Logo
Become a Client

Resource Regions: Central and Eastern Europe

Cyber risk is no longer just a technical issue, it is a core business concern discussed at the highest levels of the organization. Across EMEA, boards are demanding clearer visibility into risk exposure, regulatory impact, and resilience. This blog explores the latest IDC insights on how CISOs can translate cyber risk into business language, align with board expectations, and strengthen decision-making in an increasingly complex threat and regulatory landscape.

How cyber risk became a board-level business risk

IDC research confirms that cyber risk has become a top board-level concern across EMEA and globally. Boards increasingly recognize that cyber risk is synonymous with business risk, prompting them to ask CISOs to translate the risk of cyber compromise into tangible business and compliance impacts.

As highlighted in IDC’s perspectives, board members are no longer satisfied with technical metrics alone they want to understand how cyber threats could affect organizational resilience, regulatory standing, and overall business continuity.

Cyber risk appetite vs. security investment: Key EMEA trends

Cybersecurity remains the primary barrier to CIO success in Europe, with 16–18% of organizations identifying it as their top challenge. Despite ongoing economic volatility, security budgets are generally protected, though not immune to cuts. IDC’s EMEA Security Tech and Strategies Survey reveals that 33% of financial services organizations kept their security budgets flat, 29% increased them by less than 10%, and 14% decreased them by more than 10%.

Boards are demanding greater clarity on risk acceptance, transfer, and mitigation strategies. A common pitfall is treating security metrics as mere program performance indicators rather than as expressions of risk and compliance management. Boards are now asking, “What is the risk cyber presents to the organization, and how well are we positioned to address it?”

CISO best practices for communicating cyber risk to the board

IDC recommends that CISOs translate cyber risk into financial terms, expressing exposure as realistic cost-of-breach scenarios rather than relying solely on severity labels. Structured exercises should identify which risks threaten financial stability and which are critical for certification or compliance. At the board level, metrics should focus on governance, risk, and compliance trends, answering questions such as: “What are our minimal viable operations? Are we cyber crisis ready? How resilient are we? How long will our business, systems, and production be offline in the event of a severe cyber compromise?”

A robust risk management framework can address 70% of board questions by identifying mission-essential assets, evaluating threats, monitoring controls, and clarifying risk ownership. While boards seek benchmarks and industry comparisons, they are cautioned against adopting a “do $1 more than our competitor” mentality.

IDC advocates for quarterly red teaming and realistic tabletop exercises to educate boards and executives, clarify escalation policies, and better identity and assess third party risk. Boards are also increasingly interested in the impact of AI and emerging technologies such as quantum key encryption and Model Context Protocol (MCP) deployment on organizational risk posture. CISOs should review use cases, implement human-in-the-loop controls, assess data security, and continuously audit AI assets.

Cyber risk and regulation in EMEA: Key insights for CISOs

Regulatory pressure is intensifying in Europe, with frameworks like NIS2, DORA, and the EU AI Act resulting in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) as the top security technology priority for large organizations. Over 40% of these organizations now place GRC at the forefront, with liability for infringements increasingly assigned to senior management.
In European financial services, cyber security for clients (59%) and internal cyber security (57%) are the primary drivers of risk management investment. But only 43% of CISOs in large UK enterprises report having monthly board engagement, while 48% engage on an ad-hoc basis. IDC recommends establishing regular, structured communication to align risk appetite and investment decisions.

Practical steps to improve cyber risk management and board engagement

To enhance board engagement and risk management, IDC advises quantifying risk in business terms using financial impact, loss scenarios, and regulatory exposure. Cyber risk management should be continuous, using process automation where possible.
Boards must align security investment with risk appetite, and balance resilience, compliance, and operational priorities. Regular, meaningful engagement beyond ad-hoc updates is essential, as is benchmarking against peers while avoiding herd mentality. Integrating GRC platforms to automate reporting, audit, and compliance can support board-level visibility and informed decision-making.

