Looking for more insight into what clients may be thinking or doing? Here are four recent items that could lead you to more sales opportunities.

A DIGITAL HEADACHE FOR PROCUREMENT EXECS?

Can you help a company with its digital transformation? Chief procurement officers (CPOs) see a bigger role for themselves in digital innovation, according to a report from Deloitte. Ninety percent of global respondents to a Deloitte study of CPOs believe their industries will be disrupted by digital technology, but only 44 percent – slightly less than half – are ready for it. In North America, CPOs see procurement playing a larger role in delivering a digital strategy, with 81 percent of respondents indicating an increase in participation levels, the study found. Other findings? Sixty-five percent of global CPOs surveyed say analytics will have the most impact on the function in the next two years. And, CPOs report that the impact of automation and robotics on their function will steadily increase from 50 percent today to 88 percent in five years, and up to 93 percent by 2025.

READY, FIRE, AIM? HEALTHCARE, THE CLOUD AND SECURITY

Are your healthcare clients opening up more security vulnerabilities? Three of every five healthcare organizations in the U.S. are deploying to the cloud, big data, and Internet of Things or container environments without adequate data security controls, according to security vendor Thales. While federal regulations such as the HITECH Act's Electronic Patient Care Reporting (ePCR) requirements are driving healthcare organizations to digitize their data and creating efficiency, it comes at a price: individuals' healthcare data is exposed to more people, in more places and on more devices, including smartphones, laptops and, increasingly, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, according to a statement from Thales.

THE DEPTH OF MOBILITY

Do you provide security services to businesses with a growing number of mobile apps? Nearly 80 percent of companies around the world use more than 10 apps for business, according to MobileIron. The company released its latest Mobile Security and Risk Review report last week at the 2017 RSA Conference. "Apps are not only critical to business, but … employees around the world rely on these tools for parts of their jobs that were once relegated to the desktop, such as presentations and spreadsheets," said James Plouffe, lead security architect at MobileIron, in a statement.

STEADY GROWTH IN INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

Hybrid cloud and data analytics are seen as key drivers behind a 5.3 percent combined annual growth rate in the global IT infrastructure services market through 2020, according to technology research firm Technavio. The report cites technological advancements such as hybrid cloud and big data analytics as the drivers behind the forecast. Also, "growing demand from industries such as [banking and financial services.] retail, healthcare, telecommunications and IT, manufacturing, and research and consulting, will also drive the market,” said Angad Singh of Technavio, in a statement.