IT spending, cybersecurity concerns, cloud computing, and more: Tech research roundup

Let's start with our special report on the future of work: which collaboration platform tools do enterprises use most? ZDNet's sister site, TechRepublic Premium, polled 161 professionals to find out. Tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams dominated the list of top collaboration platforms businesses currently use, according to 95% of survey respondents.

For more see: Research: Majority of enterprises rely on digital collaboration tools

Tech-savvy companies used the COVID-19 pandemic to widen their leads over rivals as they invested heavily in artificial intelligence, automation, Internet of Things, cloud, and data management, according to an Accenture survey. Companies that had digitisation efforts underway were in far better shape to navigate the pandemic.

For more see: Tech savvy enterprises used COVID-19 pandemic to widen lead over laggards, says Accenture

While it is safe to say that the impact of COVID-19 would have been even greater without the contributions of technology, the CDEI argues that it is too early to properly evaluate the impact of the innovations registered in the repository. In fact, more than a third of the public (37%) blamed the potential failings of digital solutions on the technology itself.  

For more see: Apps, drone deliveries and AI: How technology stepped up its game to fight COVID-19

Global IT spending is expected to surge 8.4% to $4.1 trillion in 2021 as line-of-business executives spend on digital transformation, according to Gartner. The analyst says the IT spending surge won't come from traditional technology departments. Instead, business leaders will hold the budgets as enterprises go digital.

For more see: 2021 IT spending to surge as device, enterprise software ramps, says Gartner

JavaScript remains by a long way the most popular programming language with 13.8 million developers, according to SlashData, a UK firm that studies developer communities. The company estimates that in the first quarter of this year the JavaScript community accounted for a big chunk of the estimated 24.3 million active developers worldwide. 

For more see: Programming languages: JavaScript has most developers but Rust is the fastest growing

Theres's been a huge uptick in the proportion of malware using the Transport Layer Security to communicate without being spotted, cybersecurity firm Sophos reports. While HTTPS helps prevent eavesdropping, the protocol has also offered cover for cyber criminals to  share information between a website and a command and control server.

For more see: Malware and ransomware gangs have found this new way to cover their tracks

Microsoft published new figures related to law enforcement requests for data, showing an increase in requests from US law enforcement in 2020 compared to years prior. The data comes from Microsoft's Law Enforcement Requests Report, which shows how Microsoft responds to requests for data and for content removal.

For more see: Microsoft reports increase in US law enforcement data requests in 2020

Cloud computing spending in the first quarter of 2021 reached $41.8 billion, growing 35% on a year-on-year basis with Amazon Web Services (AWS) still in the lead, according to analyst firm Canalys. AWS boasts a 32% share of spending, trailed by Microsoft Azure with 19%, and Google Cloud with 7%.

For more see: Cloud computing spending accelerates again as Microsoft, Google chase AWS

As organisations continue their digital transformation journeys, it's clear that cloud computing services are crucial. When it comes to overall cloud challenges, the top four in Flexera's recent survey are: security, managing cloud spend, and lack of expertise. 

For more see: Cloud computing in the real world: The challenges and opportunities of multicloud

Finally, Apple's MacBook line-up with M1 is delivering record fiscal second quarter sales as the company crushed expectations with 54% revenue growth. The company's iPhone, iPad and Mac line-ups are producing strong growth. The company reported second quarter earnings of $1.40 a share on revenue of $89.6 billion, up 54% from a year ago.

For more see: Apple's Q2 crushes estimates as iPhone, Mac, iPad sales surge; Apple now has 660 million subscriptions