Key takeaways for CISOs and boards in 2026

IDC’s EMEA and worldwide research underscores that effective cyber risk assessment and CISO-board communication require translating technical risk into business impact, quantifying risk appetite, and aligning security investment with strategic objectives.
Boards seek clarity, context, and actionable insights not operational minutiae. CISOs must become influential partners, guiding risk acceptance, transfer, and mitigation in a language the board understands. As regulatory and threat landscapes evolve, disciplined, data-driven communication is essential for resilient, compliant, and secure organizations.

Join the conversation: Deep dive in our upcoming webinar

Want to go beyond the headlines and understand what these shifts mean for your organization? Join our upcoming IDC webinar on May 12 to hear directly from our analysts as they break down the latest EMEA cybersecurity trends, evolving board expectations, and what it takes to translate cyber risk into business impact. Gain practical insights, benchmark your approach, and learn how leading organizations are aligning security strategy with business priorities.

Register here!

Joel Stradling - Senior Research Director, European Security - IDC

As senior research director for IDC's European Security practice, Joel Stradling leads the content and analyst team for tracking the European security segment. His main focus areas include Zero Trust Network Architecture, Managed Security Services, and Cyber Risk and Resiliency. Stradling has 22 years of experience as an analyst of cyber security, and international managed enterprise network and IT services. He is a regular speaker at major industry conferences talking about security and privacy, Digital Trust and Managed Security Services in B2B enterprise services. Joel is a well-known and highly regarded expert in the industry, offering insight and advice to C-level executives on security technology competitive landscapes and evolving security market segments including: managed security services ZTNA, cloud security, risk and compliance, end point, identity and access management, IT/OT security, secure IoT and 5G, and secure operations.

David Clemente - Research Director, European Security - IDC

Dave Clemente is a Research Director in IDC's European Security practice, with a focus on security services (including managed services and professional services). He is a research professional with more than fifteen years of experience in cyber security, including in think tanks (Chatham House and the International Institute for Strategic Studies), professional services (PwC and Deloitte), and market analysis. Dave is a regular conference speaker and media contributor, and has authored numerous publications on topics including C-suite technology and security priorities, security policy and governance, risk management, and data protection.

What is really shaping IT investment across EMEA in 2026? 

Across EMEA, IT spending continues to grow, but the forces shaping that growth are becoming more complex. Geopolitical tensions, regulatory developments and economic uncertainty are increasing the pressure on organisations to prioritise resilience and operational stability, even as executive expectations around artificial intelligence continue to rise. Many enterprises are now moving beyond experimentation and beginning to explore how AI can be operationalised at scale. The question for 2026 is not simply whether AI investment will continue, but how organisations balance innovation ambitions with resilience priorities in a rapidly evolving market environment. 

Growth remains stable but increasingly concentrated 

IT spending across EMEA is expected to grow by 7% in 2026, driven primarily by the continued double‑digit expansion of the software market. While 2025 was marked by a surge in the Service Provider segment, 2026 shows a more balanced outlook, with both Enterprise and Service Provider spending following similar growth trajectories. The only exception is the Consumer market, which remains flat (Source: IDC Worldwide Black Book, March 2026). 

Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape continue to reshape investment priorities across EMEA. As explored in our recent analysis of how ongoing conflicts are stress-testing the digital economy, organisations are placing greater emphasis on resilience, operational continuity and regional autonomy in their technology strategies. IT spending is therefore not slowing, but becoming more deliberate and selective, with investment increasingly directed toward capabilities that strengthen stability and long-term adaptability in an uncertain global environment. 

Executive expectations are raising the bar 

At the same time, executive ambition around AI continues to intensify. IDC research indicates that 50 percent of CEOs believe AI will offer their organisation the opportunity to reinvent its business model within the next three to five years. 

This signals a shift in how AI is positioned within enterprise strategy. AI is no longer viewed primarily as a tool for experimentation or incremental efficiency gains. Instead, it is increasingly expected to deliver tangible transformation, automation and competitive differentiation. 

However, survey data also shows that some organisations are reassessing elements of their AI programmes. Concerns around return on investment, governance, data readiness and skills availability are influencing decision-making across the region. The result is a more demanding environment in which expectations are rising but scrutiny is increasing as well. 

From experimentation to operational AI 

Across EMEA, AI maturity is evolving. The early phase of generative AI experimentation is giving way to a stronger focus on operational deployment. 

