News Feature | March 2, 2016

12 Tech Trends To Watch From CompTIA

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

CompTIA Tech Trends

Positive growth is anticipated to continue in 2016

CompTIA has released its IT Industry Outlook 2016 and Business Confidence Index, which demonstrates momentum and overall positive/strong growth expected for the technology industry for 2016 and highlights the top 12 tech trends to watch this year. The IT Industry Outlook 2016 is based on a December 2015 survey of 673 IT industry companies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

“The Index indicates industry executives see far more positives than negatives,” Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA, explained in a statement. “For 2016, CompTIA’s consensus industry forecast projects growth of 4.7 percent for the U.S. market. Industry executives believe this will be a function of incremental growth in the staple categories of hardware, software, services, and telecom, supplemented with new revenue streams from emerging categories.

“Businesses of all sizes increasingly recognize the need to remake their workflows and customer engagement practices with an eye towards digital transformation,” said Herbert. “If investments in these technologies accelerate, and the economy holds steady, growth could lean towards the upside of the forecast.”

The report highlighted the following important takeaways for the IT channel:

  • The main source of channel profit, or vendor margin, is becoming secondary to what the channel partner can earn through their own services. To succeed, vendors will need to update their partner programs to reflect changes in the way channel partners want to make their money today.
  • Lines are blurring between vendor and channel roles, meaning that it is a perfect time for channel partners to jump in the fray, developing their own IP to drive revenue.
  • Low computing price, scalability and reach of major public cloud providers make it possible for channel partners to follow market leaders Verizon and HP by throwing in the towel on large data center build-outs.
  • The channel partner’s customer profile is changing. No longer are they just dealing with IT leaders  – sales, marketing, HR and other departments are getting in on the action, and channel partners will need to adjust their messaging to attract non-IT buyers.

In its IT Industry Outlook 2016, CompTIA identifies 12 trends that are expected to further make their mark on the IT industry, IT channel, IT workforce, and broader economy in the year ahead.

Macro Trends

  • Moving Beyond User Interface: User Experience Drives Technology Initiatives
  • Tech Policy Gets a Seat at the Presidential Election Issues Table
  • Digital Business Encompasses More than the IT Department
  • Organizations Strive to Develop More Tech Talent In-house

Technology Trends

  • Cloud is the New Electricity
  • Companies Go On the Offensive with Security
  • The Chase for Analytics Heats Up (Again)
  • The Software Layer Gets Much More Attention

IT Channel Trends

  • Vendor Partner Programs Strive to Reach Escape Velocity
  • So Who’s a Vendor Anyway? 
  • Skip the Data Center Build-out – Everyone Else is
  • Getting Closer to the Customer

“Cloud computing, mobility, social, workforce automation, big data, the Internet of Things and other disrupters will continue to expand their reach in 2016,” Herbert said. “Many organizations will move beyond the experimental, early adopter stage into broader, more varied uses of these technologies as they seek to capture the benefits of becoming a digital business.”

The complete 43-page report is available here free of charge with a simple registration.