Top 3 Predictions for Cloud Partnerships in 2022

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Cloud partnerships go from important to critical in 2022

Ecosystems will become even more tailored to the attributes of cloud in 2022

The shift to partner-led growth is not a new trend, but we expect it to be further legitimized in 2022. Growth from indirect, partner-led revenue streams have been outpacing direct go-to-market efforts for several years, but indirect revenue is reaching a new level of scale and significance in the market. TBR estimates indirect cloud revenue is approaching 25% of the total cloud market opportunity, which is a significant milestone. For reference, in traditional IT and software, indirect revenue represents somewhere between 30% and 40% of revenue streams. We expect the indirect portion of the cloud segment to surpass that level within five years, approaching half of the market opportunity within the next decade. For all cloud vendors, the combination of short-term growth and long-term scale makes partnerships an increasingly critical element of their business strategy.

Partner ecosystems have been a core part of the IT business model for decades, but the developments around cloud will be different for various reasons, primarily because the labor-based, logistical tasks of traditional IT are largely unnecessary in the cloud model. For cloud vendors and their partners to succeed in growing the cloud market, they both need to be focused on enabling business value for the end customer. Traditional custom development becomes cloud solution integration. Outsourcing and hosting are less valuable, while managed services are far more variable for cloud solutions. To capture this growing and sizable opportunity in 2022, we expect companies will adapt their partner business models and vendor program structures to align with vibrant cloud ecosystems.

2022 cloud partnerships predictions

  • Partners enable growth and stickiness
  • Value-add partners in software development and managed services become the focus in 2022
  • Partner activities will be more important that traditional designations

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Telecom Business Research’s 2022 Predictions is a special series examining market trends and business changes in key markets. Covered segments include cloud, telecom, devices, data center, and services & digital.

PwC’s The New Equation: Convening leadership to build trust and drive sustainable outcomes

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A strategy to replace Vision 2020 and underline everything with trust  

In October TBR met with PwC’s JC Lapierre, chief strategy and communications leader; Shannon Schuyler, chief purpose and inclusion officer leader; and Joe Atkinson, vice chair and chief products and technology officer. In a wide-ranging discussion that built on previous briefings and TBR’s continued analysis of PwC, TBR questioned the three specifically on The New Equation, PwC’s long-term global strategy announced earlier this year. Among the highlights:

  • PwC hopes that after it has fully executed against The New Equation people will consider the firm to be the most significant conveners of those who can lead and are leading to change.
  • The internal organizational changes for the U.S. firm that are necessary to implement The New Equation started years ago and will continue to be refined, but The New Equation does not merely equal organizational change.
  • The newly launched PwC Trust Leadership Institute may prove to be a significant differentiator at a time when the Big Four firms appear to be increasingly alike.
  • PwC’s approach to technology, even with the advent of PwC Products and tighter alliances with technology giants like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL), remains rooted in people and business challenges; technology alone cannot transform companies and drive sustainable outcomes.
  • Everything circles back to trust, the most raw and simple value driving PwC’s relationships and underpinning the firm’s purpose.

Chapters, playbooks and constructs: Physical images for The New Equation

Using a five-chapter book as a metaphor, PwC’s leaders said the firm’s new global strategy included choices around trust and sustained outcomes, investments to help the firm better serve clients, a rewiring of the organization and how PwC works to better serve its clients, enhancements to the firm’s people experience, and extensions into the larger community — essentially an explicit understanding of the obligations and responsibilities PwC takes on across its entire ecosystem.

Of these five “chapters,” PwC’s leaders explained that the third and fourth — how PwC works and the employee experience — shifted the most from pre-pandemic plans and idea to their current form in The New Equation strategy. In both areas, the realization that “taking care of people” had to be a fundamental aspect of the firm’s larger purpose became clearer when the pandemic focused attention on employee safety, health and well-being.

