What could derail 2022? From the channels vantage point, It should also be noted that customers arent the only group that can avail itself of the easy-to-buy environment of an online marketplace; channel firms can as well. Finally, one of the most consequential developments affecting the channel today is the rise of online When we talk about a return to strategy, revenue growth expectations are a major indicator of a companys Where? You can view it. hardware and telecom services. Today, online marketplaces, such as those from Amazon and Google to Microsoft and Salesforce, As e-commerce changes buying habits, it is also changing physical retail space and The swift move from traditional office-based work to full-time at-home work has exposed upsides and downsides that companies will need to balance in the year ahead. Consulting can mean a lot of things, ranging from technology advice services to business-related mentoring and guidance.

recovery, but of acceleration and innovation. Theres no doubt some firms took a hit in the last couple of years, and we cant discount still-looming concerns related to the global economy, the pandemic and the state of public affairs. This tactical approach put constant pressure on the IT budget, but businesses today must also think about technology strategically, which As companies Organizations are starting to realize that either internal resources or outside partners are needed to As always, the threat of the unexpected hangs over these hopes. get more focus as a way of bridging the gap between cybersecurity best practices and business health. One big reason for broader adoption is that the approach to software development has changed. can be, especially for supply chains or regulated activities. This paves the way for investments in the software applications and technology services that sit on top of this foundation. The tactical side was the more traditional approach,

Now that they are distinct functions, there are difficulties in creating the pipeline for more advanced talent. But other obstacles have complicated hiring as well, including rising salary expectations and competition for talent from other tech providers. Over time, entry-level positions will likely emerge, but in the meantime, companies will have to explore different After nearly two years of stasis and economic uncertainty, signs now point to investment and the pursuit of technical and business innovation that pairs well with the direction the industry In order to manage the second-order effects of granular applications, companies will also accelerate their adoption of DevOps, with the most advanced companies exploring AIOps Challenges around growing complexity also weigh heavily, which fits in with new directives to handle both tactics and strategy. You can view it, SlideTeam has published a new blog titled "Top 10 Investment Banking Templates to Attract a Loyal Base of Investors". Much like IT professionals, companies in the business of technology (aka the channel) are starting to think bigger again, rekindling some of the strategic initiatives and aspirations that may have been put on the back burner during the extended pandemic. While companies have taken several steps toward augmenting their secure data science is commonly cited as one of the fastest-growing job roles (30% growth by 2030 according to CompTIAs Cyberstates report). Privacy is top of mind than any industry in the past, these cultural and philosophical differences get highlighted in new ways. would be folly. to have higher tech budgets, while only 28% did so in the same timeframe last year. outside of tech are in the mix for potential job candidates. In terms of industry specifics, IDC projects that the technology industry is on pace to exceed $5.3 trillion in 2022. The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5.3 trillion global information technology ecosystem and more than 50 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage and safeguard that in with their current environment or how to secure it and ensure compliance. One third of respondents say this is necessary, and they are most likely referring to the delivery and forecasting bottlenecks that have resulted from the last two years of pandemic-related

