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IT spending, cloud computing, big data, virtual reality, and more: Research round-up

All the data that matters to you from the past month in technology news.
By Mark Samuels, Contributor
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1 of 12 Gartner

AI, machine learning to dominate CXO agenda over next 5 years

Let's start with IT spending. At the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, analyst Daryl Plummer outlined the spending trends to expect in the years ahead. Gartner's outlook for the next five years revolves around the idea that artificial intelligence will augment human decisions, emotions and relationships. The bad news is that, by 2021, it's likely that digital transformation will take twice as long and cost twice as much as anticipated.

For more see: AI, machine learning to dominate CXO agenda over next 5 years

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2 of 12 Flexera

Cloud alters pecking order among enterprise technology vendors

Corporations are cutting their spending with legacy software vendors and plan on allocating more budget to cloud players. That reality may mean bad news for the likes of IBM and Oracle, according to a survey of 303 IT executives from Flexera. Overall, respondents to the Flexera survey spent 8.2% of revenue on IT. Companies with more than 10,000 employees spent 9.3% of revenue on IT. Top priorities are digital transformation, cybersecurity, customer experience and migrating to the cloud.

For more see: Cloud alters pecking order among enterprise technology vendors

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3 of 12 Flexera

Spending on the cloud set to continue

Flexera's survey captures the migration to the cloud and away from on-premise software. As many as 86% of IT executives expect a slight or significant increase in IaaS and PaaS, with 81% expecting to spend more on SaaS. But 55% expect to decrease spending on on-premises software. Flexera found that 65% of respondents plan to reduce data centre spending as well as the number of facilities.

For more see: Cloud alters pecking order among enterprise technology vendors

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4 of 12 MuleSoft

Creating a data-driven business

MuleSoft's Connectivity Benchmark survey for 2020 draws on data from 850 global IT leaders, 9,000 consumers, and third-party findings. 83% of IT decision-makers report that data silos create business challenges in their organisation. The research shows that breaking down data silos is positively correlated with a company's performance, with 68% of best-run companies working to eliminate data silos and share insights. 

For more see: Top 7 digital transformation trends shaping 2020

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5 of 12 MuleSoft

Organisations are recognising the potential value of AI

The MuleSoft research also anticipates a 95% growth projection in the adoption of AI. Organisations are increasingly investing in AI capabilities to expedite and personalise customer service, reduce human bias, and increase productivity. They are learning that the value of AI and machine-learning tools are dependent upon the data they are fed.

For more see: Top 7 digital transformation trends shaping 2020

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6 of 12 TechRepublic Premium

Businesses are slow to implement AR and VR

How businesses currently adopt, or plan to adopt, mixed reality is the subject of a recent TechRepublic Premium survey. Over half (56%) of survey respondents do not currently use virtual reality (VR) technology, while a similar figure (54%) do not use augmented reality (AR) at their companies. But VR is on the radar of some respondents: 38% percent say their company is considering adopting it.

For more see: Mixed reality usage at companies down from previous years

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7 of 12 Gartner

Blockchain: Why the revolution is still a decade away

Blockchain is currently going through what tech analyst Gartner describes as the 'trough of disillusionment', which occurs when a new technology's implementations fail and interest for it wanes. Gartner predicts that blockchain will only start recovering from its fall from 2021, and that it could take five to ten years before it starts transforming the way businesses operate. Or, as Gartner puts it, before it ascends the "Slope of Enlightenment".

For more see: Blockchain: Why the revolution is still a decade away

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8 of 12 Interbrand

World's top brands ranked: Apple still leads but there are two big tech losers

Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have the highest 'brand value' of all global companies. But Huawei and Facebook – both mired in their own image problems – are now worth less than they were a year ago. That's according to Interbrand, whose 2019 top 100 list is led by Apple.

For more see: World's top brands ranked: Apple still leads but there are two big tech losers

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9 of 12 Interbrand

Tech industry brands dominate all other categories

Interbrand estimates the overall brand value of the tech sector to be $790bn, or about three times the value of automotive, the next biggest category, which is worth $279bn. Most of the tech industry's value comes from the top four tech companies. Apple and Google are worth $234bn and $167bn respectively. But the brand values of Amazon and Microsoft grew faster over the past year to $125bn and $108bn.  

For more see: World's top brands ranked: Apple still leads but there are two big tech losers

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10 of 12 Canalys

Smartphone shipments just grew for the first time in two years

Global smartphone shipments grew 1% in Q3 2019, ending a two-year run of declining quarterly shipments year-over-year. Canalys reports worldwide smartphone shipments reached 352.4 million in Q3, up from 348.9 million. It's the first quarterly year-on-year growth in smartphone shipments since Q4 2017, which was also the first time analysts recorded a quarterly decline in shipments. 

For more see: Smartphone shipments just grew for the first time in two years

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11 of 12 Pew Research Center

Most Americans can't recognize 2FA, HTTPS, or private browsing

Two-factor authentication, HTTPS, or private browsing, are concepts that are too complex for most Americans. Answers from a survey of 4,272 US adults conducted by the Pew Research Center found that most Americans aren't as tech-savvy as you'd normally expect from the country that houses most of today's web tech innovation. Only 2% of all the survey takers managed to answer all 10 questions correctly in a very basic tech quiz.

For more see: Most Americans can't recognize 2FA, HTTPS, or private browsing

Here's why more US employees self-censor social media posts
12 of 12 The Interview Guys

Here's why more US employees self-censor social media posts

Finally, The Interview Guys studied data from 1,024 employees and discovered many employees self-censor their social media posts because colleagues can see them. Employees aged over 50 self-censor their posts 20% more than employees in their 20s. The main topics employees avoid posting about because their co-workers can see them are: political feelings (36%), drinking or drug use (34.2%), and anti-company statements (32%). 

For more see: Here's why more US employees self-censor social media posts

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