Monday Morning Impact – January 30

Gartner Predicts Worldwide IT Spending Forecast to Grow 2.7 Percent in 2017

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.5 trillion in 2017, a 2.7 percent increase from 2016, according to Gartner, the Stamford, CT-based market researcher. However, this growth rate is down from earlier projections of 3 percent.

“2017 was poised to be a rebound year in IT spending,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. “Some major trends have converged, including cloud, blockchain, digital business and artificial intelligence. Normally, this would have pushed IT spending much higher than 2.7 percent growth. However, some of the political uncertainty in global markets has fostered a wait-and-see approach causing many enterprises to forestall IT investments.”

Worldwide devices spending (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) is projected to remain flat in 2017 at $589 billion. A replacement cycle in the PC market and strong pricing and functionality of premium ultramobiles is expected to help drive growth in 2018.

The worldwide IT services market, meanwhile, is forecast to grow 4.2 percent in 2017. Buyer investments in digital business, intelligent automation, and services optimization and innovation continue to drive growth in the market, but buyer caution, fueled by broad economic challenges, remains a counter-balance to faster growth.

Gartner’s IT spending forecast methodology relies on analysis of sales by thousands of vendors across the entire range of IT products and services.

Channel Impact^®
The numbers are obviously tracking in a positive direction, but the data suggests that political considerations are factoring into customer purchasing decisions, or at least the timing for those purchases.

Cisco Introduces New Data and Analytics Training

Cisco has rolled out a new data and analytics training portfolio as well as updates to its data center certification track. The changes focus primarily on integrated data management and virtualization, teaching in-demand skills needed to connect data, processes and experiences and make better business decisions.

The new data and analytics training offerings are designed to teach an agile data integration method that simplifies access to information. This approach is expected to help businesses pull greater value from growing volumes of data more quickly, without the need for additional resources.

In addition, the CCNA, CCNP and CCIE Data Center certification exams and curricula have been revised to reflect related industry changes and evolution. These adjustments include data center network management, streamlined operations through automation and the capability to implement unified computing and advanced virtualization.

“Cisco is preparing professionals for today’s expanding job roles and new skills requirements,” said Tejas Vashi, Cisco senior director, product strategy & marketing. “These new data analytics and data center offerings supplement our recently introduced cloud, IoT and cybersecurity certification programs. Together, they help professionals develop the skills to manage and control enterprise-wide deployments securely and consistently.”

Channel Impact^®
As the industry continues to progress and evolve, updating of these offerings becomes a practical necessity to retaining relevance.

CloudGenix Announces Master Agent Agreement with Converged Network Services Group

CloudGenix, a San Jose-based software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) company, has launched a master agency agreement with Converged Network Services Group, a master distributor primarily focused on connectivity and cloud.

This alliance is expected to provide customers with essential connectivity as well as SLAs for cloud applications such as Office365, AWS, Azure, Unified Communications and VoIP.

“CNSG is committed to working with only the best-of-breed technology suppliers to deliver the highest quality solutions for our partners and their customers,” said Randy Friedberg, vice president of Business Development at CNSG. “Our alliance with CloudGenix reflects this mission, and ensures our product portfolio continues to align with customers’ needs for cost savings and unmatched application performance.”

Channel Impact^®
This partnership is expected to help drive adoption of CloudGenix’ SD-WAN solution, and also deliver aggregated telecom solutions.