Hello. This is Stanton Jones and Steve Hall with a special preview edition of the ISG Index Call next week on Thursday, April 10 at 9:00 AM ET. Make sure to reserve your spot here.
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1Q25 ISG Index Preview
It’s an understatement to say that a lot has changed over the past quarter: consumer confidence is down, business uncertainty is high, all while recent policy changes in the U.S. have made the effective tariff rate the highest it’s been in over 100 years.
How’s all this impacting the IT and business services industry? Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve published over the past quarter in response to these changes:
Cost optimization remains the number one priority as enterprises look to make significant changes to their cost structures in response to slowing demand. Read more.
Using AI to drive cost and productivity improvements also remains a top priority, but legacy applications, ineffective change management and a lack of AI skills are slowing results. Read more.
Activity around global capability centers continues to be strong and is rapidly becoming one of the primary ways enterprises can address their AI skills gap. Read more.
Banking continues to show signs of recovery in the U.S., which is critical as it contributes a significant share of all IT and business services contract value. Read more.
Tariffs are creating a lot of uncertainty – especially in manufacturing, CPG and retail – which is slowing decision-making, especially for discretionary projects. Read more.
Steve, Kathy, Namratha, Alex and I look forward to seeing you on the call next week. Make sure to reserve your spot here.
About the authors
Stanton Jones
Stanton helps enterprise technology leaders, IT service providers and buy- and sell-side professionals make sense of the global IT services sector. Stanton's weekly briefing - the Index Insider - is read by thousands of industry stakeholders each week.
Steve Hall
Steve is President, ISG EMEA, providing strategic insight and advice to help ISG clients in the region solve their most critical business challenges and adopt and optimize the technology and operating models they need to compete successfully.
Steve was named Chief AI Officer in 2024. He leads the firm’s work to help clients create an AI strategy, establish a business case for investment and select the right business partners. His industry-leading expertise in navigating the complexities of adopting technology at scale is helping clients drive value into every aspect of their operations.
Steve joined ISG in 2005 and has led ISG Digital Advisory Services, Emerging Technology Services, Global Product Engineering and Application Development & Maintenance. He is trained as a software engineer and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Regis University.
