Business building is a successful way to grow. However, only 52% of leaders feel confident in their company's ability to pursue new high-growth opportunities, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The study surveyed 1,051 senior leaders from 17 countries. Of those surveyed, 73% said that business building is a priority for them. Since 2021, the companies have pursued an average of five new high-growth opportunities each year, investing around 27% of their annual revenue in launching, acquiring, or co-launching startup ventures.

Industrial and Manufacturing firms face a myriad of ever-changing challenges, from rising interest rates, pressure to relocate facilities, and increased scrutiny of their operations through an ESG lens. Technology suppliers must help firms evaluate outside signals and add agility to their operations to meet customer needs.

Comprehensive ecosystem-wide collaboration and coordination will be the key to meeting the needs of increasingly sophisticated consumers who demand high-quality experiences that are easy and safe to use. So says Jon Kirchner, CEO of Xperi Corporation—a holding company that houses several iconic brands including TiVo, HD Radio, DTS and IMAX Enhanced—in a recent podcast interview for journalists.

A more nuanced understanding of cloud economics has prompted many organizations to pursue a hybrid infrastructure strategy through “fit-for-purpose” analyses.

Pandemic-related market conditions remain a top concern for 2022 among C-suite executives. Looking ahead to 2031, business leaders cite workforce and talent-related issues as their primary concern, indicating that the impact of the ‘Great Resignation’ will persist as their organizations struggle to fill the talent requirements supporting their strategies.

Nearly 60% of HR leaders report that building critical skills and competencies will be their number one priority in 2022, according to a Gartner, Inc. survey. The survey found the other top HR priorities for 2022 are: organizational design and change management (48%), current and future leadership bench (45%), the future of work (42%), and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (35%).

The new Smart Manufacturing Platforms Competitive Ranking by global technology intelligence firm ABI Research provides an in-depth and unbiased examination of the solutions offered by nine manufacturing platform providers delivering market insights on certain chosen technological criteria.

The global enterprise data management market size reached $78.32 billion in 2020 and is expected to register a CAGR of 9.6% through the middle of the decade, according to the latest analysis by Emergen Research. Revenue growth of the global enterprise data management market will be driven by the increasing need to manage business data more effectively.

While most organizations continue to spend more hours on their SOX compliance activities year-over-year, digital leaders have reported experiencing a lesser impact of increasing hours, which suggests they are gaining advantages through greater use of technology (including automation) in the SOX compliance process. 51% of survey respondents utilized technology tools in the testing of controls for their fiscal year, marking a yearly increase of 5%.

If analysts' assessments of the past year are correct, the events of the past year have accelerated business transformation initiatives with most organizations focusing enterprise technology investments on two interrelated trends: cloud adoption and customer centricity. The lessons learned through the COVID 19 have prompted 80% of enterprises to embrace cloud-centric infrastructures and applications at twice the pace set prior to the pandemic.

Customer service and support leaders are accelerating self-service initiatives to mitigate potential negative impacts of the pandemic, according to Gartner, Inc. More than 40% of customer service and support leaders have experienced increased service contact volumes compared to original 2020 projections due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gartner’s survey revealed 68% of employees would consider quitting their current job and working with an organization with a stronger viewpoint on the social issues that matter most to them. Employees whose employer has taken a strong stance on current societal and cultural issues are twice as likely to report high job satisfaction.

One year ago, COVID-19 was declared a global health emergency, impacting all sectors virtually overnight. With the pandemic hitting this benchmark, Forrester analysts are available for interviews to discuss how specific sectors have been impacted these past months worldwide, as well as what 2021 will look like as we keep adjusting to this “new normal.”

Only 23% of B2B sales reps believe they are equally effective selling virtually as they are in a live, onsite setting, according to Gartner, Inc. However, Gartner’s survey showed that 58% of sales reps also report they have dedicated coaching sessions with their sales managers on effective virtual selling.

A global Gartner, Inc. survey found that 87% of respondents plan investments in supply chain resiliency within the next two years. The survey, conducted from September 2020 through November 2020, showed that even more supply chain professionals (89%) want to invest in agility (see Figure 1).

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the shortage of intensivists exposed the dire need for virtual critical care solutions that can cater to large patient populations remotely. The virtual critical care solutions market is estimated to generate revenue of $1.5 billion by 2025 from $818 million in 2020.

User interface (UI) technologies have moved beyond simply representing machines to users to enabling sophisticated and personalized interaction. Their use has accelerated in healthcare, manufacturing, education, retail, and banking to simplify interactivity and improve engagement. The global AR/VR market is expected to reach $661.40 billion by 2025.

Employees who traditionally did not have many opportunities to WFH are now used to it, like it, and wish to continue in some capacity once the pandemic is over. This is in line with most service leaders who believe WFH is here to stay post-pandemic. 81% of service leaders believe between 30-80% of their workforce will primarily be working from home two years from now.