ChannelVision Magazine

A trend that’s slowly picking up speed in the modern workplace is the use of telepresence robot devices, according to a study by Wintergreen Research. The firm forecasts that by 2022, the telepresence robot device market is anticipated to reach $7 billion — up from $825 mil- lion in 2015. From DIY tablet- on-a-stick setups to high-end offerings from developers such as Double Robotics (pictured), such solutions are billed as another way to enable em- ployees to work from any location while also being virtually active in the cor- porate office. o IT organizations continue on a path of steady but modest growth in opera- tional budgets, while capital budgets and hiring are essentially flat, accord- ing to an annual study by Computer Economics. And these trends, said the research firm, are tangible evidence of the effects of cloud computing on cor- porate IT budgets. IT organizations have decreased capital spending from 24 percent of total IT spending in 2013 to 18 percent in 2017, show Computer Economics’ fig- ures. The main reason for the shift from capex to opex is that cloud infrastructure and software-as-a-service afford greater elasticity and do not require large capital investments to purchase computer hard- ware or software licenses. “Unless you are an IT equipment manufacturer, this is good news,” said David Wagner, vice president, research at Computer Economics. “The cloud transition is far from over, and we’re already seeing more efficient IT depart- ments, particularly on a cost-per-user basis, which is at a new low. Business applications and network infrastructure are the top areas of new IT spending while the data center, for the first time, is at the bottom. We take this as a sign the cloud transformation is continuing in ear- nest.” In terms of where IT spending is focused this year: the survey shows that IT executives are investing more of their budgets in business applications, net- working, security and end-user devices. “More evidence of this is the finding that data center spending is not much of a priority at all,” said CE researchers, “as IT departments shift some of their work- load off-premises and increase efficiency for what remains in the data center with virtualization and automation.” Telepresence Robots Survey Says: Cloud Better for IT Budgets Buyers Side www.netcarrier.com …Communications Simplified Enhanced Cloud Solutions netcarrier ™ telecom For over 20 years, NetCarrier continues to provide innovation solutions for businesses throughout the U.S. 855-NCLOUD4 Join NetCarrier’s Partner Event on October 10 th , in Philadelphia at the Museum of American Revolution. with Special Guest Verizon Partner Solutions Register at connect@netcarrier.com Come see us at Channel Partners Evolution Booth # 849 July - August, 2018 | Channel Vision 43