Top 3 Predictions for Telecom in 2022

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Telecom industry faces new challenges in the post-pandemic era

2022 will be a transition year for the telecom industry

After emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic relatively unscathed, the telecom industry is entering a new phase and faces a new set of challenges. These challenges include navigating a supply chain left in shambles due to the impact of the pandemic and, representing a separate concern, the inexorable rise and encroachment of hyperscalers in the telecom domain, which threatens to completely disrupt the status quo in the industry.​

Incumbent communication service providers (CSPs) and their vendors are navigating these issues, but there is an increased urgency to digitally transform and align with structural changes occurring in the industry, such as the pressure to work with hyperscalers on network transformation and business model co-creation in the cloud.​

2022 is poised to be a unique transition year for the telecom industry. While unprecedented government stimulus that originated in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to be pumped into the global economy, lifting all players in some way across the market landscape, CSPs and their vendors must transition to the fundamentally new network architecture, which is software-based, fully virtualized and cloud-centric. CSPs must also determine where they will play in the new value chains that are being created in the digital economy, most notably in hyperscalers’ marketplaces, and in conjunction with new players that are entering the scene in domains such as private networks and satellites.​

Meanwhile, supply chain challenges are expected to persist through 2022, with continuing semiconductor and component shortages as well as ongoing skilled labor deficiencies and shipping delays, all of which threaten to delay market development and hinder vendors’ ability to recognize revenue and pursue new growth opportunities. Inflation (potentially stagflation) and rising interest rates also pose risks, portending margin pressure and debt refinancing challenges.​

Taken together, these circumstances indicate 2022 will be an unusual year for the telecom industry. While government-induced stimulus will provide various benefits to players across the industry, giving off a sense that the industry is functioning normally and is healthy, an acceleration in competitive and technological changes poses a risk to the long-term performance of incumbents. Amid the uncertainty 2022 will bring, one thing is certain: Major changes are coming to the telecom industry in the post-pandemic world, and fast.

2022 telecom predictions

  • Supply-demand imbalance delays pace of 5G market development
  • Hyperscalers scale out edge cloud
  • Government becomes leader in 5G spend among nontelecom verticals

 

Download a free copy of TBR’s Top 3 Predictions for Telecom in 2022

Telecom Business Research’s 2022 Predictions is a special series examining market trends and business changes in key markets. Covered segments include cloud, telecom, devices, data center, and services & digital.

EY remakes the innovation space

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From process to people to place, EY has crafted something unique

Every consultancy has its own process for digital transformation: a mix of design thinking, agile methodologies and sprints, usually starting with a business problem and resulting in application of a new technology-enabled solution (i.e., the “digital” in digital transformation). And nearly every consultancy and IT services vendor brags of end-to-end capabilities, from identifying the business issues to implementing a solution. EY’s Innovation Hub at Nottingham Spirk, however, does something: It actually delivers on that promise.

EY and Nottingham Spirk’s immersive process (enabled by wavespace), honed pre-pandemic and deployed throughout with virtual sessions, unpacks clients’ most intractable business problems and identifies potential pathways to resolving those issues, taking into account change management, technology enhancements and business model implications. Where a wavespace team — or similar group at a peer’s innovation and transformation center — would then hand off the client for the next steps, including innovation around technology changes and minimum viable products, in Cleveland the EY wavespace team simply walks the client downstairs to the Innovation Hub, where the next steps in the process begin immediately. And when the client’s needs include any kind of physical construction or prototyping, the rest of the Nottingham Spirk facility comes into play.

Critically, EY and Nottingham Spirk include every human professional involved in the process at every point in the process. A Nottingham Spirk designer and a Microsoft-certified developer participate in the wavespace engagement at the start, and the wavespace consultants follow the client through their entire journey, bringing life to “end-to-end.” In TBR’s view, combining the innovation process with the technological and physical capabilities of EY and Nottingham Spirk and capturing everything — and everyone — under one roof portends a sea change in how innovation and transformation centers will be run going forward. 

While extending innovation from business challenge consulting sessions into implementation of technology and physical solutions requires a commitment from EY firm leadership and business model shift for EY, the physical space EY and Nottingham Spirk have created warrants attention as a blueprint for future center construction.

Nottingham Spirk contains a maker’s dream space, with the tools, equipment and supplies to craft and test virtually anything. The main floors boast product engineering labs and countless examples of previous work taken from idea to commercialization. Attached to Nottingham Spirk’s manufacturing innovation paradise, EY built an IT innovation hub, outfitted with the latest tools from partners like Microsoft, SAP, Nokia and PTC, and key contributors such as GE Digital, PROS, Simio, and Blue Yonder. On the second floor of the innovation hub, EY’s latest wavespace offers room for large discussions or more intimate problem-solving sessions. Literally atop a hill and graced with a belltower, the facility allows clients, partners and employees to feel adequately physically removed from day-to-day concerns and fully focused on innovation. A visit to the Cleveland facility reinforces TBR’s view that innovation and transformation centers benefit from being physically separated from the vendor’s home offices.

