There are a multitude of reasons why an organization might outsource the analysis of data they have already collected. Companies frequently partner with third-party providers to drive the speed and sophistication of their analytics insights and to connect these insights to action. Amaresh Tripathy, global business leader of analytics at Genpact, said his company has seen a significant uptick in demand for analytics outsourcing in the wake of COVID-19 challenges. "Increasingly, we see such relationships become strategic, where partners provide insights and take part in enabling the action as a result of those insights with digital tools and change management activities," Tripathy said. This often works as a center of expertise model, where the partner brings together a cross-functional team that combines business and technical skills with industry accelerators.

In 2018, the world witnessed the continued development of technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality. As these tools become more accessible and widely used among both businesses and consumers, many tech industry experts are speculating about what the next "big thing" will be. Looking ahead to 2019, we asked a panel of Forbes Technology Council members for their take on upcoming trends in their field. From blockchain as a service to enterprise content management, here are their predictions about the next wave of breakout technologies. The blockchain is not as revolutionary as artificial intelligence (AI), or as intuitive and user-friendly as voice control, but it will transform the way we handle finance, real estate, internet of things (IoT), the supply chain of most industries and much more.

If you have had even a remote interest in following what went on in Austin last week, it's likely you will have come across that sentiment expressed somewhere. Even the SXSW organisers were, grudgingly, admitting that there was no new tech or app grabbing the headlines. In 2015, Meerkat stole the show, possibly forcing Twitter to accelerate the launch of Periscope, its own live-streaming video app. In 2009, there was Foursquare and SXSW 2007 saw the explosion of Twitter. Hiroshi Ishiguro brought his personal clone Geminoid android, while Hanson Robotics had their'Sophia' join the panel discussion on extreme robotics.