The global virtual IT lab software market is expected to grow from US$ 1,461.29 million in 2021 to US$ 3,174.88 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.7% from 2021 to 2028.

The growing use of cloud-based software is one of the major factors driving the virtual IT lab software market. With the digital transformation, the use of cloud-based platforms is increasing due to their simple deployment and reduced deployment time and cost. Moreover, the internet infrastructure has matured in developed countries and is flourishing in several developing countries, allowing end users to access the cloud-based platform. A few benefits of cloud-based virtual IT lab software are the secure hosting of critical data, improved security and scalability, and quick recovery of files. The backups are stored on a private or shared cloud host platform. Therefore, organizations can quickly recover several critical data. Also, with a stable internet connection, the data can be easily accessed anywhere via secure logins. Cloud-based virtual IT lab software also reduces repair and maintenance costs and enhances customer satisfaction. Therefore, due to the multiple benefits of cloud-based virtual IT lab software, there is an increase in the adoption of the software by large enterprises and small & medium enterprises (SMEs) for educational purposes, fueling the growth of the virtual IT lab software market.

The global spending on the information and communications technology (ICT) sector is rising continuously. As per the article published by the International Trade Administration, spending on information technology (IT) by the Indian government is expected to reach US$ 7.3 billion by 2021 from US$ 6.6 billion in 2020, and it would grow by 9.4% annually. According to the article published by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, in 2020, there were over 44,000 businesses in the Canadian ICT sector, and the majority (over 40,000) fell within the software and computer services segment. With the increasing spending on the ICT sector, especially on the software segment, the development of advanced technologies and the adoption of these technologies by businesses across the globe would grow in the coming years. There will be an increase in the need for advanced technologies/solutions from the demand and supply sides. Additionally, the increasing spending on new technologies would drive the overall ICT sector over the next decade as organizations move beyond prototyping into broader deployments of tools, such as virtual IT lab software. Therefore, it is expected to create lucrative opportunities for the virtual IT lab software market growth in the coming years.

The virtual IT lab software market constitutes prominent market players, such as Oracle Corporation; Amazon Web Services; CloudShare Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; APPSEMBLER; CBT NUGGETS; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (HPE); CISCO, INC.; Ready Tech; and Juniper Networks, Inc. These companies dominate the virtual IT lab software market through new product developments, acquisitions, and expansion strategies. In February 2022, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Ayar Labs announced strategic collaboration and investment to develop next-generation data center architectures and networking with optical I/O. Ayar Labs is a leader in chip-to-chip optical connectivity. HPE and Ayar Labs will be joining hands together to create a partnership on photonics research and commercial development to develop extensive AI and HPC Solutions. Together they will create an ecosystem of customer engagements and solution providers.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Virtual IT Lab Software Market

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies assumed virtual training to be the best choice. Additionally, investing in employee training extends an employee’s knowledge, creates more subject matter and in-house experts, reduces attrition rates & recruitment costs, and improves working productivity. Therefore, the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the virtual IT lab software market in 2020 was positive.

Similarly, in 2021 and 2022, the demand for virtual IT lab software increased, owing to the growing use of virtual sandbox testing. For instance, in February 2022, Google promised to design new tech for advertisers and users. The tech giant mentioned that while developing and testing new solutions that allow advertisers access to user data while stripping away identifiers to maintain privacy, they will continue to support existing ad platforms for at least two years. It is expected that the Privacy Sandbox will roll out for beta testing by the end of 2022. Thus, the growing use of sandboxing is supporting virtual IT lab software market growth.

Virtual IT Lab Software Market Insights

The increasing need for customized and scalable software is one of the major factors contributing to the growth of the global virtual IT lab software market. Companies sometimes use customized software to meet the consumer needs, such as rapid supply and deployment of business-related applications. The use of customized software saves time while maintaining a high level of business focus. Compared to the traditional software production life cycle, these platforms enable developers to construct customized software without coding or with minimal hand-coding, speeding up the development of high-quality software. Furthermore, the growing demand for various software applications to simplify and speed up business operations by adopting cloud-based solutions and IoT technologies is another important factor driving the virtual IT lab software market. Similarly, the global virtual IT lab software market is fuelled by increased demand for advanced technical apps to solve business challenges and improve work efficiency due to digitalization.