Demand for cloud services and managed services both up by double-digits

Demand for IT and business services in the Americas region hit a new high in the second quarter, as companies continued to emphasize AI adoption and cost optimization, according to the latest state-of-the-industry report from Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm.

The Americas ISG Index™, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value (ACV) of $5 million or more, shows second-quarter ACV for the combined market—including both cloud-based as-a-service (XaaS) and managed services—reached a record $15.5 billion, up 26 percent, the region’s highest growth rate in three years. Sequentially, the Americas was up 6 percent from the first quarter.

Demand for both managed services and cloud services was strong. Managed services ACV rose 20 percent versus the prior year, to $5.9 billion, its best quarterly growth rate since the third quarter of 2023. The latest quarter marked the third straight quarter of managed services growth, a streak last seen in 2022. On the XaaS side, ACV reached $9.6 billion, up 29 percent year over year, as companies continue to invest in cloud services to advance their AI agendas.

A total of 392 managed services contracts were awarded in the second quarter, up 10 percent from the prior year. That total included five mega-deals (with ACV of at least $100 million), up from four last year and three in the first quarter. Significantly, the ACV of the five mega deals in Q2 was up 81 percent from the prior year, as companies ink larger deals in pursuit of lower costs. In addition, new-scope contract volume and ACV were both up more than 30 percent from a year ago, even as the volume and value of smaller deals, those under $10 million, were both down, reflecting a delay in discretionary projects.

By industry, several sectors grew by more than 50 percent, among them energy, with managed services ACV up 78 percent; manufacturing, up 69 percent, and travel, transportation and hospitality, up 68 percent. The region’s largest sector by ACV—banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI)—grew 20 percent, while the next largest industry, healthcare, rose 33 percent.

“The market acceleration in the Americas continues,” said Todd Lavieri, ISG vice chairman and president of ISG Americas and Asia Pacific. “Enterprises appear to be shrugging off macro uncertainty as they continue to invest in cloud services to power their AI ambitions and turn to managed services to optimize their costs and reinvest the savings in new initiatives.”

Results by Segment

Within managed services, IT outsourcing (ITO) rose 32 percent, to $4.6 billion of ACV, led by growth in application development and maintenance (ADM) services. ACV for business process outsourcing (BPO), meanwhile, declined by 20 percent, to $920 million, with weakness across most service areas. Engineering, research and development (ER&D) jumped 35 percent, to $326 million.

On the cloud side, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) ACV climbed 39 percent, to $7.2 billion, while software-as-a-service (SaaS) grew 7 percent, to $2.5 billion.

First-Half Results

The Americas’ combined market rose 22.5 percent year to date, to $30.1 billion.

Managed services ACV was up 11 percent, to $11.3 billion, on 783 contracts—including eight mega-deals, compared with six such deals last year. Within managed services, ITO was up 24 percent, to $8.8 billion, while BPO fell 29 percent, to $1.8 billion. Among industries, BFSI was up nearly 20 percent in the first half, contributing $550 million to the region’s total upside. ER&D, meanwhile, advanced 22 percent, to $758 million.

XaaS spending in the first half was up 31 percent, to $18.7 billion, with IaaS up 42 percent, to $13.8 billion, and SaaS up 7.5 percent, to $5.0 billion.

2025 Global Forecast

For the full year, ISG is maintaining its forecast of 1.3 percent revenue growth for managed services, reflecting a stabilizing tariff environment but also continued weakness in discretionary spending. At the same time, ISG is raising its previous growth forecast for cloud-based XaaS by 300 basis points, to 21 percent, based on continuing strong demand for AI-driven transformation.

About the ISG Index™

The ISG Index™ is recognized as the authoritative source for marketplace intelligence on the global technology and business services industry. For 91 consecutive quarters, it has detailed the latest industry data and trends for financial analysts, enterprise buyers, software and service providers, law firms, universities and the media.

The 2Q25 Global ISG Index results were presented during a webcast on July 10. To view a replay of the webcast and download presentation slides, visit this webpage.

About ISG

ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data, in-depth knowledge of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,600 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.

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The market acceleration in the Americas continues. Enterprises appear to be shrugging off macro uncertainty as they continue to invest in cloud services to power their AI ambitions and turn to managed services to optimize their costs.