PrintIT issue48

Third only to the US and China If technology were a national economy, it would be the third largest behind the US and China, claims Apptio and Rubin Worldwide in their new report, The State of the Global Technology Economy . This values the technology economy at $6.3 trillion, putting it behind the GDPs of the US and China ($18.6 trillion and $11.2 trillion respectively) but ahead of those of Japan and Germany ($4.9 trillion and $3.2 trillion). Dr Rubin’s valuation is higher than that of other analysts, such as Gartner ($3.5 trillion), because it includes the cost of all labour needed to support business applications, infrastructure and development and not just the hardware and software. The report claims that the technology economy is currently growing 2.4 times faster than the global economy as a whole. http://apptio.com/ techeconreport Technology on the move More than half (51%) of businesses plan to increase the size of their field workforces within the next five years, according to a survey of IT professionals by Brother UK. More than one third (37%) say they are investing in mobile scanners and 19% in mobile printers for field workers. www.brother.co.uk/ fast-forward BULLETIN PRINT.IT 9 www.printitmag.co.uk No confidence in IoT security A massive majority of business organisations (96%) and consumers (90%) believe there is a need for government-mandated IoT security regulations. In a Gemalto survey, two thirds of respondents said they feared hackers taking control of their IoT device; 60% worried about their data being leaked; and 54% were concerned that hackers could access their personal information. The survey found that IoT device manufacturers and service providers in the UK spend just 9% of their total IoT budget on securing their devices and that only 52% of all data captured on devices in the UK is encrypted. Jason Hart, CTO, Data Protection at Gemalto, said: “It’s clear that both consumers and businesses have serious concerns around IoT security and little confidence that IoT service providers and device manufacturers will be able to protect IoT devices and, more importantly, the integrity of the data created, stored and transmitted by these devices. “With legislation like GDPR showing that governments are beginning to recognise the threats and long-lasting damage cyber-attacks can have on everyday lives, they now need to step up when it comes to IoT security. Until there is confidence in IoT amongst businesses and consumers, it won’t see mainstream adoption.” Amongst businesses surveyed, more than half favour regulation to make it clear who is responsible for securing IoT devices and data at each stage of its journey (61%) and what the implications of non- compliance might be (55%). www.gemalto.com Why technologydollarsmatter, andhow topperformers arespending them  2018 STATE OF THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY ECONOMY Jason Hart Subscription businesses grow nine times quicker Nearly all UK consumers are now part of the subscription economy thanks to an explosion in the number of businesses offering recurring services. A survey commissioned by Zuora, a SaaS provider of subscription order-to-cash solutions, shows that nine out of ten consumers now choose to subscribe to their favourite stores, brands and services instead of purchasing them on a ‘one-off’ basis – an increase of 11 percentage points on last year’s figure. According to the Zuora Subscription Economy Index, subscription businesses grow revenue nearly nine times faster than the S&P 500. John Phillips, Zuora’s VP EMEA, said: “The only way businesses can sustainably maintain relationships with consumers and grow is by moving away from their product-centric mentality and creating long-term brand affinity based around flexible subscription-based services.” www.zuora.com Printer companies HP and Epson have launched ink subscription services as a convenient and economical alternative to the ad hoc purchase of replacement cartridges