Today, ABI Research released the results of a network managed services market research study. This particular study predicts that the network managed services sector will see only a minor CAGR of 7% for the period between 2012 and 2018, which is a major slowdown from double-digit growth over the past 8 or so years.
Aditya Kaul, ABI Research Practice Director spoke about the findings in a press release today: “On one level we see a certain maturing of the market, as low-end field operations get commoditized and transactional cost based models give way to customer-centric managed services and strategic business transformation. However, it’s too early to say to what extent operators will bite this new shiny avatar of managed services. While operators face immense pressure to transform their business and not be relegated to dumb pipes by the OTTs, it remains to be seen if they will trust their managed service partners in helping with this transformation.”
ABI research analysts point to a number of factors behind this slower growth, which primarily include the increasing importance of profitability, as well as the rise of low-end managed services. According to ABI, this particular market segment saw its heyday in the years around 2005, and most organizations were focused on earning a good market share and revenue number and less focused on profitability.