EY-Nottingham Spirk Innovation Hub: To mark the opening of its first Innovation Hub and latest wavespace location, as well as its partnership with Nottingham Spirk, EY hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and daylong event for local civic and business leaders, clients in the manufacturing space, and technology partners. TBR attended and spoke with EY leaders, attendees from EY’s technology partners, and multiple EY professionals, including Jerry Gootee, EY Global Advanced Manufacturing Leader (and EY-Nottingham Spirk Innovation Hub visionary); Greg Sarafin, EY Global Alliance and Ecosystem Leader; John Nottingham, Nottingham Spirk Co-Founder and Co-CEO; and Regan Grant, EY Global Advanced Manufacturing & Mobility Marketing Leader.

Humble, focused and ambitious: Infosys’ story in Europe sets the stage for sustainable growth

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Infosys’ localization initiative pays off as Europe-based clients opt-in for price-competitive services that are aligned with their overall vision

Hosted at Infosys’ Design and Innovation Studio in London, the Infosys Leadership Forum provided attendees with a glimpse into how Infosys is taking an active role in shaping “digital Europe” from both a skills and capabilities perspective.

While North America remains Infosys’ main hub in revenue-generating opportunities, comprising 61.9% of Infosys’ total sales in 3Q21, Europe’s performance over the past several quarters, including the signing of the largest deal in company history with Daimler AG, highlights Infosys’ relentless execution around the pillars of its Navigate Your Next strategy. Localization is fueling much of this success as more than 70% of Infosys’ talent in Europe are local hires.

Infosys’ Europe sales increased 22.8% year-to-year in 3Q21, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, a trend we believe will continue at least through the end of FY22 (March 31, 2022). Additionally, high-quality price-competitive proposals enabled by its large deals team and backed by a rightsized and right-skilled bench helped Infosys expand its share of large deals. Infosys has added two new clients within the $50-plus million category and five new clients within the $100-plus million category since 3Q20.

Infosys realizes the value of being local and continues to invest in regional resources and infrastructure, including the opening of a Cyber Defense Center in Romania and a Digital Innovation Studio in Germany as well as the acquisition of Czech-based ServiceNow shop GuideVision over the past couple of years. The company’s success in Europe is no surprise given regional clients have been warming up to outsourcing as they seek cost-efficient modernized IT infrastructures and business processes. Infosys’ ability to stay true to its core value proposition on the services supply side paired with its aforementioned investments in innovation, talent and portfolio offerings, including Infosys Cobalt, and ability to manage its partner ecosystem has set the stage for the company to expand regional market share.

Investments in environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives also help Infosys win regional clients’ mindshare as buyers increasingly seek external support to implement government-mandated decarbonization frameworks. As with any new technology and/or a framework, use cases provide invaluable benefit for all parties. According to Infosys the company became carbon neutral in 2020 — well ahead of many of its peers and partners — and we believe the company can use its own experience as a customer zero use case for enterprise buyers seeking to embark on their sustainability initiatives.

With Infosys already executing on its ESG 2030 vision centered on the theme of “Driving profit with purpose,” the company is also seeking to build trust in the circular economy by retuning its mindset and approach to balancing shareholder and stakeholder priorities, with the latter group increasingly challenging the status quo, compelling Infosys and its peers to pay closer attention to investing in portfolio, skills and partner offerings.

Daimler AG mega deal provides a use case around business transformation delivered at scale

Customer panels and use cases amplified Infosys’ value proposition during both the analyst and advisory meetings as well as the main parts of the leadership forum throughout the day. While this customer insight was relevant and connected to the theme of the event, a discussion around Infosys’ deal with Daimler AG stood out.