Organisations are now moving beyond isolated pilots towards integrating AI capabilities into core workflows, enterprise applications and decision-making processes. This transition reflects a broader shift towards operational AI and the emergence of more agentic enterprise models. 

At the same time, scaling AI requires far more than access to models. Infrastructure readiness, data management capabilities, governance frameworks and organisational skills are becoming decisive factors in determining whether organisations can move from experimentation to sustained operational impact. 

Resilience, governance and execution will define the next phase 

The evolving EMEA technology landscape is therefore shaped by a combination of innovation pressure and structural constraints. Geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory requirements and resilience priorities are increasingly influencing technology investment decisions. 

For technology providers operating in the region, understanding these dynamics is critical. Growth opportunities remain significant, but they are tied more closely to execution readiness, operational maturity and the ability to support organisations as they scale AI responsibly. 

Join the conversation

In our upcoming webcast on April 28, IDC analysts Andrea Siviero, Stephen Minton, and team will explore what these shifts mean for the EMEA IT market in 2026, including: 

  • How geopolitical developments and resilience priorities are influencing IT investment across the region 
  • Where growth is concentrated across EMEA markets and industries 
  • How organisations are moving from AI experimentation to operational deployment 
  • What the rise of more agentic enterprise models means for enterprise technology environments 

Register for the webcast here.

Got a question? Drop it in here.

Andrea Siviero - Senior Research Director, MacroTech, Digital Business, and Future of Work - IDC

Analyst Profile
Andrea Siviero leads IDC's European Digital Business and Future of Work Research group. The group provides market research insights to foster a purposeful and fair adoption of technologies supporting digital societies, businesses and workforce and empower tech providers in strategic decision making, planning and go-to-market activities. Siviero also co-leads the IDC Worldwide MacroTech Research program, focused on the intertwined connection between the Economical and Digital worlds - analyzing the impact key MacroEconomic factors have on the digital landscape and viceversa, how technologies are impacting economies around the world.

In today’s technology market, certainty has become a luxury. AI adoption is accelerating, but unevenly. Partner ecosystems are fragmenting, consolidating, and recombining at speed. Go‑to‑market models are collapsing into customer‑led buying journeys, and leadership teams are being asked to make high‑stakes decisions with incomplete, fast‑aging information.

Broad market reports, benchmarks, and best practices retain significant intrinsic value as foundations for strategy. Yet decisions that are deeply contextual, ecosystem‑specific, and time‑sensitive often require additional layers of insight beyond these core inputs.

The reality is that strategy is no longer about understanding “the market” in the abstract. It is about understanding your market position, your partners, and your customers, right now. Increasingly, the most important questions leaders are asking sound like this:

  • How is AI changing buying behavior and economics in our customer base?
  • Which partners are actually driving growth, influence, and outcomes – and which no longer align with our direction?
  • How does our ecosystem strategy compare to competitors in EMEA, not just globally?
  • Where are customers genuinely willing to invest, and where are they experimenting, delaying, or pushing back?

These are not questions that generic insight can answer with confidence, because the answers depend on your installed base, your partner mix, your regional footprint, your commercial model, and your competitive posture. In short, strategy has become situational.

Faced with this uncertainty, many organizations default to gathering more data: more dashboards, more surveys, more internal analysis. But volume is rarely the issue. The real challenge is relevance. Internal data lacks external context. Global averages mask regional and sector nuance. Lagging indicators arrive after decisions have already been made. What leaders need instead is interpretation, synthesis, and external validation that is designed around the decisions they actually need to take.

This is why we see a growing shift toward custom insight. High‑performing organizations increasingly start with the decision, not the dataset. Whether the challenge is AI monetization, partner strategy, ecosystem prioritization, or route‑to‑market design, the work begins by asking what choice must be made in the next three to six months, and what evidence is required to make it with confidence. From there, insight is built backwards.

Critically, the most effective custom projects blend signals rather than relying on a single method. Partner surveys reveal capability gaps, investment priorities, and friction points across the ecosystem. Customer surveys surface willingness to pay, buying behavior, trust dynamics, and expectations around AI, services, and outcomes. Qualitative interviews add depth and context, while ecosystem and competitive analysis connects those findings to broader market forces. The value does not sit in any one input, but in how those inputs are connected and translated into strategic implications.

