GEC NEWS WIREOld habits die hard; so as the year on the calendar changes, it becomes kind of a ritual to analyze the present and try to predict the future. But then it would be lying to say that all the predictions are definitely going to come true. Enterprise Channels MEA is just making an attempt to bring to you the sentiments being echoed by leaders and analysts across the globe.
“The economy is a very sensitive organism.” ~Hjalmar Schacht
This quote of Schacht couldn’t be truer when one sits to dwell upon the current whirlwind in global economy. The jury is still indecisive regarding whether the economic growth in 2016 will be steady or there are fears of a possible recession striking again. The IMF expects the world overall to expand in 2016 by 3.6 percent inflation adjusted, up from previous year’s estimated 3.1 percent growth. But “a return to robust and synchronized global expansion remains elusive,” the IMF had said in its October 2015 outlook.
The growth of Chinese economy is expected to slow down to 6.3 percent down from 6.8 percent in 2015. China being a crucial market; its economic winds shall be sure to affect the emerging markets across the world. Talking of Europe, IMF predicts a moderate growth of 1.9 percent measured by GDP. The growth rate of North America might not be very different from the previous year. Interestingly, Asia is being considered the wild card for global economic outlook. As the figures show, the growth of economy might be slightly slower than the aforesaid figures given the pressure from Chinese economy and the extremely volatile oil prices; howsoever, the growth rate in 2016 might not differ a big deal from 2015.
According to The Economist, emerging markets are slowly losing their grip over the global GDP growth. Economics in the MENA region were dominated in 2015 by the changes in oil prices and the uncertain geopolitical scenario in several areas. Growth is expected to be 2.7% this year, which might be the weakest since the financial crisis in 2009. Mostly it’s being predicted that the oil prices are expected to remain low next year, thereby exerting a dip in the region’s economic growth, especially in the oil-export-driven countries. Moreover, oil-reliant economies will have to follow well-designed strategies to adjust the previous year’s budget deficits.
The possible reintegration of Iran into the global economy might indicate a remarkable increase in global oil supply and lower crude prices. Moreover, the lifting of the economic sanctions will increase Iran’s demand for goods and services hence creating a growth bed in the region for businesses.
In 2016, Qatar is expected to be the best performer in the MENA region, followed by Iran. Predictions suggest that Saudi Arabia will be the worst performer, followed by Algeria and then Kuwait. Among the other big economies in the region, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates will possibly grow the fastest, with an expected growth rate of 3.8% and 3.2%, respectively.
So, which regions in the MENA region are going to be most favorable for doing business? According to the Doing Business 2016 Fact Sheet of World Bank Group, economies in the Middle East and North Africa have an average ranking on the ease of doing business of 114. The United Arab Emirates has the region’s highest ranking (31), followed by Bahrain (65) and Qatar (68).
How will technologies shape up in the midst of the economic dynamics? In 2016, and over the next three to five years, IDC predicts that enterprises will “flip the switch,” committing to a massive new scale of DX and 3rd Platform adoption, to stake out leadership positions in the “DX economy.” According to IDC Chief Analyst Frank Gens, “We’ll see massive upshifts in commitment to DX initiatives, 3rd Platform IT, the cloud, coders, data pipelines, the Internet of Things, cognitive services, industry cloud platforms, and customer numbers and connections. Looked at holistically, the guidance we’ve shared provides a clear blueprint for enterprises looking to thrive and lead in the DX economy.”
According to Markets And Markets Research, System Integration services account for approximately 46% of the total professional IT services market in MEA region. Sectors such as transportation, power, water plants, and property constructions are the opportunity drivers for system integration vendors for projects such as ERP owing to the high investments aided by the government. MEA system integration services market is expected to grow from $6.30 billion in 2010 to $10.34 billion in 2016, registering a CAGR of 8.87% during 2011-2016.
“Technology is not only fueling major business transformation across industries, it’s also changing how technology enterprises sell their products and services, operate, and plan for future growth”, says Paul Sallomi, Global Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Industry leader, Deloitte. Enterprises are making plans for the next economy rising from today’s disruptive and unprecedented change. Technology businesses are beginning to think more strategically about modifying their business models to create new revenue opportunities. The market offering is rapidly changing from solutions to services based upon a pay-as-you-use model.
2015 saw several mergers and acquisitions and endless partnerships. Similar trend is expected in the year 2016 as well. Collaboration seems to be the magic potion to rapid revenue growths. To adapt to the rapidly evolving market dynamics, provide a complete offering to the customers, generating revenues faster and enhance the adoption of technologies, companies are partnering with other companies which can provide complementarity to their strengths so that together they come across as a preferred provider for the market. Another kind of partnerships are also surfacing wherein technology businesses are partnering with customers in their preferred verticals in order to gain a better understanding of that sector and its demands and challenges.
Technology trends which are going to dominate the market in the coming days include-
- Internet of Things is tending towards becoming Internet of Everything.
- Cloud computing will be adopted on a major scale.
- Cognitive Computing and Artificial Intelligence will gain prominence.
- Privacy might cease to be a reality.
- Cities will get smart; cars will get smarter.
- Chinese innovation is coming to the US market.
- Mobile payment systems will be strengthened by efficient security practices.
- Political cyber warfare will be emphasized on more strongly.
- Big data will become bigger.
- Enterprise drone management platforms will revolutionize logistics.
- Wearables will become a larger part of everyday life.
The pace of technological change shows no signs to slow down anytime soon. It is essential that the technology sector as a whole must strive to facilitate seamless integration and communication between products, solutions and platforms. Many more innovations are expected which will connect technology providers and end users even more closely and businesses will get smarter, better and more profitable.