Infosys Leadership Forum Europe: Infosys held its first in-person forum after an almost two-year pause caused by the pandemic. The company also made the event available virtually, setting the stage for what might become the norm moving forward for such experiences. During the daylong event, thought leaders, government appointees, client executives, analysts and advisors listened to presentations, panel discussions and client stories centered on the theme Acceleration, Inclusion and Transformation. With ever-important topics around skills, digital transformation, sustainability and innovation, Infosys and participants had thought-provoking discussions punctuated by use cases and client stories that highlighted the company’s capabilities as well as its value proposition as being among the key players able to operate and execute in a post-pandemic world.

VMware’s Chapter 3 outline hinges on a more comprehensive portfolio and multicloud partnerships

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TBR perspective

With the looming separation from Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) and departure of long-trusted CEO Pat Gelsinger, 2021 has undoubtedly been a turbulent year for VMware (NYSE: VMW). Since effectively taking over as CEO on June 1, Raghu Raghuram has been tasked with executing on Gelsinger’s vision of bringing the same virtualization products trusted by enterprises for decades into the cloud era. As many legacy software companies can attest, capturing net-new business in a market crowding with ‘born-in-the-cloud’ startups is no easy feat; yet, as the company that brought virtualization technology into the mainstream and remains pervasive throughout enterprises today, VMware faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities.

Since starting with stand-alone vSphere license agreements then progressing into full Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) stack sales, VMware is now entering what Raghuram deems the company’s Chapter 3, the era of hybrid multicloud. Like the first two chapters, Chapter 3 will be defined by product innovation, but it will require a more nuanced partner strategy, leaning on value-added resellers and hyperscalers that will help bring VMware into the cloud. This is an area TBR expects VMware to execute on especially as it enters 2022 as a stand-alone company.

VMware unveils Cross-Cloud Services to drive multiproduct adoption and position as a SaaS company

At VMworld 2020 VMware was coming off a series of tuck-in acquisitions that provided the company additional value in areas like networking, security and modern applications. Evidenced by historic acquisitions, such as VeloCloud, and more recent purchases, including Pivotal, VMware has proven its ability to use acquired IP to quickly pivot and meet demand from customers’ IT operations and development teams. While Gelsinger’s departure and the company’s spinout could be playing a role in slowing acquisition activity, VMware also appears to be at a point where it has all the workings of a competitive portfolio and must now determine how to integrate and scale it. Marking a key step in this direction was the announcement of Cross-Cloud Services at VMworld 2021.

Cross-Cloud Services is a manifestation of the company’s five-pillar framework and brings application, cloud infrastructure, cloud management, security & networking and anywhere workspace & edge services into a single, unified platform that can be deployed in any IT environment. In addition to established offerings such as VMware Cloud solutions and vRealize for cloud management, VMware released new products, such as Tanzu Application Platform (TAP) and Project Arctic, which are also offered as part of the Cross-Cloud Services product family. More services are expected to be offered under the Cross-Cloud Services umbrella in the future to provide existing customers with more choices and the flexibility to deploy VMware services anywhere.

Like many market players defined as SaaS companies, such as ServiceNow and Salesforce, VMware recently has been emphasizing product bundles. For example, in 2Q21 VMware launched Anywhere Workspace, which brings endpoint management, security and networking capabilities into a single subscription through Workspace One, VMware Carbon Black Cloud and VMware Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), respectively. However, as a company born on premises, VMware is more closely aligned with vendors such as IBM and Microsoft, which are similarly looking to support customers’ hybrid cloud journeys but face pressure to appeal to customers outside their own install bases.

While VMware faces similar challenges, the pervasiveness of VMware — evidenced by roughly 80 million vSphere-based workloads currently in production — arguably puts the company under less pressure to look outside its customer base, at least in the near term, and focus on upselling cloud and application services to its loyal base of traditional virtualization customers. The release of Cross-Cloud Services indicates VMware will take a land-and-expand approach to increase annual contract value (ACV) and become perceived as a SaaS company.  

VMworld 2021: As the coronavirus delta variant continues to take its toll, VMware held its annual event virtually for the second consecutive year. While VMworld 2021 was unique largely because it was the first VMworld in nearly a decade without Pat Gelsinger as CEO, the feel of the event remained the same, offering various breakout sessions and independent talks from customers speaking to each of the five pillars that define VMware’s DT-enabling strategy. VMware also welcomed the CEOs of all major hyperscalers, further highlighting not only its commitment to partners but also to hybrid multicloud as the model that will shape enterprise IT throughout the next 20 years.