We consistently see customer and partner insight deliver the greatest impact when applied to a small number of high‑value areas:

  • AI and agentic AI strategy, including pricing, packaging, economics, and partner roles
  • Ecosystem and partner optimization, from role clarity to performance segmentation and investment focus
  • Go‑to‑market and route‑to‑market evolution, particularly in EMEA’s fragmented markets
  • Executive alignment, creating a shared, evidence‑based fact base for leadership teams
  • External storytelling, using proprietary insight to support thought leadership and market influence

This is where insight turns into action. In many engagements, the report itself is not the most important output. The real value is decision confidence: knowing that a strategic move is anchored in how customers and partners are actually behaving, not how we assume they are behaving.

There is also a powerful dual role at play. Custom insight supports internal strategy and decision‑making, but it can simultaneously fuel external influence. Proprietary findings can shape executive narratives, strengthen partner and customer communications, and differentiate a company’s point of view in an increasingly noisy market. When insight is designed with this dual purpose in mind, it becomes a strategic asset rather than a one‑off deliverable.

This matters now more than ever. Across EMEA, partner ecosystems are being reshaped by a set of interlocking forces: AI economics, consolidation, shifting alliance hierarchies, collapsing route‑to‑market models, sovereignty pressures, and the rise of in‑product and marketplace‑led buying. Many of these shifts are subtle in isolation but powerful in combination.

Understanding which are leading indicators, which are mid‑cycle effects, and which are lagging consequences requires more than surface‑level analysis. It requires insight grounded in real partner and customer evidence, interpreted through an ecosystem lens.

The bottom line is simple. In a market defined by AI acceleration, ecosystem complexity, and regional divergence, generic insight is no longer enough. Organizations that are pulling ahead are those that ask better questions, invest in insight tailored to their context, and use research as a decision tool rather than a reference document.

If these questions resonate, you’re not alone. Most technology leaders we work with are already grappling with how AI, ecosystem change, and buyer behavior are reshaping their growth models – and are looking for concrete, evidence‑based answers they can act on. Through bespoke research and advisory projects, we help clients translate partner and customer insight into tangible business benefits: sharper internal intelligence for decision‑making, clearer ecosystem strategy, and insight‑led assets that can be used confidently with partners and customers alike.

This perspective is also captured in our 15 Key Trends Shaping EMEA Partnering Ecosystems report, often used as a starting point for bespoke client work. Contact us to learn more about our ecosystem research, custom solutions and advisory portfolio.

IDC’s ecosystem lens

IDC’s ecosystem research focuses on value creation, margin capture, and strategic influence. We analyze how partners orchestrate outcomes, how they align with customer buying journeys, and how they evolve their business models to stay relevant. You can find more information here. 

If you have any further questions, drop them in the form here. 

Stuart Wilson - Senior Research Director, EMEA Partnering Ecosystems - IDC

Analyst Profile
Stuart Wilson is senior research director for IDC’s Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Partnering Ecosystems program. With over two decades of global experience, Stuart focuses on the rise of complex, connected ecosystems and how platform models are reshaping routes to market and partner engagement frameworks.
Key takeaways from IDC’s Telco Forum 2026 Barcelona

On March 1, 2026, IDC brought together senior telecom leaders, vendors, system integrators, cloud leaders, partners, and media in Barcelona to examine how the industry is evolving in an AI-driven world. The discussions reinforced a clear message: telecom transformation is no longer theoretical. It is structural, financial, operational and increasingly sovereign. Drawing on insights shared across the event; this blog captures the major themes shaping telecom strategy through 2030.

