Latest Reports

• Worldwide Technology Trends 2022

  This major study provides insight into the customer experience and adoption rates for 14 technologies that are top-of-mind for IT leaders worldwide. The study also delves into the satisfaction level of the customer experience and the specific types of solutions under consideration. With this information business leaders are in a better position to assess the potential risks and rewards of each of these technologies. They also can gain insight into just how aggressively competitors and peers are making these investments. Looking forward, we also explore 19 future and early adopter technologies (146 pp., 105 figs.). 

  April, 2022

• Beyond Metaverse—Why You Need an Omniverse Strategy

  The digital age has triggered a rapid convergence of the human experience across physical, virtual, and augmented realities. These realities now exist in what is referred to as the metaverse. What is not commonly appreciated, however, is that there are multiple metaverses or “verses” that represent communities where people meet friends, work, play games, shop, and watch movies. It is a huge mistake for business leaders to think about these verses as one thing. Rather they are collectively the “omniverse,” the assemblage of what will become many verses owned by companies, governments, institutions, and other organized bodies. This report defines the aspects of a “verse” and provides a list of essential digital prerequisites necessary for businesses to prepare for their organizations to service their clients and conduct business in the omniverse.

  April, 2022

• Virtual and Augmented Reality Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2022

  Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are emerging technologies with the potential to change the nature of work as more use cases emerge for training, collaborating, and interacting with customers. These technologies are not only emerging but disruptive.

  February, 2022

• SD-WAN Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2022

  Software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) has evolved from a technology designed to reduce costs and enhance operational efficiency to being a crucial element in business sustainability. It is a fundamental pillar for business and digital transformation. This study quantifies the current adoption and investment trends for SD-WAN as well as the benefits driving companies to expand their SD-WAN implementations. We assess these trends by organization size and sector. We also look at the ROI and TCO experiences of adopters along with current investment levels. We conclude with practical advice for planning new investments in SD-WAN and associated services.

  February, 2022

• RFID Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2021

  Radio-frequency identification is gaining ground in certain industry sectors and applications where its benefits are clear. Although RFID may one day become even more widespread than barcodes, it will take longer than its advocates hope for. This report quantifies the current adoption and investment trends for RFID technology as well as the benefits driving companies to expand their RFID implementations. We assess these trends by organization size and sector and examine the ROI and TCO experiences of adopters. We conclude with practical advice for planning new investments in RFID technologies.

  December, 2021

• HCM Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2021

  Human capital management (HCM) systems are becoming increasingly essential as business leaders recognize that success depends on recruiting and retaining the best people. But while the adoption rate for HCM systems is high, there are challenges in deploying them. This report quantifies the current adoption and investment trends for HCM technology as well as the benefits driving companies to expand their HCM implementations. We assess these trends by organization size, sector, and geography as well as the ROI and TCO experiences of adopters. We conclude with practical advice for planning new investments in HCM systems.

  November, 2021

• IT Security Technology Adoption and Customer Experience 2021

  Organizations in all industries and of all sizes need IT security technology, and with threats on the rise the investment rate is the highest of any category of technology that we track. However, return on investment is not as rosy, with security technology earning a moderate rating for ROI. This report examines adoption trends for IT security technology of all types, from basic capabilities such as firewalls and spam filtering to more advanced tools such as incident detection. We analyze the adoption rate, investment rate, and economic experience for security technology overall. We conclude with recommendations for ensuring the success of IT security technology investments.

  November, 2021

• Business and Data Analytics Adoption and Customer Experience 2021

  IT organizations continue to devour data at unprecedented rates, and adoption and investment in business and data analytics tools are reaching new highs. But there are some headwinds that could slow that growth. This report examines adoption and investment trends for business and data analytics of all types, providing insight into how many organizations have the technology in place, how many are implementing it, and how many are expanding investments in new capabilities. To give additional insight, we look at the ROI and TCO experience of those that have adopted the technology. Finally, we recommend steps for a successful implementation.

  November, 2021

• ERP Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2021

  Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have long been one of the most adopted and mature technologies we track, and new investment in ERP systems also remains relatively high. This study helps IT executives understand how aggressively their peers are investing in ERP and the risks and rewards presented by those investments. We report adoption and investment rates by sector and organization size. We also measure customer experience in terms of the success rates for return on investment and total cost of ownership. We identify the functional areas where organizations are planning or considering making new investments in ERP. We also examine where ERP systems are deployed as well as their typical age and length of time between version upgrades. We wrap up with recommendations for improving the ROI of ERP.

  August, 2021

• Robotic Process Automation Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2021

  Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software “robots” to automate processes that are normally performed by clerical or administrative users. This report provides an overview of RPA adoption and investment trends, providing data on how many organizations have solutions in place, how many are in the process of implementing it, and how many are expanding implementations. We also look at the return on investment (ROI) experience, total cost of ownership (TCO) experience, and considered or planned uses for new RPA investments. We conclude with important principles to apply in planning and implementing RPA solutions.

  June, 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

• Avoiding Technical Bankruptcy in Legacy Systems

  Technical debt is a term that describes the consequences of a system that has become out of date because of accrued unapplied updates. But if an organization continues to take on technical debt, the system becomes a true legacy system, falling into a state we describe as “technical bankruptcy.” In this report, we identify the symptoms of technical bankruptcy and the devastating effects that it has on the organization.

  March, 2017