The grind of Zoom calls and the distractions of home may have been challenging, but they Some of The critical nature of IT, both for maintaining operations and for pursuing new growth, creates encouraging prospects for IT pros as they build their careers. by employees for in-person discussions (cited by 35%). A transactional model today might no longer be tenable and better replaced by a managed services type business approach, for example. IT department. As those negatives start to wane, business activity should accelerate. The new year brings us a return to strategy. in as well, however. Nearly one third of all companies are placing focus on first-line support, proving that the help desk has still not become a commodity in an age of outsourcing and end user tech savvy. For 2022, execution means pivoting to a services-based business, getting serious about emerging tech opportunities, and doubling down in a more sophisticated way with cybersecurity efforts and offerings. Thats not money you want to leave on the table. In order to begin using analytics as a tool to take business operations to the next level, companies have to start with data basics. or beyond. Even worse, the vulnerabilities that allowed the breaches in the first place might be unknown. All these developments have shaken up the traditional workplace for many office workers. These changes will continue in 2022. Business travel has been a staple of the technology industry for decades. if it might be wiser to keep inventory, parts and components close to home, regardless of whether customer orders have been placed yet. From a revenue perspective, things are looking solid. A McKinsey Global Survey of executives found that companies have sped the digitization of their customer relations, supply chains and internal Looking ahead to 2022, one third of companies are expecting a net-positive effect of the lingering pandemic, while 27% are still cautiously concerned about a net-negative impact. results. marketplaces, which upends the entire buying process and impacts actions that follow. Bottom line: the definition of a workplace has changed, build out their software capabilities, they will drive more interaction between software development and infrastructure operations, leading to more demand for DevOps. However, new financial largesse may not Granted, there are understandable challenges and risks that come with operating a successful cybersecurity practice. In the mature U.S. market, for example, there is robust infrastructure, a large installed base of users equipped with connected devices and abundant bandwidth for Database administration is still the top focus area for many emerging as-a-service solutions that include elements of hardware, software and service, such as IoT, drones and many automating technologies. For cybersecurity and data, the situation is more complicated. Visit www.CompTIA.org for past versions of the IT Industry Outlook and an extensive library of research and educational content. further proved that the use of technology as part of the education puzzle is here to stay. The enormity of the technology industry is a function of many of the trends discussed in this report. and providers to stop stockpiling inventory and parts, instead responding as close to real-time as possible to demand for goods. predicting no impact up or down in the coming year. In many ways, the lines are becoming blurred The deeper technology is embedded within an organization, the more difficult it becomes to define the technology budget.. of IoT in controlling utility consumption to the reduction in travel thanks to remote access and collaboration tools. The other topic looming in 2022 is not exactly a new issue. testing, cyber-insurance or compliance risk evaluation, among many others. After the speed bump of 2020, the industry is returning to its previous growth pattern of 5%-6% growth year over year. have built a hierarchy of skills over time. And today, more than ever, providing A+ customer experience ranks high in the return to strategy. On the channel side, firms are embracing the pivot to new business models For decades now, the concept of just-in-time manufacturing has been heralded as a way for manufacturers, suppliers CompTIAs IT Industry Outlook 2022 provides insight into the trends shaping the industry, its workforce and its business models. Copyright 2022 SlideTeam. They remained in tactical mode to ensure certain basic outcomes: Keep the lights on, pay your people, hold onto your customers, and, at minimum, maintain status quo revenue intake. The key word there being ultimately. According to The Future of Jobs 2020 report from the World Economic Forum, technology be across all five functional areas surveyed (sales, marketing, operations, finance, tech support), sales and marketing rate highest as areas being slightly shortchanged. Then The final focus for career growth is technical skill in a new area. SlideTeam added 748 new products (e.g. From a technology perspective, remote work has placed new priorities on IT departments accustomed to managing a main headquarters Only the biggest companies could afford the first mainframes, and only these large companies could initially afford flexible arrangement that capitalizes on the fact that technology enables many of them to work from anywhere. technology, IT was viewed as a tactical endeavor, something that provided a necessary foundation for high-value business activity. The first is the location of the workforce. There are a number of taxonomies for depicting the information technology space. The study touted having a strong travel culture. Businesses held several assumptions about cyber attacksthey came from outside the organization, they were easily identifiable, they were relatively uncommonand Data from the consulting firm Bain & Company shows how technology has led the way in global economic growth. Cybersecurity is possibly the most complex of the four pillars, covering expanded defenses that companies must build, innovative approaches to proactively test those defenses, and internal processes that create secure operations. That said, business travel will be looking different in 2022 In recent years, there has been plenty of discussion about the erosion of this secure perimeter as companies have moved to cloud systems and mobile devices. For years now, the industry has seen a slow but steady shift in who holds the purse strings when it comes number has climbed to 53%. The largest growth comes from born tech companies, which have technology as a central part of their identity. With all the complications, regulatory reform will likely be a slow process, and it will be critical for organizations to stay ahead of the curve so Cybersecurity metrics are starting to Software development used to be the domain of large companies. for both IT professionals and IT channel firms. Even the number of companies that expect the same budget allocation in 2022 as 2021 declined significantly from 41% to 26%. ensuring that infrastructure and applications were in place to support business activities. Whether its building back a solid foundation that had cracked a bit these past couple years or forging ahead with And many firms that created stand-up solutions to accommodate the impact of the pandemic are now making them permanent for their workers. More than one third of respondents report significant shifts to LOB buyers in their customer dealings, with another 43% experiencing a modest shift. and infrastructure are table stakes for the workforce of the future. Consider a custom website built as part of a marketing campaign. Rather than using massive development teams to build monolithic applications, companies have lowered the Another 36% expect to remain stable with 2021, though that could be a revenue level that was less than 2019 for those firms. where consulting acumen comes in. Avail our Business Research Services, SlideTeam has published a new blog titled "Top 10 PPT Templates to Combat Areas of Improvement". Nor that there arent distinct business benefits that come from in-person meetings and conferences; there are. as the uses of data in a digital economy continue to be scrutinized. strategy and new investments will be required to create a modern security posture.

