The global tech consulting market is projected to exceed $400 billion in revenue for the first time in 2026, driven by a surge in technology upgrades. According to Source Global Research, 84% of buyers are planning to upgrade their technology within the next year, and 81% intend to increase their reliance on consultants. This increase in demand is expected to boost market growth from 4% in 2024 to 6% in 2025, eventually reaching 7% in 2026. Nick Jotischky, head of market trends at Source, noted that businesses are prioritizing upgrades to their legacy infrastructure despite current market uncertainties. Additionally, sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and energy are anticipated to see significant consulting growth due to the critical nature of their data management. As companies prepare for increased consulting costs, two-thirds expect prices to rise, largely because of the strategic importance of digital transformation projects.
Around 500 million personal computers are delaying their upgrade to Windows 11, according to Dell’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey Clarke. During a recent earnings call, he noted that while these machines are capable of running the latest operating system, many users are choosing to stick with Windows 10, which has just reached its end of support. Clarke mentioned that there is a similar number of older machines, approximately 500 million, that cannot run Windows 11 due to tightened hardware requirements set by Microsoft, leaving behind many PCs sold over the past decade. This trend indicates a significant opportunity for Dell to guide customers towards the latest machines while anticipating a relatively flat PC market in the coming year.
Why do we care?
Here’s the tension we need to pay attention to: the market’s saying “we’re going to modernize everything,” and the endpoint data is saying “no we’re not.” Consulting spend is up, buyers want help, but half a billion PCs that could be on Windows 11 aren’t—and another half-billion can’t run it at all. That’s not a modernization wave. That’s technical debt piling up.
And that matters because you can’t talk AI, automation, or zero trust if your customers are running a mixed fleet of 7- to 10-year-old machines stuck on an unsupported OS. The industry wants transformation, but the foundation isn’t there. That’s your opening.
If you position Windows 11 migration as an OS upgrade, you’ll get pushback. If you position it as the prerequisite for every outcome customers say they want—security, compliance, automation—that’s where decisions start moving again. It’s not about the OS, it’s about readiness.
The other thing: consulting costs are going up. SMBs will feel that faster than enterprises. They’re going to be selective. So your job is to tie refresh cycles directly to business outcomes and make the spend predictable—phasing replacements, offering financing, and removing uncertainty.
If you can bridge the gap between what customers aspire to and what their infrastructure can actually support, there’s real opportunity. If you wait for them to ask for Windows 11, you’ll be waiting a long time.