The four megatrends shaping telecoms through 2030

There are 4 compounding megatrends that have been reshaping the sector since 2022. Looking back, the telco industry has moved through a rapid succession of technological focal points: Network APIs as foundational enablers for exposing network capabilities; Generative AI as the entry point for process automation; and Agentic AI in 2025, which introduced autonomous decision-making into customer experience, network management, and enterprise solutions. In 2026, the critical new frontier for AI is inferencing, the shift from model training to real-time, distributed AI workload execution, and it is this transition that is forcing telcos to fundamentally rethink their infrastructure architecture and competitive positioning. Underpinning all of this are the four defining themes of 2026:

  • Structural transformation is intensifying. Business model reinvention is not new for telcos, but the pace has accelerated. Four distinct strategic paths are now in play simultaneously: the TechCo transition (embracing network-as-a-platform models), Delayering (separating ServCo, NetCo, and InfraCo entities to optimize asset utilization), Consolidation, and a redefined form of Convergence, that focuses on bundling fixed-mobile-satellite services and designed to lock in ARPU and reduce churn.
  • Network investment is tapering. The cyclical CAPEX peak from 5G non-standalone rollout has passed in high and middle-income markets. IDC forecasts a 1.5% decline in global telecom CAPEX in 2026, bringing the total to $320 billion, with CAPEX intensity projected to fall from 22% in 2024 toward 18% by the end of the decade. The drivers are multiple: the one-off FTTP spending peak is fading, satellite partnerships are smoothing access and transport investment, and a structural CAPEX -to-OPEX shift is underway as telcos increasingly rely on ISVs and cloud providers for virtualization and AI. The freed-up cash is flowing into shareholder returns, strategic investments, and targeted digital infrastructure plays.
  • AI adoption is crystallizing around inferencing and sovereign AI. In 2025, the buzzword was agentic AI. In 2026, it is inferencing, and the telcos have a genuine structural advantage to capitalize on it. With distributed infrastructure, low latency, and deep regulatory trust in their home markets, telcos are positioned to become national AI factories, delivering sovereign AI solutions to governments, healthcare systems, and regional enterprises. IDC’s survey data shows that AI compute spending is approaching a pivot point in 2027, when inferencing will overtake training as the dominant driver of AI infrastructure investment. Telcos that expand their data center footprint and deepen relationships with co-location providers now are positioning ahead of that curve.
  • LEO satellite partnerships are becoming strategic. Starlink has established an early lead as the preferred satellite partner for telcos globally. Use cases vary significantly by geography – D2D and satellite broadband in the US and Canada’s large, underserved coverage areas, disaster recovery in Europe’s dense markets, and transport and backhaul across Asia Pacific and Australia. What is clear across all regions is that the satellite-terrestrial boundary is dissolving into a hybrid connectivity model, and the telcos that forge the right partnerships now will have a differentiated coverage story that competitors simply cannot replicate terrestrially.

Balance, pivot, revolt: the transformation imperative

Telcos’ internal transformation focus for 2026 can be framed with three sharp words: balance, pivot and revolt.

Balance is the defining tension of 2026. According to IDC’s C-Suite Tech Survey (September 2025, n=45 telecom respondents), 52% of telco C-suite leaders have AI implementation as a top three priority, but 50% simultaneously have technology modernization as a top three priority. These can be complementary investments as telcos cannot get full value from AI if they have not addressed legacy system complexity, data governance gaps, and architectural debt; but they also compete as telcos must decide between investing in new capabilities that promise significant gains vs. unglamourous IT modernization initiatives which have often been neglected for years. This is at a time with funds for transformations are finely balanced: Telecom CAPEX is declining, though IDC forecasts a modest 5.2% growth in spend on operations and monetization systems in 2026, reaching $54 billion, as telcos invest in IT systems to monetize the billions in CAPEX invested in rolling out new wireless and fixed networks. 5.2% growth is far from a blank cheque, every dollar deployed in IT must demonstrably either cut cost or support new revenue.

The autonomous networks aspiration illustrates this balancing act with particular clarity. TM Forum data from 2025 shows that only 4% of operators self-reported achieving Level 4 autonomous network status, yet 85% aspire to reach that level by 2030. That is an extraordinary gap. According to IDC’s EMEA Telco Transformation Survey (July 2025, n=150), the barriers are familiar: interoperability failures and the persistent lack of a single source of truth in network data. Notably, these are precisely the same barriers that have constrained AI adoption more broadly.