Global governments will drive 5G development through stimulus initiatives and preference for domestic suppliers

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Government stimulus will advance global 5G development; government support of domestic suppliers will aid smaller vendors

Unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus unleashed amid the COVID-19 pandemic will fund, both directly and indirectly, a large portion of the infrastructure cost for economic digitalization. As of August 2021, TBR estimates $3.5 trillion, or around 10% of global fiscal and monetary stimulus announced to date, will funnel into the ICT market over the next five years, a few hundred billion dollars of which is earmarked for 5G-related initiatives. communication service providers (CSPs) and their suppliers will be key beneficiaries of government stimulus, which will help CSPs ease their capex and opex burdens as they migrate to a 5G network architecture and will ensure they have the capital necessary to keep their businesses going and their debt obligations satisfied.

The rise in protectionism and government sponsorship of 5G initiatives, such as open RAN, presents opportunities for smaller RAN vendors to gain share versus incumbent OEMs. A growing number of countries aim to build domestic 5G solutions and ecosystems and are leveraging protectionist government policies and pressure on CSPs to do so, which is leading to a fracturing in the 5G market. These policies are designed to address national security concerns and to drive countries toward technological self-sufficiency and away from dependency on vendors domiciled in other countries. A prime example is the U.S. government’s strong backing of domestic open RAN vendors such as Altiostar, Mavenir and Parallel Wireless. Other countries that are pursuing similar nationalistic strategies include China, the U.K., the European Union, Japan, India, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Coopetition is increasing globally as CSPs collaborate to share 5G network resources 

CSPs are pooling network resources to ensure nationwide 5G coverage despite competitive implications. For instance, Dish Network’s new network agreement formed with AT&T will enable Dish to support its customers while it builds its own 5G network and will provide AT&T with at least $5 billion. However, the deal will likewise limit AT&T’s customer growth from relatively higher-value retail customers if Dish’s wireless business is successful in the long term.

Other global partnerships include China Mobile’s and China Broadcasting Network’s network sharing and construction agreement, South Korean operators partnering to share 5G network infrastructure in rural markets, and Russian operators agreeing to share equal access to 5G spectrum in the country.

Customer incentive to upgrade to 5G is gradually improving though monetization remains limited

Consumer adoption of 5G services is gradually increasing and subscribers are being incentivized by expanding 5G coverage availability, accelerating data speeds, aggressive 5G device promotions, and the introduction of lower-priced 5G handsets.

Monetization remains limited, however, especially in the business-to-business space due in part to the delay of 3GPP’s Release 17, which provides industry standards for key features such as network slicing. 5G is initially being monetized primarily by fixed wireless services and serving as an incentive for customers to migrate to more expensive service plans.

TBR’s 5G Telecom Market Forecast details 5G trends among the most influential market players, including both suppliers and operators. This research includes current-year market sizing and a five-year forecast by multiple 5G market segments and by geographies well as examines growth drivers, top trends and leading market players. TBR’s 5G Telecom Market Landscape includes key findings, market size, customer adoption, operator positioning and strategies, geographic adoption, vendor positioning and strategies, and acquisition and alliance strategies and opportunities.

Hyperscalers begin to shift capex from central cloud build-outs to edge cloud build-outs

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Hyperscalers’ focus is on creating value from distributed computing

Hyperscalers are at the cusp of scaling out their edge computing deployments as they focus on creating value from distributed computing, which is a key foundational aspect of their digital ecosystem initiatives. They must pivot from centralized data center build-outs to building out the edge to achieve the latency and quality of service that new network use cases will require.

TBR believes the world’s largest hyperscalers are all likely to extend their cloud footprints closer to endpoints through this decade and expects hyperscaler capex will shift significantly from central cloud to edge cloud over the next five years. The Big Nine hyperscalers will drive significant innovation in the edge space, contributing design references, technology standards, and best practices to facilitate ecosystem development.

Hyperscalers have been experimenting with ways to make it more economically feasible to deploy distributed edge network resources at scale. The commercial model will likely see hyperscalers partner with ecosystem stakeholders, such as tower companies and data center real estate investment trusts, to offset the financial burden of deploying, owning and operating edge compute environments. For example, a hyperscaler could partner with tower companies to site micro data centers at the base of cell sites and plug directly into the access and backhaul network.

