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While the net trend is toward service provider IT budgets increasing year to year in 2023, an unusually large segment of service providers expects decreases, driven largely by economic conditions. Those that are investing are motivated largely by the increasing cost of equipment and new staffing requirements, partly based on emerging technologies. Technology vendors are becoming more valuable to service providers, with that value driven in part by strategic input on service-provider offerings. Providers are seeking input from vendors, even as they position themselves as "trusted advisers" to customers, providing critical input on technology strategy and helping them adapt to new processes and practices, as specialists or generalists depending upon the provider.