Today, a lot of businesses are undergoing transformations, utilizing data insights and outsourcing models to optimize costs. While IT was a support function in the past, with current trending technologies, it has become critical for IT to assume a more front-end role.
It is a well-known fact that technology can transform, and revolutionize human life and the environment – but technology can only work when it can be applied on various fronts and for multiple uses. 2018 saw technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), and the Internet of Things (IoT) making contributions across various domains. Keeping these thoughts in perspective, let’s look at the top technology trends that have the power to transform technology, as well as the enterprise scene, in 2019. Benefiting all of us in the process.
ERP applications and technology – a move away from centralized monolith apps
In today’s centralized ERP monoliths, the systems of record and engagement are both centralized. The only optimization possible in such enterprises is by increasing automation, optimizing business processes by simplification, lean, six-sigma, and by outsourcing the process (BPO). The new system of economy will focus on shared optimization across enterprises as opposed to monoliths within enterprises. The new economy will be driven by technologies such as blockchain platforms, micro-services, containers, API economy, DevOps, and Cloud provisioning.
Business and Customer Impact: Faster product delivery; more accurate orders; answers and solutions on demand; improved customer service; lower costs.
IT Talent in the Enterprise Workforce
Generally, the average CIO tends to invest a lot in technology and talent thus costing their organizations dearly. Unconventional thinking, however, encourages corporate leaders to accept that they are carrying an extra 20% workforce, and try to align their business goals accordingly. They use unconventional methods to hire, manage and motivate teams of smart employees who can own things end-to-end. Appreciation of the right talent at the right time, helps to create a company DNA based on honesty and loyalty, which will deliver long-term benefits to the organization.
Intelligent Apps, hyper-converged infrastructure and AI
New age digital devices and technology provide the desired customer experience by leveraging next-gen intelligent applications that will act as an interface between the device and the user, helping to provide relevant inputs to the users of the application, in the required context. This will bring business benefits by ensuring enhanced consumer experience and higher ROI.
Business Impact: With automation, AI makes the applications more user-friendly and productive. Software-centric architecture is a much-needed phenomenon today, and with hyper-convergence of infrastructure, there will be a tight integration of computing, storage, networks, and virtualized resources
Smart Internet of Things (IoT)
Today, most organizations focus on trying to collect data. That said, just collecting and backing up data won’t suffice in the long run. What we need to do, unconventionally, is to try to back up the actual insights gained while collecting data from multiple touch points. Closely analysing and understanding these insights will help create enterprise-wide changes.
IoT has been creating an impact on various fronts and across different sectors including technology. While it is all about conceptualizing a connected world via various nodes, the idea is to make it much more secure, robust, and efficient in every way.
Business Impact: This year is going to be all about enhancing the IoT infrastructure and reinventing it to make it more feasible, applicable, accessible, and smarter for every possible use.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
Whether it’s Digital Transformation, or any kind of Digital Interface, at the core of everything should be a seamless customer experience. AR and VR will help technology-driven enterprises to improve top line growth, reduce lead time and costs for business by enabling virtual demos, while fostering ideas around devices, locations, space, planning and design.
Business Impact: Cost-effectiveness and innovation will continue to be key enablers by leveraging AR and VR instead of expensive setups.
Employee productivity using gamification
Organizations need to adopt automation practices that will lead to better productivity. Gamification is a step in the right direction since it will drive the optimum use of systems. making it fun for workers to adopt them.
Business Impact: This will enable a robust and requisite amount of data collection, at the right time, from the right source, for the right cost.
Data lakes and application of data insights
Most enterprises struggle with a common data definition and mastering data management. This hampers data reporting, analytics, and insights. If you ask the marketing department to define a customer, the definition will be totally different from the one obtained from a finance function that is doing forecasting, or from a sales department that is facing the customer.
It is also important to create a close loop enterprise to track the results of adopting a specific insight, and build capacity within the enterprise to change methods and means based on the insight.
Business Impact: Data definition, master entity management, data governance, data reporting, data analytics and insights are important to gain competitive advantages.
Blockchain
Blockchain is one of the most discussed technologies today. 2019 will see continuous growth in blockchain infrastructure thanks to the technology that underpins it. Widely known for being a secure transaction ledger and a shared database across distributed network of computers, blockchain seems to be a promising platform.
This unconventional process is not to replicate existing processes. Rather, instead of sharing the various steps in the process, customers and providers may straight away choose to share a ledger between them that would reduce effort, and also create a centralized environment of trust and reduced processes.
Business Impact: Blockchain facilitates valuable transactions with no third-party validation.
Public cloud
The year of working smarter is here and it is highly contextual and case-based whether to go with a public or private cloud. Enterprises will have to refer to new use cases to optimize back office infrastructure and productivity – in various areas of industry, business and technology.
Business Impact: Public cloud will be leveraged with various combinations for the cost-effectiveness and ease of use it offers its users.