IT, AI & Telecommunications

SAN FRANCISCO – October 31, 2026 -- Combined data center Ethernet switch and NIC market revenue will double within five years to surpass $50 billion, according to Crehan Research's latest Data Center Networking Long-Range Forecast Reports.

Back-end AI Ethernet networking revenue to grow eight-fold

Generative AI is expected to be a major driver of the expansion. Crehan forecasts that back-end AI Ethernet networking alone will increase eight-fold and account for over one-third of total market revenue.

One-million-plus accelerator clusters drive investment plans

Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research, attributed the forecast to customer plans for significant investment, with numerous AI clusters of more than one million accelerators now on the horizon. Many additional customers are deploying small-size Ethernet clusters as AI extends across business functions, he said.

SAN FRANCISCO – October 31, 2026 -- Branded data center Ethernet switch revenue rose 7% year-over-year in calendar Q3 2024 to the highest quarterly level on record, according to Crehan Research. The result ends two consecutive quarters of decline.

800GbE deployments for AI clusters drive the rebound

A strong ramp of 800 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) data center switches was a key contributor to the growth. These switches provide the network fabric for AI compute clusters. Crehan Research expects 800GbE to see the fastest speed ramp ever recorded for data center Ethernet switches.

San Francisco – October 31, 2026 -- Merchant-built server-class Ethernet NIC revenue rose 40% year-over-year in calendar Q2 2024, reaching an annualized run-rate close to $5 billion, according to Crehan Research. The figures cover adapters, controllers and LOMs.

SmartNICs grow over 50% while mainstream NICs gain over 30%

Foundational/Performance Ethernet NIC revenue increased more than 30% year-over-year. DPU/IPU Ethernet SmartNIC revenue grew more than 50%. Crehan attributes the growth largely to numerous concurrent Ethernet speed and technology upgrades.

Crehan Research President Seamus Crehan said the market now supports almost three times as many Ethernet speeds as a decade ago, when there were three.

Windhof – October 31, 2026 -- Sword Group posted third-quarter 2026 revenue of €100.2 million, with organic growth of +16.6% at constant scope and exchange rates, and confirmed its full-year targets for organic growth and profitability. The figures are unaudited.

Q3 revenue rises 9.9% as acquisitions add 7.2 points

Q3 revenue rose from €91.2 million a year earlier, a consolidated increase of 9.9%. Sword reports +17.1% growth at constant scope and +16.6% at constant scope and exchange rates. Scope effects added 7.2 points, while currency movements subtracted 0.5 points.

The reported figures include CirrusHQ, consolidated since 1 May 2026. The organic calculation excludes CirrusHQ revenue in 2026 and Tipik revenue in 2025.

EMEA – October 31, 2026 -- Sword has won the 2026 Splunk EMEA Services Partner of the Year award, Splunk's regional recognition for a services partner that combines technical delivery with AI-focused customer outcomes.

Splunk executives and partner leaders selected Sword for the EMEA award

All recipients of the Splunk Regional Partner Awards were chosen by Splunk executives, theater leaders and the global partner organization. Splunk, a Cisco company, said the EMEA award goes to a partner that has shown innovation and resilience with Splunk technologies. Criteria include consultative guidance on complex customer challenges and a proven ability to penetrate new markets with a joint value proposition.

Windhof – October 31, 2026 -- A consortium led by Sword Services Greece has been ranked first for a four-year framework contract worth an estimated €93 million to develop and maintain the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES). The award came under the Dynamic Purchasing System of eu-LISA, the EU agency for large-scale IT systems.

Sword Services Greece leads Netcompany and Sopra Steria in the winning bid

The consortium combines Sword Services Greece with Netcompany and Sopra Steria. It will cover application design, development, testing and maintenance of the EES Core, Webservices, Shared Components and API/PNR elements, plus components linked to those applications.

Windhof – October 31, 2026 -- Sword Group has acquired CirrusHQ, an Edinburgh-based Amazon Web Services (AWS) Premier Consulting and Solution Provider partner that generates £6.0M in annual revenue at an EBIT margin of 12% or more.

CirrusHQ is consolidated in Sword's accounts from May 1, 2026

The Luxembourg-based group will include the Scottish company in its financial statements with effect from May 1, 2026. Sword budgets organic growth for CirrusHQ at 20% per year once the company is integrated into the group.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Only 21% of customer success (CS) leaders can tie AI to revenue outcomes, versus 57% of sales leaders, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study of 580 CS and revenue leaders.

Sales teams reach for AI first and measure it more consistently

Some 48% of sales teams turn to AI first when solving a problem, compared with 32% of CS teams. CS leaders also trail sales on measuring AI by function, including time saved and team efficiency.

Measurement is the widest gap: 63% of CS leaders have no consistent method to measure AI success, versus 20% of sales leaders.

Pressure to adopt AI reaches 91% of CS and support leaders

A recent Gartner survey cited in the study found 91% of customer success and support leaders are under pressure to implement AI. ChurnZero warns that this pressure can push teams to automate too many processes too quickly, without a strategy or a way to measure results.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Net revenue retention (NRR) in SaaS has not improved in three years, even though 81% of customer success (CS) leaders say AI cuts the time their teams spend on manual tasks, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study.

The survey polled almost 580 CS leaders. Respondents named logging tasks, summarizing leads and calls, and account research as the main workloads AI now handles. NRR remained flat from 2024 through 2026.

Teams with mature AI report higher retention: 64.6% versus 39.4%

AI maturity, not time savings, tracks with results. Among strategic, AI-driven teams, 64.6% reported NRR of 100% or higher. Among teams with underdeveloped AI, the share was 39.4%.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Sixty-five percent of strategic and AI-driven customer success teams report net revenue retention (NRR) of 100% or higher, versus 39% of the least mature AI teams, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study.

SaaS NRR stays flat from 2024 through 2026

ChurnZero polled nearly 600 customer success (CS) and revenue leaders. Reported NRR has not moved across the three-year period, while the 26-point gap between the most and least mature AI teams on the 100% threshold stands out.

ChurnZero notes that other factors may contribute to the gap, including stronger data, advanced products and services, or better-funded CS teams with more resources.