Pivot means making deliberate choices about where to invest and what to sequence. Data quality, accessibility, security are all in focus in 2026. This is represented in telcos making positive investments to overhaul their network inventory systems and updating their data governance policies and infrastructure from customer data down to the network. For autonomous networks, IDC’s research points to a more granular, domain-specific approach gaining traction: telcos are identifying specific use cases, service assurance and fault management are the top automation priorities for EMEA telcos in 2026, and targeting specific domains (IP access, RAN, and core) for Level 4 capability. This is far more tractable than a blanket push to full autonomy. On the people side, 97% of telcos recognize gaps in their talent base for developing and using AI at scale. Sixty-five percent are investing in AI-enabled learning tools, and 58% are expanding internal upskilling programs, but with only 42% currently offering skills training, there is still a meaningful gap between recognition and action.

Revolt is the urgent call to fix customer commercialization before AI finally demolishes the buying behaviour telcos have relied on for decades. For example, a UK mobile subscriber paying £15 per month for 10GB, regularly consuming just 6GB, with known Disney+ and international roaming usage, was on renewal offered to take a device upgrade, to increase their data rate to 30GB for £18 or unlimited data for £24. There was no demand signal for a device, no upsell of complementary services, and no personalization of any kind. The customer found a 40GB plan with the same mobile provider on a comparison site for £7.50, a 50% ARPU reduction and 400% value giveaway. Comparison sites have been established for well over a decade empowering consumer to find the best deal with some manual effort. Today’s consumers and enterprises, however, are already beginning to use AI to undertake similar comparisons with far less manual effort.

The point is not just that this particular offer was poorly designed. The point is that the entire commercial model relies on customer inertia, and AI is systematically dismantling that inertia. As AI agents increasingly make purchasing decisions on behalf of consumers and enterprises, operators that cannot demonstrate differentiated, personalized value in real time will find their customer bases eroding with a speed and scale unlike anything seen before.

5G: from product to platform, and the 6G horizon

The back half of the 5G lifecycle represents an inflection point, but only if operators change their frame of reference. Core mobile remains solid: IDC projects a 2.0% CAGR in global mobile connections through 2029. The world will exceed 9 billion mobile connections within the next two years, surpassing the current global population of 8.3 billion. In saturated markets, however, the growth lever has shifted decisively from subscriber acquisition to retention and value extraction — which brings the customer experience and commercialization issues directly back into focus.

The bigger opportunity lies in the shift from 5G as a product to 5G as a platform. For the first five years of 5G, operators sold speed, latency, and connection density. The next phase is less about branding a connection as 5G and more about 5G as the underlying infrastructure that enables XR, drones, V2X, private 5G, and RedCap solutions to be viable, scalable, and mobile. The challenge is that these use cases do not scale in the millions the way mobility or FWA does, they scale in tens of thousands. That requires a fundamentally different approach to network architecture, back-end systems, and, critically, business models.

Integration complexity remains the most significant brake on enterprise 5G adoption. 46% percent of enterprises cite it as the primary adoption barrier. The solution is less ego and more ecosystem: operators need to be willing to play a back-end role in partner-led solutions rather than insisting on front-facing primacy. 74% of enterprises express interest in network slicing; 49% plan to increase fixed wireless access investment; 58% say they are interested in satellite connectivity, but many still have significant misconceptions about what satellite-to-device actually delivers today. Expectation management is part of the product.

On 6G, If the industry maintains the ten-year generational cycle, 6G commercial launches would begin around 2029. Technical specifications are still in the study phase at 3GPP. The defining features of 6G, AI-native architecture enabling autonomous self-optimization, integrated sensing that turns every cell tower into a radar station, quantum-resistant security, and new terahertz spectrum, collectively point toward a network that moves AI out of the data center and into the physical world. The concept of “physical AI,” or what one operator CTO termed “kinetic tokens,” suggests that 6G will not merely support AI-driven applications but will provide the real-time connectivity substrate that makes physical AI, autonomous robots, connected vehicles, intelligent infrastructure, a viable commercial reality.

