Streaming service Apple Music will take up the mantle, although it can be argued it overtook iTunes as Apple’s primary music platform years ago, as consumption-based models began dominating the consumer market.

And now enterprises are demanding that same level of availability and consistency with the apps they use in their professional lives. Gone are the days of buying millions of dollars' worth of IT assets, sitting them in a spreadsheet and worrying about whether they're going to deliver some tangible value. Clients are demanding providers build the technology assets, make it available to them exactly when needed, charge only for what they've consumed and managed it for them.

2. Increasingly complex IT environments

You can't afford to fall behind in the enterprise technology space. There's pressure to innovate, and while keeping up with fast-paced digital advances. Implementing the latest technologies and platforms without proper consideration and integration into existing systems can spell disaster. It's not worth going alone.

Managed service providers are the ones doing the heavy lifting to reduce complexity across IT systems and tools. Cloud technologies and platforms are getting more complex to manage, especially when you're consuming from multiple IT environments dotted around the world. Several different third parties may need to be involved, creating unique hybrid infrastructures and resulting in complicated IT management. Without proper controls, IT teams will feel pain. That, and businesses may face gaping holes in IT security.

Typical feedback from CIOs is that they want employees to focus on solving business problems, not managing technology. Increasingly, businesses are handing over the challenging issues in their technology, infrastructure, and process space, so that they can spend time on their own innovation goals. Not only this, there's a rise in enterprises outsourcing the design and creation of their infrastructure environments, setting up long-term, scalable solutions.

3. The growth of 'everything' as a service

The last few years have shown that as consumers, we will gladly pay a price to make our lives easier. The same is true for enterprises. Businesses are getting more comfortable with managed services as the concept of 'everything as a service' takes hold.

There's a rising demand for managed service providers who can offer bundled services that not only address infrastructure and apps – but also tie it all together. It's no longer just about Infrastructure as a Service or Software as a Service, the bundled approach includes security, consulting and other services. More so, managed services with regional specializations and vertical knowledge offer market insights that help support future technology decisions.