In May, advisory company Gartner predicted that global IT spending would decline by 8% in 2020. In October, Gartner revised its initial prediction, claiming that the fall would be only 5.4% compared to the $3.8 trillion spent on IT products and services in 2019.

In India, before the summer, industry experts predicted that most IT companies would see a drop in revenues ranging between 5-10%. As the main contributing factor for this trend, they noted lower tech spending due to the growing economic uncertainty. In July, India’s largest software company, Tata Consultancy, reported a 13.8% fall in profits year-on-year. Wipro’s total revenues fell by 5.3% over the previous quarter, and the company’s revenues from IT services dropped by 7.3%.

However, these numbers pale in comparison to the blows suffered by other industries in the country. Construction was down 50.3% in Q1 of 2020, while hospitality and manufacturing fell by 47% and 39.3%, respectively. All sectors still saw declines in revenues year-on-year but saw significant overall improvements in Q2, as compared to Q1.

Analysts believe that specific IT businesses should revive demand faster than others, and some may even show immunity to the pandemic. Those in the fin-tech and healthcare sectors should prove most resilient. There should also be opportunities for growth in the cloud and data services industries once things return to normal.

Online Blackjack is a Rare Success Story of 2020

While some IT sectors wonder if they will survive the events of 2020, and others are on the road to recovery, the online casino market’s worth will rise by $27 billion in the next three years. Playing games of chance via the internet is more popular than ever, and Indian players can enjoy the activity at offshore sites without fear of legal prosecution. One of the industry’s crucial drivers is the live casino segment, playing table classics against a live dealer. If players aren’t familiar with the rules of blackjack, these platforms feature dedicated guides. They allow players to enjoy the RNG (random number generator) versions of the games for fun before going up against a croupier.

UK iGaming giant Playtech founded the first live casino in 2003. Microgaming and NetEnt followed a few years after, but it wasn’t until Riga-based Evolution Gaming entered the mix that things took off. In 2020, slot provider Pragmatic Play join the ever-growing number of live table providers as this industry segment blows up in popularity. While table classics feature established rule-sets, providers are looking to innovate new games and capture younger demographics. Thus game show games are a hot trend that’s enticing players to join these platforms, as are live casino-specific bonuses.

Cloud Businesses Benefit From Remote Work

On account of stay-at-home recommendations and government-issued safety guidelines, most companies decided to shift their workforce from office to remote. Thus, almost every IT company where employees could fulfill their obligations remotely did so from home. The event caused a high demand for different kinds of cloud computing services. In December, Oracle Corp, the multination technology corporation, released its Q2 results, which showed that revenues for that period were up 2%, reaching $9.8 billion. Its cloud services and license support numbers were also up by 4%. TeamViewer, likely the most known remote management tool, reported a jump of 75% in first-quarter billings of 2020. Its second-quarter billings showed a growth of 45% year-over-year.
However, many believe that the big winner of 2020 was Zoom Video Communications, whose video conference software gained massive popularity this year. It reported a 169% growth in revenues compared to Q1 of 2019. Remote work also helped Microsoft soften the pandemic blow, as the tech juggernaut’s profits also went up. Its cloud-based team collaboration software Microsoft Teams has become Slack’s main competitor.