Swiss Firms Seek Innovative Ways to Control Rising IT Costs

Enterprises in Switzerland are looking to a mixture of private and hybrid data center solutions, many of them augmented by automation, to blunt the impact of rising operating costs, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lenstm Private/Hybrid Cloud ? Data Center Services report for Switzerland finds more and more companies in Switzerland are seeking to optimize their operating costs by adopting managed hosting services in combination with a public cloud infrastructure. As a result, despite a relatively low profit margin, the managed hosting business in Switzerland remains significant, the ISG report says.

"Some Swiss service providers are using automated IT functions to counter the cost pressure resulting from inflation and spiking energy prices due to the conflict in Ukraine," said Uwe Ladwig, managing director for ISG DACH. "Even so, they should still plan for renegotiations with their current clients."

Providers are taking two principal routes to achieving their automation goals. Some have partnered with independent software vendors (ISVs) to leverage their automation capabilities, while others have built those capabilities from the ground up, the ISG report says.

Automation capabilities can level the playing field between large, established service providers and smaller regional vendors, ISG says. According to the ISG report, many Swiss firms are turning to technologies from niche providers instead of opting for costly conversions. In the process, some larger, more established service providers are losing out, the report says.

Providers large and small are employing technologies such as AIOps and autonomous IT operations to offset rising employee salaries and inflation and to create an automated value chain, the ISG report says. Meanwhile, the proliferation of IoT technologies and 5G in Switzerland has increased demand for providers that can help clients build edge computing infrastructures, ISG says.

"Enterprises want applications that can be deployed easily and operated independently," said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. "Microservices and container management services are key for the fast and flexible deployment of edge computing infrastructures and applications."

The report also examines how increased energy costs and higher inflation have driven service providers to take further action to reduce emissions.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lenstm Private/Hybrid Cloud ? Data Center Services report for Switzerland evaluates the capabilities of 78 providers across five quadrants: Managed Services - Large Accounts, Managed Services - Midmarket, Managed Hosting - Large Accounts, Managed Hosting - Midmarket and Colocation Services.

The report names Swisscom as a Leader in all five quadrants, while Atos, Aveniq, Bechtle, ELCA/EveryWare, Kyndryl, MTF, ti&m and T-Systems are named as Leaders in two quadrants each. Accenture, Arvato Systems, Axians, BitHawk, Capgemini, Digital Realty (Interxion), Equinix, EveryWare, Green, Netcloud, NTS Workspace, NTT GDC, Stack Infrastructure, UMB and Wipro are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.

In addition, CANCOM and TCS are named as Rising Stars ? companies with a "promising portfolio" and "high future potential" by ISG's definition ? in one quadrant each.

Customized versions of the report are available from BitHawk, Green and JMC.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lenstm Private/Hybrid Cloud ? Data Center Services report for Switzerland is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lenstm Research

The ISG Provider Lenstm Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,600 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries?a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry's most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.