ZDNet's research roundup: 5G, cloud computing, cybersecurity, open source, and more

Let's start with our special feature on 5G, which shows deployments are moving beyond enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access and are beginning to enable a wider range of use cases. But there's still a long way to go. As you might expect, the biggest category of 5G devices is phones (48.8%).

SEE: 5G: Where we are, where we're going next

The result of increasing network and device availability is, of course, more connections. In May 2021, analyst firm CCS Insight forecast that connections to 5G networks would reach 670 million worldwide by the end of the year and were on track to reach 3.6 billion in 2025.

SEE: 5G: Where we are, where we're going next

Businesses globally spent $53.5 billion on cloud infrastructure in the fourth quarter of 2021, hitting the milestone for the first time and bringing full-year spending to $191.7 billion, or nearly $50 billion more than in 2020, according to analyst Canalys.

SEE: Cloud computing just hit another huge milestone

Tech analyst Gartner predicts that as much as half of spending across application software, infrastructure software, business process services and system infrastructure markets will have shifted to the cloud by 2025, up from 41% in 2022.

SEE: What is cloud computing? Everything you need to know about the cloud explained

As noted in new research conducted by KELA, the ransomware-as-a-service economy relies on initial access brokers (IABs) to reduce the need for extended reconnaissance. On average, IABs sell initial access for $4600, and sales take up to three days to finalise.

SEE: How the initial access broker market leads to ransomware attacks

Analyst Forrester says Zero Trust advocates should be jumping for joy over the federal government's understanding of the cybersecurity concept. It says the the US Office of Management and Budget doesn't just make the right call, it makes the bold call and doubles down on Zero Trust.

SEE: OMB's Zero Trust strategy: Government gets good

More than three-quarters of organisations increased their use of open-source software during the past year as the popularity of DevOps tooling, data technologies and AI/ML tooling grows. Perforce-owned OpenLogic and the nonprofit Open Source Initiative (OSI) found that 77% of organisations were more reliant on OSS than they were 12 months ago.

SEE: Open source is more important than ever, say developers. Here's what's driving adoption

MuleSoft's 2022 Connectivity Benchmark Report found that 70% of organizations struggle to provide completely connected user experiences across all channels. At the same time, the report noted that almost three-quarters (72%) of organisations' customer interactions are now digital.

SEE: 70% of customer interactions are now digital and most companies are not ready