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Advise and Protect: How Cybersecurity Consulting and Advisory Providers Can Close the CISO D&O Insurance Gap

Philip D. Harris, CISSP, CCSK, Craig Robinson, Cathy Huang — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective draws on IDC's 2026 Enterprise Security Platform Buying Preferences Survey (n = 886) to examine the gap between director and officer (D&O) liability coverage and the personal risk facing chief information security officers and frames it as a growth opportunity for cybersecurity consulting and advisory service providers and for technology vendors with advisory practices. It shows that the real opening is a confidence gap as much as a coverage gap, one that varies meaningfully by region, industry, and security budget; profiles the CISO-specific insurance products now entering the market; and offers a practical build sequence for a coverage gap advisory offering aimed at the board, not just the CISO. It also addresses the regulatory line between insurance advice and risk governance advice that providers need to observe when building this offering.

"Our survey found that 96% of security leaders are confident their D&O coverage would protect them personally, but only 38% actually have that protection in writing," says Philip D. Harris, research director, Governance, Risk, and Compliance Solutions at IDC. "That gap between confidence and coverage, not the insurance product itself, is the opening. The providers that already own the cyber-risk conversation with clients are best positioned to close it, if they build the offering before their competitors do."

IDC Market Glance: EMEA AI-Fueled Workspace, 3Q26

Leonardo Freitas, Gala Spasova — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Glance is a taxonomy document intended to visually depict a concise current-state view of the AI-fueled workplace ecosystem in EMEA. It maps the vendors across three layers: building management, workforce enablement, and services. IDC's take is that European specialists are redrawing the regional map, and that digital sovereignty and ownership changes now shape how buyers should evaluate vendors.

Managing Risk when Financing IT Assets Given AI Demand's Reshaping of Hardware Markets

Lara Greden — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective helps technology leaders and procurement professionals negotiate IT asset financing in a market where AI demand is making residual values and refresh timing less predictable, with guidance on pricing each asset class separately and maximizing flexibility in lease terms.

"With AI reshaping hardware supply and pricing, fair market value of used assets now varies distinctly by asset class," said Lara Greden, senior research director, Infrastructure Services, IDC. "Technology leaders who price each asset class on its own and use leasing contracts to build in flexibility will be better positioned to manage cost and risk as market conditions change."

Dreamforce 2026 Sees AIforce Unveiled as a Bold Opportunity for Both Salesforce and Its Partners

Douglas Hayward — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study shares the takeaways from Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce customer conference, held September 15–17 in San Francisco, California, United States. During the event, the company introduced AIforce, a live interface layer that enables users to access Customer 360 and Data 360 via Slack, Claude, Agentforce Coworker, and custom apps, signaling a shift toward intuitive, conversational enterprise software. Revised Agentforce pricing, deferred partner license charges, and the FDE Partner Network aim to deepen partner collaboration and reduce implementation risks, creating new opportunities for CX services providers to deliver value through data readiness, workflow design, and multisurface integration. “What if the future of enterprise software is not about logging in, but about intelligent conversational interfaces delivering business value from outside of the traditional app environment? That is the direction of travel for at least some users, and Salesforce’s services partners must plan accordingly,” says Douglas Hayward, senior research director for CX Strategies and Services at IDC.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for CPG Industries 2026 Vendor Assessment

Eric Thompson — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study for Manufacturing Insights uses the IDC MarketScape model to provide an assessment of 18 providers participating in the worldwide supply chain planning market for consumer packaged goods. The IDC MarketScape is an evaluation based on a comprehensive framework and a set of parameters that assesses providers relative to one another and to those factors expected to be most conducive to success in a given market during both the short term and the long term.

