Managed services are transforming the technology market, according to recent industry research projects.

A 2007 survey showed that more than 320 organizations reported spending nearly $244,000 on average for managed services last year, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association. The survey also found that organizations plan to increase managed services spending in the next year, particularly for security, storage, disaster recovery, and software as a service.

CompTIA announced some of the survey results this week and plans to release more research results at Breakaway, CompTIA's IT partnership and educational event at in Las Vegas, Nevada starting on July 31. CompTIA presentations will focus on best practices, go-to-market strategies, profits, and sustainable business models, for solution providers seeking to expand in managed services.

The alliance's fifth annual Convergent Technologies Benchmarking Research Study, focusing on the latest convergent technology trends among small and mid-sized businesses, will also be released. It will examine what's driving purchases and value propositions among solution consumers, as well as insight into which applications and capabilities companies want.

Convergence solutions, like voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), unified messaging, and Web conferencing are still gaining market share across industries and among businesses and organizations of all sizes, CompTIA said. Organizations are aggressively deploying convergence solutions, according to the alliance's research.

Almost a third of the more than 350 small and medium-sized businesses that CompTIA surveyed last fall reported plans to buy new phone systems or make significant new investment in their current phone systems in the next 12 months. Forecasts and projections from other industry sources indicate similar high levels of interest by large enterprises in VoIP and other convergence solutions, CompTIA said.