Looking ahead to the next four years for the Canadian IT market, research firm IDC Canada sees continued change as companies and users move to the third platform, based in cloud computing and mobility.
“The appetite for cloud, mobile technologies and the rapid growth of data and digital content continues unabated in the Canadian market. Third platform technologies are reshaping the market outlook for Canadian suppliers of information and communications technologies,” said Tony Olvet, group vice-president for research with IDC Canada. “Some vendors are already succeeding in the third platform era, while others are struggling to meet the rapidly shifting technology requirements of Canadian businesses and consumers.”
Drawn from new research released by IDC Canada, here are 10 predictions for how the Canadian IT sector may look in 2019, and beyond.
- Through 2019, the Canadian enterprise applications market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8 per cent, led by the collaborative applications category with a CAGR of 10.4 per cent.
- Canada’s application outsourcing market will be worth $2.5 billion, with a five-year CAGR of 2.5 per cent.
- Spending by Canadians on IT professional services will reach $8.7 billion by 2019, an increase of $1.1 billion from 2015 for a CAGR of 2.7 per cent.
- Canada’s consumer wireless, internet, and phone services market is projected to have a CAGR of 2.6 per cent, growing from $22 billion in 2014 to $25.1 billion in 2019. Internet services and wireless services revenue will lead the way.
- Driven by the growth of visualization and cloud computing, the Canadian server market is projected to decline by an average of 0.7 per cent through 2019.
- Growth in disk storage systems revenue will be modest in 2015, growing at 2.8 per cent to $782.1 per cent. The market is dominated by large organizations with over 1,000 employees, accounting for 39 per cent of spending in 2014.
- With a five-year CAGR of 4.1 per cent, demand for secure wireless data communications will be underscored with the Canadian networking equipment market growing to $2.7 billion in 2019.
- More sophisticated mobile devices with larger screens, and devices with 2-in-1 form factors, will help drive a 2.8 per cent CAGR for mobile phones and tablets in Canada.
- Canada’s infrastructure market – including discrete hosting, network and desktop outsourcing services, infrastructure as a service and multitower transactions — will grow by 4.1 per cent in 2015. Large-scale, multitower outsourcing will continue to lead the way with 60 per cent of spending.
- Consumer spending, IPTV growth and continued evolution to wireless will drive the Canadian telecom market, and account for 51.4 per cent of spending in 2019.