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Google Cloud Next 2026: Building the Agentic Enterprise Through an Integrated Developer Platform

Jim Mercer — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Google Cloud Next 2026 marks a pivotal transition from generative AI experimentation to production-scale agentic systems. The event highlighted Google Cloud’s strategy to deliver a unified platform spanning infrastructure, data, security, and developer tooling, enabling enterprises to build, deploy, and govern autonomous agents at scale. Central to this vision is the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, which integrates development frameworks, runtime environments, governance controls, and optimization capabilities into a cohesive system. This IDC Link examines the key announcements and provides perspective on their implications for developers, DevOps, and platform engineering as we move toward the agent development lifecycle (ADLC).

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Point-of-Sale Software in Grocery and Food Store Retail 2026 Vendor Assessment

Filippo Battaini — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC MarketScape assesses the capabilities and strategies of enterprise point-of-sale (POS) software vendors with a significant presence in the worldwide grocery and food store retail segment. The evaluation assesses vendors against criteria spanning omni-channel strategy, innovation, delivery, global capabilities, loss prevention, multi-vertical support, and customer satisfaction. A key component of the evaluation is how well vendors are positioning their platforms as composable commerce foundations capable of supporting the rapidly evolving operational and customer experience demands of modern grocery retail.

"Grocery POS is no longer a checkout technology; it is the operational core of the modern store. The vendors that are pulling ahead have built open, composable platforms in which AI, loss prevention, payments, and food service capabilities converge on a shared foundation, giving retailers the freedom to build differentiated experiences without being constrained by their technology stack," said Filippo Battaini, research manager, IDC Retail Insights.

IDC PeerScape: Peer Insights for Accelerating AI-Driven Underwriting Transformation in Insurance — Part 2

Inci Kaya — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

To provide actionable insights, this document is presented in two parts. IDC PeerScape: Peer Insights for Accelerating AI-Driven Underwriting Transformation in Insurance (IDC #US53779826, March 2026) features four case studies, and this current IDC PeerScape covers three additional examples of underwriting transformation and automation across the industry.

"Insurers that leverage AI to automate specialty underwriting and endorsement processing are achieving measurable gains in speed, accuracy, and compliance. The shift from manual research to unified, data-enriched profiles empowers underwriters to make confident decisions and strengthens broker relationships. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies, explainable AI and robust audit trails will be key differentiators in the insurance landscape." — Inci Kaya, IDC research manager, Digital Strategies, Insurance Worldwide

IDC TechBrief: Stars and HEDIS Quality Measurement Technology Needs for Value-Based Healthcare

Jennifer Eaton — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC TechBrief examines the technology needs of health plans, payers, and provider organizations navigating the simultaneous restructuring of CMS Medicare Advantage Star Ratings and NCQA HEDIS quality measurement. This document provides insights into the underlying technology requirements, investment drivers, and critical risk and success factors most relevant to organizations managing Stars and HEDIS performance in the 2026–2030 time frame.

"The CY2027 Final Rule and NCQA's MY2026 HEDIS specifications are not incremental updates; they represent a structural reset of how Medicare quality is measured and rewarded. Plans that have managed Stars through administrative compliance and CAHPS survey optimization are entering an era where clinical outcomes, FHIR-native data infrastructure, and real-time care management are the determinants of financial performance. The technology investment window is open, but it is narrowing. Organizations that move now, building FHIR pipelines, procuring validated digital HEDIS engines, and redesigning quality programs around clinical outcomes, will establish durable competitive advantages that are difficult to replicate under deadline pressure," says Jennifer Eaton, research director, Value-Based Healthcare IT Transformation Strategies at IDC.

Japan IT Infrastructure Services Forecast by Service Type and Infrastructure Type, 2026–2030

Mimei Ito — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC presentation provides the market forecast for the Japan IT infrastructure services market as of February 2026.

The market size is broken down by customer type, service type, and infrastructure type, providing a quantitative market forecast through 2030 and analyzing the factors driving market expansion or contraction.

"Investment in IT infrastructure optimization and the expansion of AI infrastructure deployment will drive the growth of the IT infrastructure services market," says Mimei Ito, research manager for Software, Services, and IT Spending at IDC Japan.

This is the English translation of the Japanese document (IDC #JPJ53501326).

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Carbon Accounting and Management Applications 2026 Vendor Assessment

Amy Cravens — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study evaluates vendors in the rapidly evolving carbon management software market. Driven by regulatory mandates and stakeholder expectations, carbon management has become a core enterprise function, shifting from basic emissions reporting to integrated, decision-oriented platforms. The document highlights vendor strengths, challenges, and strategic differentiators, providing technology buyers with guidance on selecting solutions that align with compliance, operational integration, and decarbonization objectives.

"Carbon management is no longer a reporting exercise," said Amy Cravens, research manager, ESG and Sustainability Software at IDC. "It's the new foundation for enterprise strategy, risk, and value creation in a decarbonizing world."

Tech Buyer Survey Spotlight: From the Plant Floor Up — How Manufacturing Organizations Are Prioritizing Data for AI Readiness

Lorenzo Veronesi — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Survey Spotlight provides insight from the manufacturing sample of IDC’s Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey (FERS Survey) Wave 2, March 2026. This IDC Tech Buyer Survey Spotlight focuses on analyzing the importance of different data sources for Industrial AI.

The State of Open-Weight Models: January 2025–March 2026

Matthew Flug, Michele Rosen — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation analyzes 116 open‑weight AI models released between 2025 and early 2026 to help CIOs make pragmatic model selection and platform decisions. It shows that small and medium‑sized models drive most real‑world adoption, while reasoning‑enabled and mixture-of-experts‑based architectures dominate at scale. The findings highlight trade‑offs in terms of cost, performance, context length, and licensing.

Are You Using the Right XR Training for Work?

Ramon T. Llamas — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective examines the different types of XR training available on XR headsets. XR training has become one of the most popular use cases for XR in the workplace, providing workers with the information they need to complete a task. Training formats can vary in immersion (i.e., the degree to which a user is provided with virtual objects or placed into a virtual environment) and interaction (i.e., the degree to which a user is a passive consumer of or an active participant with the digital content) to address different training needs.

“XR training helps users develop the skills to complete a task,” said Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC’s XR Hardware and Interactive Software team. “By bringing information — including text, pictures, and videos — to the user’s eyes as they need it, workers can concentrate on the task at hand instead of looking to a manual or other resource. Just as there are different ways to build proficiency, there are different ways in which XR can help learners, whether it be with simple step-by-step instructions or a completely virtual environment to develop hands-on skills. Behind the scenes, AI can monitor progress and recommend next steps to take in their learning journey.”

IDC ProductScape: Worldwide Utilities Asset Performance Management, 2026

John Villali — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC ProductScape offers a comprehensive guide on the key functionalities within the worldwide utilities asset performance management space, featuring products from Emerson’s Aspen Technology, AVEVA, Baker Hughes, Bentley Systems, C3 AI, GE Vernova, Hitachi Energy, Honeywell, IBM, IFS, Octave (formerly Hexagon Asset Lifecycle Intelligence [ALI]), and SAP. The status of each functionality is categorized as fully supported, partially supported, partner provided, road map, or not supported, aiding technology purchasers in quickly identifying which vendors align with their changing requirements.