Market Research

Tuscaloosa – October 29, 2026 -- U.S. construction and agricultural equipment dealers face a shortage of 10,000 technicians per year, costing them $7 billion annually in lost business and hindered growth, according to a report by Randall Reilly in partnership with the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation.

Canadian dealers lose more than $800 million a year to a 1,200-technician gap

A companion report produced by Randall Reilly for the Canada Equipment Dealers Foundation and AED found Canadian ag and construction dealers are short more than 1,200 technicians each year. The gap costs them more than $800 million in lost revenue annually.

Majority of dealers cannot meet customer demand

Seventy-five percent of U.S. dealers and 80% of Canadian dealers rate their difficulty hiring technicians at 4 or higher on a 5-point scale. As a result, 80% of U.S. dealers and 78% of Canadian dealers say they cannot meet customer demand.

Munich – October 29, 2026 -- Only 41 percent of German business decision-makers rate their company as well or very well prepared for cyberattacks, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by electronica, the electronics trade fair.

Cybersecurity ranks first when respondents name their most urgent technology need, cited by 16 percent. Skilled staff and competencies for AI and digitalization follow at 15 percent, and modernization of IT and data infrastructure at 13 percent. The survey links the pressure to rising network threats, geopolitical tensions and new regulation such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), alongside the growing connectivity of production plants, vehicles and logistics systems.

Munich – October 29, 2026 -- Only 17 percent of German CFOs report measurable value from AI initiatives, while 70 percent expect measurable benefits within two years, according to Deloitte's latest CFO Survey. The poll covered more than 120 finance chiefs at large German companies between September 10 and October 2.

Fewer than half of CFOs can put a number on AI spending

Just 42 percent of respondents can currently quantify their AI expenditure. Companies that track costs spend about 0.5 percent of total costs on AI. They plan to double that share to 1 percent next year and hold it there long term.

Efficiency goals dominate, differentiation lags

Efficiency and cost reduction are the top objectives for 83 percent of CFOs. Strategic uses such as innovation or new business fields are tapped far less often. Only 10 percent of companies have exhausted AI's potential for competitive differentiation.

ARLINGTON, Va. – October 29, 2026 -- AWS Glue posted the highest Net Emotional Footprint (NEF) score, +94, among six vendors named champions in Infotech's 2026 Data Integration Emotional Footprint Report.

Six vendors score between +85 and +94 on user sentiment

Flowgear followed AWS Glue with +91 and was rated highly for transparency. Zapier scored +90 for enabling productivity, and Microsoft SQL Server scored +89 for reliability. Boomi recorded +86 for trustworthiness, and Azure Data Factory recorded +85 for friendly negotiations. AWS Glue was rated highly for being altruistic.

Düsseldorf – October 29, 2026 -- Landlords who have rented to the same tenants for at least 20 years collect an average net rent of €8.29 per square meter, against €16.20 on a new contract, roughly half. The figures come from the Vermieterspiegel 2026, published by property software provider immocloud with scientific support from EBS University for Business and Law. The study analyzed anonymized data from running leases in twelve large German cities.

Portals and rent indices miss the existing-lease gap

Property portals show only asking rents. The official rent index (Mietspiegel) covers only rents agreed or changed in the past six years. Neither source records what tenants in long-running contracts actually pay.

immocloud CEO Bastian Bauwens said many private landlords set rents without a reliable benchmark. He said the company can measure existing-stock rents because it manages more than 550,000 units.

Atlanta – October 29, 2026 -- Some 82% of respondents in a Geotab-commissioned survey said their organization's operating costs rose over the past 12 months, and fuel was the most frequently cited cause, named in 31% of responses. Endeavor Business Intelligence conducted the research for Geotab.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that on-highway diesel averaged $6.35 per gallon for the week of October 26, 71% higher than a year earlier. Fleets face pressure to optimize fuel use and to prevent fraudulent purchases to limit preventable losses.

Idling burns 0.95 gallons per driving day in Geotab's North American fleet data

A Geotab analysis of connected commercial vehicles across North America found an average idle time of 1 hour 25 minutes per driving day. That idling used 0.95 gallons of fuel. The highest-idling 10% of vehicles idled for more than three hours and used more than 2 gallons per driving day.

ATLANTA – October 29, 2026 -- One in four supply chain leaders wish they had chosen a different automation path, and 94% say switching providers would be prohibitively expensive, according to a survey of 250 North American decision-makers released by warehouse robotics provider Exotec. Most buyers are therefore locked into their chosen system for 10 to 15 years.

Larger companies report more underperformance, not less

Companies with more than $1 billion in revenue were more likely than smaller firms to say their most significant automation investment underperformed (21% vs. 13%). Exotec traces regret to three pre-implementation decisions: underestimating lifetime ownership cost, leaving accountability for issue resolution unclear, and automating before the operation was ready.

NEW YORK – October 29, 2026 -- Sales hiring through Multiplier grew 108% over the past year, more than double the platform's 53% overall hiring growth, according to the company's new Talent Trends data. The analysis covers more than 38,000 hires across 2,700+ companies.

Sales and support outgrow engineering, which remains the largest function

Engineering and data roles account for 25% of all hires through Multiplier, the largest single function. Continued volatility around H-1B visas has remained a driving force behind that demand. Customer support hiring grew 59%, also outpacing the 53% platform average.

Sales is now the top hiring function in several mature international markets: Australia (28%), Germany (26%) and the UK (22%).

Global – October 29, 2026 -- Some 88% of 350 telecom decision-makers surveyed plan to increase spending on satellite technologies over the next five years, according to research commissioned by ST Engineering iDirect, which is promoting hybrid architectures as the fastest route to 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) deployment.

Survey of 350 executives across seven markets shows broad satcom backing

The global survey covered mobile network operators, infrastructure providers and cloud service companies. Some 95% called satcom essential or important to seamless global connectivity, and 93% expect satellite to play a bigger role in their business.

Expanding coverage ranks high on the agenda: 22% named 5G expansion as their biggest technology focus for the next 12 months, and 19% already see 5G NTN as a future growth opportunity.

Global – October 29, 2026 -- Ninety-three percent of 350 senior telecom decision-makers surveyed globally by ST Engineering iDirect expect satellite to play a bigger role in their networks, and 88% plan to increase investment over the next five years.

Around 94% already classify satellite as essential or important to network strategy, and 85% highlight the importance of partnerships with satellite providers, according to the research cited by Shravan K Gaddam, VP Engineering in the company's CTO Office.

Operators want satellite to run inside the existing 5G core

Gaddam argues that operators do not want another network. They want 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTN) to reuse 5G core functions such as authentication, billing and policy control, and to deliver consistent service whether connectivity is terrestrial or satellite. Siloed systems with different operational models do not scale as networks grow more complex, he says.