- 55%
- Accuracy
- 6 of 8
- Analyst ranking
- 4
- Predictions scored
- 4
- Still to fall due
Mostly right · 75%Cloud cost optimization and economics (FinOps) are expected to be customers' most sought-after cloud consulting services.
What happened. Cloud cost management stayed the top cloud challenge after Flexera's 2023 finding (82%), and FinOps services kept growing. No independent ranking of 2024 cloud consulting demand was found in this pass. This repeats AA-01 for a later year, and the trend held. The superlative ('most sought-after') is unproven, and the evidence predates the deadline year. Sources: flexera.com.
Source: 2024 Top 10 Channel Partner Predictions (Techaisle blog) · 2024 predictions list
Half right · 50%SMBs will increase their PC expenditures, focusing on AI PCs and driving a PC refresh cycle
What happened. IDC put 2024 PC shipments at 262.7 million, up only 1% on 2023. Canalys said 17% of 2024 PCs were AI-capable, over half of them Apple Macs. The commercial refresh was mainly tied to Windows 10 end of support in October 2025, not AI PCs. PC spending did edge back up in 2024, but AI PCs were a minority of shipments and did not drive the refresh, which was driven by Windows 10 end of support and arrived mostly in 2025. Sources: idc.com, notebookcheck.net.
Source: 2024 Top 10 SMB and Midmarket Predictions (Techaisle blog) · 2024 predictions list
Wrong · 0%Techaisle's PC market study forecasts SMBs worldwide are likely to purchase 104.5 million PCs in 2022, a growth of 3.4 percent from 2021
What happened. Gartner put 2022 worldwide PC shipments at 286.2 million, down 16.2% on 2021, the steepest fall it had recorded, and said enterprise demand fell from Q3 2022 as buyers delayed purchases. No independent SMB-only figure was found; the whole-market number is used as the proxy. He called growth of 3.4% (cut to 1.9% in June); the PC market fell by about 16% and business demand fell with it. Even allowing for SMBs holding up better than consumers, the direction was wrong. Sources: gartner.com, computerweekly.com.
Source: 2022 WW SMB PC market forecast to reach 104.5 million units (Techaisle blog)
Mostly right · 75%Cloud cost optimization and economics will be the top cloud consulting service demanded by customers
What happened. Flexera's 2023 State of the Cloud survey (fieldwork late 2022) found managing cloud spend was the top cloud challenge for 82% of respondents, overtaking security for the first time; cost optimisation was the top initiative for the seventh year running. No independent ranking of consulting services was found. Cost became customers' top cloud concern exactly as called, which drove FinOps demand. The precise claim (top consulting service) is measured only by proxy. Sources: flexera.com, infoworld.com.
Source: Top 10 Channel Predictions for 2022 (Techaisle blog) · annual predictions list for 2022
Still to fall due4 predictions
- Dec 2028
The "Zero-Touch MSP" Becomes Reality. ... AI handles 90% of all tickets, patches, and provisioning
The Channel · made Dec 2025 · source - Dec 2024
the global IT expenditure of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will escalate to a staggering US$1.35 trillion by 2024
Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Oct 2023 · source - Dec 2024
Worldwide spending on managed services by SMBs and midmarket firms is estimated to reach US$104B in 2024.
The Channel · made Jun 2023 · source - Dec 2025
By 2025, 43% of global SMB and midmarket IT spending will be in the cloud.
SaaS · made Jan 2022 · source