerging platform for growth and innovation built on the technology pillars of mobile computing, cloud services, big data and analytics, and social networking.
Jaideep Mehta, VP & Country General Manager, IDC India, said, "The digitization of corporates is accelerating as third-platform technologies are deployed, and the benefits understood better than ever before. IDC India research and survey findings show cloud and enterprise mobility adoption is surging in the country, with SMEs leading the way in Cloud and large enterprise leveraging mobility solutions.”
IDC predicts that worldwide IT spending will grow 5% year over year to $2.1 trillion in 2014. Spending will be driven by third-platform technologies, which will grow 15% year over year and capture 89% of IT spending growth. Sales of smartphones and tablets will continue at a torrid pace, while outlays for servers, storage, networks, software, and services will fare better than in 2013. The PC market will remain under stress, with worldwide revenues down 6% year over year.
The report further predicts that Social technologies will become increasingly integrated into existing enterprise applications over the next 12–18 months. In addition to being a strategic component in virtually all customer engagement and marketing strategies, data from social applications will feed the product and service development process.