The enterprise connectivity opportunity: vast, varied, and underserved

Enterprise connectivity budgets are growing. IDC’s Future Enterprise Connectivity Infrastructure and Services Survey (August 2025, n=758) shows that 37.5% of enterprises increased their connectivity budget by more than 10% over the last two years. For 2026, that proportion rises to 44%. The primary drivers are cloud migration, SaaS usage, AI, video, IoT and device density are driving up bandwidth requirements. Four in ten enterprises saw bandwidth demands increase by more than 50% over the past year. Among organizations with over 10,000 employees, 17% saw their bandwidth demands double. Retail and financial services lead in cumulative bandwidth growth, but the opportunity is sector-wide: only 40-46% of enterprises are at an advanced or market-leading stage of connectivity maturity. The majority are still on the journey and actively looking for guidance.

The question of who captures this opportunity, however, is not straightforward for network service providers. When IDC asked enterprises which provider types they see as best and worst placed to address their future WAN requirements, cloud providers ranked first at 29%, followed by IT partners at 28%, with network service providers third at 23%. More pointedly, in the “worst placed” ranking, network service providers came second. The reasons cited: not treating customers well 35%, limited IT and network capability 28%, and difficult to work with 26%.

This is a reputational and structural challenge, not just a product one. Cloud providers are perceived as having broad network capability, even though they fundamentally depend on telco partners for last-mile delivery. IT partners are perceived as having deep industry expertise, expertise that telcos themselves possess but has not been to communicate or commercialize effectively. The gap is therefore not simply about capability. It is about perception. Perception shapes purchasing decisions, which in turn shape market reality.

Encouragingly, telcos’ “best placed” positioning has improved in recent years as operators have prioritized customer experience and simplified portfolios to deliver more flexible, scalable, and accessible services aligned with enterprise demand. Network as a Service, or NaaS, is central to this shift. NaaS is a cloud-based delivery model in which connectivity, bandwidth, security, and routing are provisioned and consumed on demand via APIs or self-service portals. It abstracts the underlying physical infrastructure and allows enterprises to scale, configure, and optimize network resources without directly owning or managing hardware. Enterprise sentiment toward NaaS remains mixed, 32% said they could make it easier or cheaper for a service provider to manage their networks and security, and 26% said they could simplify self-managed network operations. But 19% said they would not want to be locked into one service provider’s platform regardless of the benefits, and 10% remain unfamiliar with NaaS entirely. The education gap is significant and closing it will require more than technical refinement. It demands commercial clarity, stronger communication, and deeper customer relationships. Ultimately, this is not just a transformation in network architecture. It is a transformation in trust, positioning, and perceived value.

The bottom line

The IDC Telco Forum 2026 in Barcelona surfaced a market that is, in many respects, more coherent in its direction than at any point in recent years, but also more demanding of execution discipline than most operators have yet demonstrated.

The opportunity in AI inferencing and sovereign infrastructure is real and structurally aligned with telcos’ natural positioning. The satellite-terrestrial convergence is creating a coverage differentiation story that was not available five years ago. The enterprise connectivity market is expanding, budget-rich, and hungry for strategic guidance. And 5G, finally maturing beyond its early-product phase, is approaching its platform moment.

But against each of these opportunities sits a structural challenge that must be addressed in parallel: legacy system complexity is limiting AI value extraction; autonomous network ambitions are outpacing organizational readiness; commercial and CX systems are still leaving significant value on the table; and enterprise perception of telcos’ breadth and quality of service lags behind the reality.

The telcos that will win this decade are those that treat these not as separate workstreams but as a single integrated transformation, one where the investment in networks, IT modernization, talent, customer experience, and ecosystem partnerships compounds into a durable competitive position. The window is open. The question, as always, is execution.

For more information on IDC’s telecom research, including the newly launched Satellite and NTN research program, contact your IDC account manager or drop your details in here.

Download a copy of the State of the Telco Market ebook here.

Masarra Mohamad - Senior Research Analyst, European 5G Enterprise Strategies - IDC

Analyst Profile
Masarra Mohamed is a senior research analyst specializing in analysing the connectivity and communications services markets, focusing on the changing networking requirements, trends, and competitive dynamics that support enterprises in their digital transformation. She explores how enterprise network strategies evolve to enable cloud, AI, and security.