"Supply chain planning is a critical capability in a resilient consumer packaged goods supply chain. The ability to pair a promotion-aware demand forecast with a credible supply-side plan, while optimizing necessary inventory positions and respecting shelf life, and then agreeing to a consensus plan through S&OP are all critical components in managing an efficient and effective supply chain," says Eric Thompson, research director, Worldwide Supply Chain Planning at IDC.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Discrete Industries 2026 Vendor Assessment

Eric Thompson — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study uses the IDC MarketScape model to provide an assessment of providers participating in the worldwide supply chain planning market for discrete industries. The IDC MarketScape is an evaluation based on a comprehensive framework and a set of parameters that assesses providers relative to one another and to those factors expected to be most conducive to success in a given market during both the short term and the long term.

"Supply chain planning is a critical capability in a resilient discrete industry supply chain. The ability to plan demand and supply, while optimizing inventory positions, and then agreeing to a consensus plan through S&OP, are all critical components in managing an efficient and effective supply chain," says Eric Thompson, research director, Worldwide Supply Chain Planning at IDC.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Distribution Industries 2026 Vendor Assessment

Eric Thompson — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study uses the IDC MarketScape model to provide an assessment of providers participating in the worldwide supply chain planning market for distribution industries. This IDC MarketScape is an evaluation based on a comprehensive framework and a set of parameters that assesses providers relative to one another and to those factors expected to be most conducive to success in a given market during both the short term and the long term.

"Supply chain planning is a critical capability in a resilient distribution industry supply chain. Planning demand and supply, optimizing inventory positions, and then agreeing on a consensus plan through S&OP are all critical components of managing an efficient and effective supply chain," says Eric Thompson, research director, Global Supply Chain Planning at IDC.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Life Sciences Industries 2026 Vendor Assessment

Eric Thompson — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study uses the IDC MarketScape model to provide an assessment of providers participating in the worldwide supply chain planning market for life sciences industries. The IDC MarketScape is an evaluation based on a comprehensive framework and a set of parameters that assesses providers relative to one another and to those factors expected to be most conducive to success in a given market during both the short term and the long term.

"Supply chain planning is a critical capability in a resilient life sciences supply chain. The ability to pair an accurate demand forecast to a credible supply-side plan, while optimizing necessary inventory positions, and then agreeing to a consensus plan through S&OP, are all critical components in managing an efficient and effective supply chain," says Eric Thompson, research director, Worldwide Supply Chain Planning at IDC.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Vertical AI and Industry Cloud Professional Services 2026–2027 Vendor Assessment

Nadia Ballard — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study provides an assessment of select professional services vendors that offer vertical AI and industry cloud solutions and services. Using the IDC MarketScape model, we have based our evaluations on both quantitative metrics and qualitative feedback from the vendors' partners and clients to build profiles that summarize each vendor's industry-specific strategy, current offerings, strengths, and opportunities.

"The record 17 vendors included in this year's document speak to the growing interest in AI-enabled vertical solutions and platforms among buyers, and the ongoing shift in service providers' delivery models toward more asset-based and automation-driven engagements," said Nadia Ballard, research director for AI Verticalization and Industry Cloud Strategies. "This updated and expanded study offers an objective assessment tool for organizations looking to engage their professional services partners in AI-first modernization of their most mission-critical, industry-specific systems and processes."

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Warehouse Management for Retail 2026 Vendor Assessment

Stephanie Krishnan, Simon Ellis — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study evaluates software vendors serving retailers' warehouse management system (WMS) needs. This document covers vendor capabilities and strategies for inventory control, omni-channel and store-based fulfillment, peak-period order release, and AI-enabled operational decisioning. The study is based on customer interviews, vendor briefings, and standard IDC MarketScape methodology, and includes vendor profiles, strengths and challenges, and buyer guidance.

"Retailers are not replacing WMS platforms because they failed; they are replacing them because the fulfillment network got bigger than the system was built for. Nearly a third of retailers point to a lack of real-time, networkwide inventory visibility as their top omni-channel challenge, and that is exactly the gap a modern WMS has to close," says Stephanie Krishnan, associate vice president, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, IDC Insights.