Global Market for IT and Business Services Turns in Record 2021, Even as Pace Slows in Q4, ISG Index Finds - Seite 2

Business process outsourcing (BPO), meanwhile, turned in its second-best year ever, with ACV of $7.8 billion, up 31 percent, on a record 616 contracts, up 32 percent against 2020. Within BPO, engineering and R&D services shot up 170 percent over the prior year, to $1.8 billion.

Fourth-Quarter Results by Segment

The global XaaS market climbed 47 percent, to a record $14.3 billion, in the fourth quarter. IaaS rose 46 percent, to a record $10.7 billion, while SaaS jumped 50 percent, to a record $3.7 billion.

Managed services ACV advanced 13 percent, to $8.6 billion, on 533 contracts, both down from the prior quarter. There were 7 mega-deals (contracts with ACV of greater than $100 million) in the fourth quarter, the highest number since the third quarter of 2019. ITO was up 14 percent, to a record $6.75 billion, while BPO grew 8 percent, to $1.9 billion, but was off 21 percent from the prior quarter.

2022 Forecast

ISG is forecasting the global market for cloud-based XaaS (IaaS and SaaS) will grow 20 percent and the global market for managed services will advance 5.1 percent in 2022.

“Inflation and heightened regulatory pressures create a less-than-ideal environment for XaaS going forward, and that will lead to a series of fits and starts on a quarterly basis throughout 2022,” said Hall. “However, companies with secular growth themes and pricing power will continue to flourish and mitigate the effects of these macro forces. Expected growth is still high but will be at the lower end of the 20 percent to 25 percent range we have seen in recent years.”

Commenting on the market for managed services, Hall said: “We continue to see a solid pipeline of managed services deals, especially in digital transformation, cloud, and data and analytics. Clients across all industries are accelerating spending to remain competitive. While our forecast may seem conservative compared with the growth we saw in 2021, it is far higher than the 10-year average of 2 percent we saw during 2010 to 2020 period.”

About the ISG Index

The ISG Index is recognized as the authoritative source for marketplace intelligence on the global technology and business services industry. For 77 consecutive quarters, it has detailed the latest industry data and trends for financial analysts, enterprise buyers, software and service providers, law firms, universities and the media. In 2016, the ISG Index was expanded to include coverage of the fast-growing as-a-service market, measuring the significant impact cloud-based services are having on digital business transformation. ISG also provides ongoing analysis of automation and other digital technologies in its quarterly ISG Index presentations.