TBR’s Business Insights

Skills Shortage Will Challenge the Scaling of Sovereign AI in 2026

02.20.26

AI-related skills will remain scarce across both buyers and ecosystem partners as the rapid pace of innovation and the technical complexity required to enable sovereign AI continue to hinder adoption. These challenges, combined with a lack of clearly defined and compliant use cases among sovereign customers, gaps in sovereign cloud infrastructure availability and steep AI learning curve faced by ecosystem partners, will constrain meaningful investment and implementation of sovereign AI throughout 2026.

PaaS Revenue Will Outpace SaaS Revenue for Cloud Software Vendors

02.17.26

Enterprise customers are prioritizing the modernization of their existing SaaS estates rather than adding new applications, driven by market saturation, accumulated technical debt, and a growing imperative to become AI-ready. As IT buyers shift their focus toward modern platforms, traditional SaaS leaders should expect their PaaS segments to continue significantly outperforming their core SaaS businesses in revenue growth.

Dee Angela, Canva Pro

Alliances Will Extend Beyond Core Offerings as AI-driven Sales and Marketing Reshape Ecosystems

02.12.26

IT services companies have their limits, and clients have preferred technology vendors, leading IT services companies to look to alliances to drive new growth. We have seen this pattern before, but in 2026 we will see IT services companies extend those alliances into devices, connectivity and even silicon, requiring a multiparty alliance approach that will strain commercial models, sales strategies and alliance leaders across the ecosystem.

Consulting Will Rebound in 2026

02.10.26

After a period of relative softness, consulting revenues are expected to rebound to high-single- or low-double-digit growth as pervasive uncertainty pushes enterprises to seek external guidance. Demand will be particularly strong around risk mitigation, strategic planning and AI adoption, positioning forward-deployed engineers, supply chain management and people advisory services as leading revenue drivers in 2026.

Bad Debt Expenses Will Rise for CSPs in 2026

02.06.26

In a K-shaped economy that increasingly separates financial winners from losers, the majority of households and businesses on the lower arm of the “K” are under mounting financial strain and are finding it more difficult to pay their bills. As these economic pressures persist, communications service providers (CSPs) should expect bad debt expenses to continue rising, with the potential to meet, or even exceed, levels experienced during the Great Recession.

How Will Advanced AI Impact Pricing, Labor Practices and Client Expectations?

02.05.26

Advanced AI may be front and center in IT services strategy, but execution challenges remain a familiar story. Despite ongoing hype around unlocking new efficiencies and nonlinear growth, IT services firms continue to grapple with the reality of needing labor arbitrage in the short term and meeting client expectations.

Gustavo Quiroga Gaitan, Canva Pro

AI Alliances Will Increasingly Target OT

02.03.26

New and expanding partnerships are increasingly targeting the convergence of IT and OT, as system integrators (SIs) align with OEMs, manufacturing ISVs and silicon providers. This momentum is driven by the strong growth potential in high-tech manufacturing, where solutions that improve accuracy, efficiency and safety can be deployed on-site without reliance on rack-scale compute systems in neoclouds or Tier 1 clouds. As a result, while AI has long operated at the edge, these partnerships will accelerate both the sophistication of AI-driven use cases and the pace of solution framework development.

Agentic AI Adoption Is Pressuring Security Architectures to Converge

01.29.26

The emerging pattern of multicloud security consolidation has direct implications for both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft, as enterprises reassess detection pipelines, governance models and operating frameworks heading into 2026. Although AWS remains well positioned in analytics-heavy workloads, the company needs to reevaluate its long-established “building block” approach, especially as peers deliver more integrated platforms. For Microsoft, its strengths will continue to be with organizations where Microsoft 365 already anchors their identity and collaboration strategies.

Saitharn, Getty Images via Canva Pro

The U.S. doesn’t have a Spectrum Shortage — It has a Utilization Problem

01.13.26

The mobile industry continues to beat the drum for more spectrum, but it should instead focus on fully utilizing the spectrum already allocated. TBR notes there are vast tranches of spectrum in the U.S. market that are broadly underutilized, either for technical or economic reasons. And challenges will only worsen as the industry aims to bring upper midband frequencies into the fray, which have greater propagation challenges and are less suited for macro coverage.

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HCL Technologies’ reinforces technical and engineering roots with the addition of IBM Software products

12.18.18/by Kelly Lesiczka, Senior Analyst

HCLT’s acquisition provides entry into emerging areas Building off its long-standing partnership with IBM, on Dec. 6 HCL Technologies (HCLT) announced the acquisition of seven IBM Software products for $1.8 billion. The acquisition, which is expected to close in February 2019, includes IBM’s AppScan, BigFix, Notes/Domino, Connections, Digital Experience (DX), Unica and Commerce as well […]

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12.13.18/by John Caucis, Senior Analyst

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Cyber-sweet Carolina: Capgemini’s new SOC

12.10.18/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

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12.05.18/by admin

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When your car becomes your smartphone, who handles your cybersecurity risk?

12.04.18/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

In discussing EY’s recently released Global Information Security Survey with the firm’s Americas Cybersecurity leaders, TBR heard a compelling case for an industry-led approach to anticipating the future of cybersecurity and overall risk. The EY leaders noted the firm echoes its overall industry-led go-to-market approach in cybersecurity, adding that understanding security gaps to be addressed […]

What’s going on in Texas with Atos?

12.04.18/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

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Services Weekly Preview: December 3-7

12.03.18/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

As we wrap up the quarter, just a few key items are left including the four reports listed below, the Management Consulting Benchmark and predictions for 2019. Here’s what’s coming this week: Thursday: Our semiannual deep dive on DXC Technology’s healthcare IT services (HITS) practice includes our assessment that DXC’s long-awaited return to HITS growth […]

AWS shakes up the private cloud infrastructure market with Outposts

12.01.18/by admin

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Digital and Compaq: A cautionary tale for IBM and Red Hat

11.30.18/by admin

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Cognizant’s 3 new acquisitions enhance digital and global reach

11.28.18/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

Cognizant has made seven acquisitions since the beginning of 2017, adding between 2,200 and 2,300 employees and over $500 million in acquired revenue (by TBR estimates). The company’s acquisition spree continued in recent months with three additional purchases. In August Cognizant bought SaaSfocus, a Salesforce consultancy based in Noida, India, with operations in Delhi and […]

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