Latest Reports

• The Mandate for Growing IT Spending in the Insurance Industry

  Insurance providers are at a crossroads. Many have large, complex legacy systems deeply embedded in back-end processes. These require legions of IT personnel to keep them responsive to changing market needs. Now, these established players face new competitive threats from upstarts, unencumbered by legacy systems, able to rethink how insurance services can be delivered to customers in new ways. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a monkey wrench into strategic planning in the insurance industry.

  October, 2021

• Computer Economics: Worldwide IT Spending and Staffing Outlook for 2021

  Despite the chaos of 2020, the outlook for 2021 is surprisingly positive. IT organizations are expecting budget growth and to consolidate the changes made in the past turbulent year. This year, our report assesses IT operational and capital spending plans, executive priorities for IT investment, and plans for hiring and outsourcing for IT organizations worldwide.

  March, 2021

• IT Outlook for 2021 Depends on Where You Stand

  Last year did not go according to plan. Two months after we published our Worldwide IT Spending and Staffing Outlook for 2020, the world’s economies began to shut down. Businesses transformed overnight. Our prediction of “positive, but some hints of trouble brewing” in 2020 turned out to be a bit of an understatement. Because 2020 was not the easiest year to predict, do not expect easy answers when it comes to 2021. But in this, our annual study of the IT spending and staffing outlook for the new year, we find that IT leaders worldwide have a surprisingly positive outlook on the year ahead. This research byte summarizes the full study.

  February, 2021

• IT in PJs Here to Stay, Post-Pandemic

  Regardless of how long the pandemic lasts, one thing that appears to be here to stay for IT personnel is working from home, although the percentage will drop. Our annual IT salary study finds that about a quarter of IT workers will ply their trade from home, full-time, after the pandemic subsides. This Research Byte summarizes our findings on the WFH reality.

  December, 2020

• Cloud Migration Leads to IT Staffing Decline

  Way back in 2007, IT personnel represented more than half of all IT operational spending. Fast forward to 2017, that number declined to 42%. That is one major finding of a new report, in which Computer Economics analyzed long-term IT spending and the effects of the cloud. And based on our analysis of IT organizations that are already well down the road in their cloud transformation, we could see spending on IT personnel comprise less than one third of the total IT budget within the next 10 years

  March, 2018

• Avasant Digital Forum: Future Proofing your Enterprise: Enabling Digital Transformation in the New GCC Economy

  As the GCC region recovers from the global pandemic it is emerging as the world’s foremost digital economy. Rapid Digitalization is enabling regional businesses and governments to transform and thrive in the post-COVID world. Digital transformation is a catalyst for this recovery and adopting a combination of AI, Automation, Analytics, Cloud and Mobility will enable the regional firms to stay ahead of the competition.

  March, 2021

• SD-WAN Leads the Way in ROI

  With the COVID-19 pandemic, the network is at the front and center of resiliency discussions, now so more than ever. Network services have further gained importance, especially for improving business agility and flexibility—which we’ve known for a while. And yet we are mildly surprised that SD-WAN finished first on the risk-reward analysis this year in our annual study. This Research Byte provides a look at the risk/reward profile for the technologies in our full study, Technology Trends 2021.

  March, 2021

• IoT Shows Only an Iota of Growth

  The Internet of Things (IoT) is a maturing technology, and for many years it has promised benefits such as lower labor costs and better tracking of assets. But our data is showing a trend that is common with other technologies as they mature. The adoption of IoT projects and investment in them have remained at a fairly low clip. This research byte provides a summary of our full report on IoT Adoption Trends and Customer Experience.

  March, 2021

• IoT Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2021

  The Internet of Things (IoT) is a maturing technology, and for many years it has promised benefits such as lower labor costs and better tracking of assets. But investments in IoT projects are stuck at a relatively low rate. This report provides an overview of IoT adoption and investment trends, providing data on how many organizations have the technology in place, how many are in the process of implementation, and how many are expanding implementations. We also look at the return on investment experience, total cost of ownership experience, and considered or planned uses for new IoT investment. We conclude with important principles to apply in planning and implementing IoT systems.

  March, 2021

• How to Negotiate a Computer Lease for Maximum Flexibility

  When it comes to leasing IT equipment, flexibility is a good thing. Business conditions fluctuate, capacity needs change, and new technologies are constantly being introduced. No company likes to be locked into a lease that does not offer the ability to terminate early—with or without an early-termination penalty. This article enumerates 14 leasing terms and conditions that lessees should clarify up front to best serve the buyer's interest and grant maximum flexibility throughout the term of the lease. (7 pp., 2 figs.).

  January, 2019

• COVID-19 Driving Growth of Digital Operations

  The COVID-19 crisis led to severe disruptions in the global socio-economic structure and adversely impacted enterprises. Enterprises were forced to explore all possible avenues to sustain business operations. While cost optimization was one objective, the focus shifted enabling digital operations. Enterprises that had already outsourced could mitigate the COVID-19 impact better than those keeping operations in-house. BPO service providers reacted quickly, leveraged technology, and developed tailored solutions for seamless business operations. This led the enterprises follow the suite driving double-digit growth in BPO engagements in 2020. These trends are covered in Avasant’s new Business Process Transformation Horizons report.

  March, 2021

• Communications System Support Staffing Ratios 2021

  Corporate communications systems have become more complex, although the number of IT specialists who support these systems has stabilized in the past few years. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, IT organizations can benefit from a periodic assessment of their communications system support staffing levels. This study uses three metrics to make that assessment: support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, percentage of support staff in relation to organization size, and support staff spending per user. We provide benchmarks for the composite sample, by organization size, and by sector.

  January, 2021