from the perspective of serving telecoms and it demands globally
David Pátek, Founder and CEO, Neeco
1. SD-WAN Solutions
SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide Area Network and is currently one of the biggest trends in the enterprise IT segment. SD-WAN in a nutshell, is a WAN version of software- -defined networking, a modern technology that decouples the management (‘control plane’) and data transmission (‘data plane’). As a result, IT networks can be configured and managed from central locations, leaving the edge devices performing better, simpler, and cost-efficiently.
The demand for SD-WAN is also creating a push as organiza- tions have a huge reliance on the work-from-home initiative, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and its consequences. To facilitate remote working, organizations are looking for new networking solutions for better agility, higher capacity, and lower costs. While telecom players face the daunting task of scaling their networks to unimaginable sizes, SD-WAN comes off as a promising solution.
Currently, the SD-WAN market is expected to grow from an actual USD 1.9 billion in 2020 to USD 8.4 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 30% every year, which represents a significant opportunity for not only the SD-WAN technology vendors but also for telecoms and system integrators that are able to incorporate SD-WAN as a service to their product portfolio.
2. Managed Services
Another huge trend today is Managed Services, also known at IT as a Service. As businesses rebuild in 2021, transformation and the ability to think differently are critical, and managed services are one of the leading initiatives to facilitate that. Managed services allow companies to source ICT equipment and solutions in a more modern and effective way compared to the traditional methods of owning and paying for the servi- ces. Instead, it allows utilizing of products in the form of servi- ces, while leaving the ownership to the 3rd party companies. The primary benefits of managed services are the flexibility and cost benefits allowing you to choose the timetable of payments that will best suit your needs. Knowing exactly what your company will pay for IT monthly, can easily and accura- tely forecast your company’s annual IT spending. Moreover, it also reduces the administrative overhead and risks associated with the ownership of the equipment.
With this inline, Neeco has benefited clients for years and has become one of the top global ICT service providers offering clients managed services contracts. The number of requests from our clients to learn more about our managed services offering has been rapidly increasing in the past years, and a large number of them have switched to this model to reap its varied benefits – from the increased efficiency and the cut costs to the simplified and more secure day-to-day, IT processes. The global pandemic only accelerated this shift, and some studies show that more than 38% of businesses outsourced at least half of their IT needs to managed service providers in 2021, a jump from 25% in 2020. Managed services share currently around 60% of Neeco’s overall revenues, and we expect it to reach 80% in the next 5 years.
3. Future-Ready Global IT Procurement Solutions
Last but not least, we see tremendous pressure on global organizations to create truly modern procurement solutions to overcome many of the significant operational and logistical challenges resulting from the pandemic, that minimize disruptions to standard IT commodity flows, and effectively manage the identified risks.
One of the key elements is to correctly structure local, regional, continental, and transcontinental sourcing as different types of global procurement solutions. Crucial to that is full supply chain visibility. That includes both digitization and better supply chain management that enable strategic collaboration, agility, and support for a variety of sales, distribution and supply channels across daily operations. As businesses are still working through pandemic levels, the growing uncertainty, complexity, and customer demands call for stronger supply chain architecture that empowers businesses to deliver real-time, reliable, cost-efficient, and more effective procurement visibility through pricing, planning, and execution. Another crucial element is smart inventory management. It enables to organize, manage, and control stock and its levels, minimizing the cost of holding the inventory while getting products into customers’ hands faster. At Neeco, we facilitate presumed rapid stock centres where we maintain adequate inventory levels, to avoid supply risks and make sure to deliver our services to the clients on time. Leveraging local and regional distribution centres to manage the demand helps to maintain the necessary infrastructure within the country to store, control and distribute products to customers without unnecessary delays.