Models such as this would help defray the cost and complexity of building and managing many sites. TBR also believes telco sites, such as central offices and aggregation hubs, are logical locations for edge compute resources. These facilities are usually strategically located, are owned and controlled by the operator, have access to power and cooling, have fiber readily available, offer secure access, and are ruggedized to withstand the elements.

Total CSP Edge Compute Spend 2020-2025E

Telcos are divesting their tower assets, which limits their opportunities and market leverage in the edge compute space; supply issues delay rollouts

Telcos relinquishing control over network sites opens door for hyperscalers

Hyperscalers are likely to continue their encroachment of network ownership as they build out their distributed computing platforms. Network access sites, particularly cell sites such as towers, are of unique strategic importance as hyperscalers aim to extend their platforms closer to data origination sources. The ultimate shift toward open virtual RAN and the radio intelligent controller will also spur significant innovation at the access layer of the network, which will prove to be an area of keen interest to hyperscalers that are looking at how to capitalize on new opportunities presented by edge computing, 5G and AI.

TBR believes it is highly likely that hyperscalers will become key customers of shared infrastructure owners, particularly towercos, during this decade as their reach extends beyond their central clouds.

Supply chain constraints will delay peak telecom edge compute spend growth rate to at least 2023

Delays in chipset availability — partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and partly due to geopolitical factors and technological complexity — will slow the pace at which the vendor ecosystem can meet customer demand for edge compute infrastructure through at least 1H22. Supply chains should be able to meet demand by 2H22, setting the stage for projected 66.7% year-to-year growth in the market in 2023.

Shipping constraints are another headwind to meeting demand. Even if products can be manufactured, there are chronic problems with exporting and importing those products and bringing them to customer sites. This too will push out build timelines.

TBR’s Telecom Edge Compute Market Forecast, which is global in scope, details edge compute spending trends among communication service providers, which include telecom operators, cable operators and hyperscalers. This research includes current-year market sizing and a five-year forecast by multiple edge compute market segments and geographies. TBR’s Telecom Edge Compute Market Landscape, also global in scope, deep dives into the edge compute-related initiatives of stakeholders in the telecom market, including telecom operators, cable operators, hyperscalers and vendors that supply the telecom market.

Junction accelerates Deals’ clients’ time to value and PwC’s shift to platforms

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PwC looks at the market and listens to customers to envision what comes next

TBR met with PwC’s Colin McIntyre in May to discuss PwC’s Deals practice, prompted in part by the changing market landscape as pandemic fears and headwinds in the U.S. and Europe appeared to be abating, accelerating interest in merger, acquisition and divestiture activities. McIntyre started the discussion by noting the firm views the emerging post-pandemic market as a key time to accelerate the digital transformation of its Deals practice in concert with changes happening across PwC’s enterprise clients. He noted that new drivers and trends in M&A include the nature of capital, geopolitical and regulatory changes, changing demographics, technology innovations and transformations, and shifting industry opportunities. In this volatile market, PwC sees opportunities to create value around strategic repositioning, performance improvement and asset optimization.

Beyond that fairly straightforward assessment, PwC formed its emerging views around the deals landscape through both in-depth “voice of the customer” research and the firm’s ongoing — and increasing frequency of — Deals engagements. Further, PwC has recognized that clients’ expectations around data sets have shifted from data as an underlying component to wanting insights and data-backed decision making much earlier in the deal’s process. Not data for data’s sake but, in McIntyre’s phrasing, “Take insight and data and be part of the journey … what does that data mean to the client.”

If post-pandemic realities have reordered what is important to customers in looking for acquisitions, PwC’s digitization of its Deals support process is certainly fortuitous. In TBR’s view, PwC’s re-evaluation of the post-pandemic deals market, with an emphasis on data and analysis and a recognition that uncertainty persists, reinforces the firm’s core offerings to help clients stabilize, reposition, acquire and reinvest. Not surprisingly, given the shifts within PwC that TBR has discussed in special reports over the past few years, those core offerings have been bolstered through a digital platform.

