ISG Launches Comprehensive Analysis of Integrated Systems and GPUaaS Market Capabilities
Enterprises are aggressively transitioning from isolated artificial intelligence experiments to integrating AI deeply into their operational backbones. This pivot creates immediate pressure to build infrastructure foundations that are scalable, efficient, and economically viable for long-term growth. To guide this strategic transformation, Information Services Group (ISG) has launched a research study examining approximately 40 providers of AI-ready infrastructure solutions, including essential graphics processing unit (GPU) capacity.
The results will be published in the ISG Provider Lens® report, AI-ready Infrastructure Solutions, which is scheduled for release in July 2026. This comprehensive study will evaluate vendor capabilities regarding performance, ease of management, and the delivery of secure foundations for enterprise AI. Buyers will utilize this intelligence to audit current vendor relationships, while ISG advisors will leverage the data to recommend platforms that align with specific buy-side requirements.
Key Insights at a Glance
- Operational Transition: The market is shifting from general-purpose infrastructure to specialized solutions that enhance performance and efficiency.
- Dual Market Segmentation: Analysis is split between Integrated AI Infrastructure Systems and flexible GPU as a Service (GPUaaS) models.
- Strategic Balance: Buyers are prioritizing providers that offer architectural coherence, pricing transparency, and power efficiency.
- CX Validation: Evaluations will include customer experience data to measure actual enterprise satisfaction with provider services.
The Infrastructure Bottleneck
As organizations move beyond the proof-of-concept phase, the limitations of traditional hardware setups become glaringly apparent. The market is witnessing a distinct shift away from general-purpose infrastructure toward solutions explicitly engineered to enhance performance and ease of management. Relying on legacy frameworks for these intensive workloads is akin to constructing a skyscraper on a foundation designed for a single-story home; the underlying structure simply cannot support the scale of the ambition.
This misalignment forces enterprises to seek providers of integrated AI systems that simplify orchestration. There is a growing demand for consumption-based models that provide access to high-performance accelerators without requiring massive upfront investments. Consequently, the focus has moved to lifecycle management and the ability to support training, inference, and deployment at scale.
Navigating Market Complexity and Cost Pressures
The primary challenge for modern enterprises lies in balancing technical capability with fiscal responsibility. Heiko Henkes, managing director at ISG, notes that companies are under increasing pressure to balance performance with cost clarity, power consumption, and regulatory compliance. Providers that can offer clear architectural coherence play a critical role in helping enterprises align infrastructure selection with broader business strategies.
The risks associated with poor infrastructure selection include spiraling costs and lack of resilience. Organizations require partners that can demonstrate compliance and enterprise-grade security while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to evolving AI models. As this transition accelerates, how can organizations ensure their selected infrastructure delivers necessary resilience without sacrificing cost clarity?
Strategic Solutions: Integrated Systems and GPUaaS
To address these diverse needs, the ISG study classifies the market into two primary quadrants based on purchasing behavior. The first, Integrated AI Infrastructure Systems, evaluates platform originators that design and deliver proprietary, rack-scale systems. These providers hold system-level responsibility and are assessed on their ability to support model development and inference across diverse environments.
The second quadrant, GPU as a Service (GPUaaS), focuses on infrastructure providers delivering resources through flexible commercial models. These solutions are essential for data-intensive workloads where organizations prefer to avoid long-term capital commitments. ISG assesses these providers based on orchestration maturity, pricing transparency, and their ability to guarantee predictable performance for AI and machine learning workflows.
Future Outlook
Looking toward 2026, the global AI-ready infrastructure market will be defined by vendors that can substantiate their claims with tangible customer results. Authored by analyst Sonam Chawla, the upcoming report will incorporate expanded customer experience (CX) data to validate the actual performance of specific provider solutions. This data-driven approach ensures that as enterprises scale their AI operations, they can rely on infrastructure partners that are proven to be scalable, secure, and economically viable.
About ISG Provider Lens® Research
The ISG Provider Lens® Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG’s global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG’s enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please 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.
