Deloitte has published its its 2021 Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions, which looks at trends within the media tech industry.
According to the analysts, Cloud revenues will increase 30 per cent or more between 2021 and 2025 due to three key motivations: cost savings, driving innovation and the quest for agility.
Deloitte states that the pace of Cloud adoption is likely to deliver some key inflection points. For example, by 2021 the majority of enterprise workload globally is expected to be in the Cloud for the first time. It adds that as Cloud moves from roughly one-third to two thirds of enterprise workflow faster than expected, privacy and security aspects urgently need to be addressed.
Other key areas highlighted by the report include what it describes as the “intelligent edge”. This includes advanced wireless connectivity, compact processing power and AI. Deloitte predicts that in 2021, the global market for the intelligent edge will reach $12 billion, continuing a CAGR of around 35 per cent. That increase is being driven primarily by telecommunications companies and their expanding 5G networks, along with hyperscale Cloud providers.
“Many of our technology predictions emphasize a reliance on virtual innovation driven largely by the pandemic – remote working, digital transformation and Cloud migration have all accelerated faster than we expected,” said Paul Silverglate, vice chairman and US technology sector leader, Deloitte LLP. “But one prediction we’ll be keeping a very close eye on, driven primarily by the expansion of 5G networks and the rise of artificial intelligence, is growth of the intelligent edge. By bringing powerful computing capabilities closer to where data originates, the intelligent edge unlocks the potential for faster, less expensive and more secure operations in everything from autonomous vehicles to augmented reality to the Internet of Things—helping to realise the promise of Industry 4.0.”
Deloitte also highlights two major trends in sports — the increased monetisation of women’s sports and the use of digital to create a hyper-quantified athlete — will continue their upward trajectory.
Other key insights include
- The 8K wave begins: Sales of 8K TVs are likely to reach $5 billion in 2021, with equipment and services for producing 8K content generating hundreds of millions of dollars more.
- The 5G health myth gets busted: Concerns about 5G’s health risks have no fact base.
- Next-generation RANs accelerate: Open and virtualised radio access networks (RANs) give mobile network operators (MNOs) the potential to reduce costs and increase vendor choice as they roll out 5G.
The full list of Deloitte’s predictions can be found here.