Harvesting data for deals, getting to value quickly and delivering differently

PwC describes the relatively new Junction platform as “the digital connectivity point for Deals, providing an enriched, web-based platform for our clients to engage with the team’s insights and analysis. For our people, it creates a digital link between execution and delivery, automating manual processes and streamlining how we ‘report.’” In McIntyre’s more colorful words, Junction is a cloud-based “harvesting machine” for helping clients generate insights and allows PwC to link and talk with clients about their key investment thesis, rather than just keeping the various commercial, compliance and risk pieces in separate silos. The ability to pull together data and insights across an organization’s entire market landscape allows for more collaborative and connected engagements.

As McIntyre explained, “Tax structures, supply chain, risk with controls and all these different pieces of the firm [can be brought] together in a way to work seamlessly. Starts the focus on client’s deal hypothesis, the value drivers, and brings the insights and analysis to support the client’s hypothesis.” He added that Junction allows “clients to comment on the insights and scenario plan and be more collaborative and interactive throughout the deal lifecycle.” In addition, for clients unprepared for a cloud-based and deeply digital experience, PwC tackles change management and training, including “giving the clients the coverage to think differently.” Junction, then, helps PwC focus on value levers and value creation. As McIntyre added, “Value is the currency people understand, as it either goes up or it goes down.”

Webscales are simultaneously moving into multiple trillion-dollar industries, including telecom

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Webscales need to enter and disrupt trillion-dollar industries to maintain growth trajectories and sustain stock valuations

Transportation (e.g., connected vehicles), logistics, financial services, healthcare, telecom and other sectors each represent at least a trillion dollars in economic value globally, and webscales are targeting each of these industries for disruption.

Webscales need to rapidly scale their presence in these industries to add billions of dollars in top-line revenue to their respective income statements each year to sustain their stock valuations.

Telecom is a unique market to disrupt because it represents around $2 trillion in current economic value and provides foundational infrastructure to drive disruptive initiatives across other industries. Intelligent connectivity transcends all industries in a digital economy and is the foundational medium for data transmission and the conveyance of cyber-physical exchange that fuels digital transformation. Moves by Microsoft to acquire Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch underscore the strategic imperative for webscales to disrupt the telecom sector.

Webscales will ensure the Fourth Industrial Revolution becomes a reality

The Big Nine webscales are investing over $300 billion annually collectively (R&D and capex), and this amount is growing rapidly, on world-changing endeavors, such as building virtual worlds, truly autonomous vehicles, conversational voice AI, quantum computers, and frictionless, intelligent and ubiquitous connectivity. These initiatives will push the rollout of ICT infrastructure at scale and get governments and businesses aligned to ensure they are digitally transforming.

Webscales are standardizing industrial digitalization to bring enterprises into their ecosystems, and over time the webscales will enhance and broaden the capabilities they offer to enterprises en route to full realization of Industry 4.0.

TBR believes the world’s largest webscales will likely own and control key platforms and ecosystems pertaining to the realization of Industry 4.0 and will garner an outsized portion of the value that is created from the digital economy.

The next major device category is AR/VR

AR/VR represents a relatively new, trillion-dollar market category that could eclipse the market impact smartphones have had on the global economy since the inception of the iPhone in 2007. Microsoft’s up to 10-year, $21.9 billion contract with the U.S. Army for HoloLens-based solutions exemplifies the potential of this market.

All of the Big Nine webscales are investing in AR and VR devices and/or applications as they aim to capitalize on this market.

As with the smartphone era, AR/VR will put enormous requirements on global networks as uptake of new devices occurs. Webscales are learning from prior issues and are actively exploring connectivity options to mitigate the high bandwidth/low latency requirements of AR/VR devices to ensure user experience is acceptable.

TBR has revamped its original Webscale ICT Market Landscape starting with the 1H21 publication. As part of this revamp, the report name has been changed to Webscale Digital Ecosystem Market Landscape. Though this report still covers the end-to-end digital ecosystem endeavors of the major webscales at a holistic level, the content of this report will focus on webscales’ disruption of the telecom industry. The 1H21 publication of the report specifically focuses on webscales’ disruption of the network intelligence-layer technologies domain. TBR’s next edition, expected to publish in January 2022, will focus on the connectivity infrastructure and connectivity business model disruption endeavors of the webscales and what this means for telcos and vendors.