On a positive note, channel Regulation has been hovering over the tech industry for some time now. also pushed many companies to jumpstart or accelerate their digital transformation efforts. for all the tech spending that takes place. In addition, geopolitical dynamics have highlighted how fragile the ecosystem

directly. This is disappointing because cybersecurity specialization is where its at from a profitability standpoint today. but add challenges in integration and architecture management. firms found renewed opportunity in selling hardware and edge-based security during the work-from-home migration, while managed services providers were called in to help oversee the plethora of residential-based nodes on networks. First, antitrust conceptsand even general business practicesdiffer from country to country. Risk analysis, cybersecurity analytics and penetration testing are all areas that need improvement as companies adopt a zero trust mindset. Yes, I would like to receive CompTIA newsletters and information on new resources and events! Its wise that channel firms are moving in this direction, in part because there is an elephant in the room they must acknowledge: online marketplaces. subtlety here is that the technology itself is not necessarily the objective.

working from home instead of a central office location. One reason for this is that there are currently less data scientists compared to other technology That leaves nearly two-thirds that are on target or strategy; and one third have hired new sales reps that crackle with business skills and the vernacular to appeal to LOB executives. Climate impact. With so many different topics within each pillar, there is plenty of room for growth. or two in growing those business lines or introducing them to new audiences. support calls from customers whose workforces went remote overnight. Companies continue to struggle in finding the skills they need, even for day-to-day operations. The shift in conversation can be daunting for some used to selling speeds and feeds to a tech professional, but the skill will be essential moving forward as part of sales reps.

Another 24% are angling to shore up their business-related employee base, an increase from 15% last year. to new opportunities and business models. In the case of the former, workplace studies over the last 18 months have shown that employees today, many having now worked remotely for an New services and solutions factor Targeting a higher level of experience may make sense in the areas of infrastructure and software development, where businesses Diversity has not been solved, especially not in the field of technology. fast will almost certainly break things without producing many useful results. Among global regions, western Europe remains a significant contributor, accounting for approximately one of every five technology dollars spent worldwide. The effect COVID has had on businesses in the channel is undeniable, with one third of companies reporting some downside impact in the past year. For decades, most other companies relied on packaged software, where the base functionality still provided huge benefits. Despite current pandemic conditions, many channel firms are nonetheless on the hunt for new employees, particularly those with skills in certain areas such as emerging tech (IoT, AI, etc. CompTIAs IT framework defines infrastructure, software Across all four IT pillars, hiring companies are primarily targeting either early career (3-5 years of experience) or mid-level Everything from hardware devices to SaaS applications and beyond is available at the click of button for customers today. during COVID. The past year has shown that progress is never a guarantee. More and more line of business executives today possess tech budget and routinely make critical purchasing decisions for their departments and staffboth with and without the involvement of an internal This could deflate channel firms that

and services in a cloud marketplace era is fading, but they have volumes of opportunity to transform or expand as business consulting experts (More on online marketplaces in the channel section below). Among the largest channel firms (100+ employees), a full third expect significant growth from their solutions and services sales in the coming two years. awareness education and security investments. The willingness to remain in an office-based job may be related to the nature of IT work. In 2022, more channel firms will have a reckoning that reselling products More money in the coffers typically means more spending. roles. These firms have young people are educated, bringing a flexibility to learning not seen in the past. Many factors have led to these changes in customer habits: the rise of easy-to-use/quick-to-buy online marketplaces, the surge in line-of-business tech buyers that purchase differently than IT departments do, and the influx Respondents have some clear opinions on what department areas are getting sufficient allocation in their overall budget versus those areas that could use either more or less in 2022. The U.S. Census Bureau found that U.S. e-commerce sales grew 30% in 2020, accounting for 14% of all U.S. sales. Along with considerations around revenue, budgeting and customer dynamics, the human resources factor each channel company faces cant be ignored. while just 7% forecast a decline in sales. For example, if you want a 4 piece past business transactions, improve current business operations and predict future business opportunities. Adding to the challenge of filling a broad range of skills, companies are generally looking for candidates with deeper expertise. it is. In addition to new areas of focus, channel firms in 2022 are committing to extending and growing their existing portfolios. All these factors and more have led many channel firms to reconsider their business model. what was once a stable set of infrastructure products in a resellers portfolio has, in the cloud age, morphed into a cornucopia of software-as-a-service applications, data and cybersecurity tools, and a stack of emerging technologies to contend ahead of the game with their efforts. S uffice to say, the prediction business has been a tough one over the last two years. They want a channel provider that has unique knowledge of their businesss main mission, operational idiosyncrasies and ultimate goals. programming skills to capitalize on the infrastructure. Stealth IT, where business units procure their own technology, is one reason why overall technology budgets can be hard to track. are covered in additional CompTIA research.