According to DataTrek Research, mentions of “recession” on S&P 500 earnings calls have decreased, with only 11% of management teams mentioning a recession in the third quarter, compared to peaks of 42%-46% in 2020 and 2022. Mentions of inflation also decreased to 55% in the third quarter, down from a peak of 83% in 2022.
Techaisle’s survey of channel partners reveals that the IT channel is adapting to outcome-focused engagements. The shift towards tangible business benefits has led to the use of as-a-service contracts and hybrid delivery models. However, these approaches strain the channel’s resources and require new skills. The survey also highlights changes in the sales function, emphasizing innovation and line-of-business selling. The channel has no clear consensus on the best path forward, as indicated by the varying contract types and resource allocation strategies.
Global spending on cloud infrastructure services increased by 16% in Q3 2023, reaching $73.5 billion. The top three cloud providers, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, grew by 20% and accounted for 65% of total spending. The cloud market shows resilience, driven by increasing interest in AI. AWS maintained its market share, while Microsoft Azure experienced an uptick in growth rate. Google Cloud’s growth rate dipped below expectations.
According to the annual review by the RSPA, the percentage of ISVs in their community increased from 18% to 22% year-over-year, while VARs remained strong with around 450 organizations. The notable trend is the shift from the hospitality market to retail, with 80% of RSPA members playing in hospitality a year ago compared to 67% today. The RSPA community continues to grow with over 730 member organizations.
IDC predicts robust investment growth in AI solutions, with global expenditure on AI solutions expected to exceed $500 billion by 2027. The report highlights the impact of the GPT-3.5 series by Open AI, the growing efficiency and potential risks of GenAI, the emergence of conversational AI interfaces, and the changing landscape of automated testing. It also mentions the monetization potential of self-service knowledge discovery and the future experimentation with Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) systems by 2028.
The mood is getting better. Customers are looking for outcome-based engagements, and the cloud is a robust market. Stay agile, deliver tangible business outcomes, and invest in skills and strategies targeted to customer needs. That is the simple truth, to be sure.