5 IT Trends Every Business Manager Must Know

Technology is changing the way companies conduct their core businesses and these are the IT trends to follow.

By Anita Sambol

By Anita Sambol March 9, 2021

The IT industry is becoming more essential to businesses, industries and governments as the world goes digital. According to Statista, emerging tech will grow 104% between 2018 and 2023. Business leaders increasingly must stay on top of important IT trends, and weave that knowledge into strategies for the future.

Here are 5 IT trends you should follow and think about implementing in your business model in the next few years.

DevOps

DevOps comes from combining best development and operational practices to enable companies to deliver a competitive solution in a fast-paced environment.

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The DevOps approach helps IT and software developers to collaborate efficiently on applications and services at scale. It can help both teams use the right technologies that can adapt to changes and evolve more easily over time.

“In my mind, I think the academics will say DevOps is something truly transformative. DevOps is a part of something larger. It is a subset of dynamic learning organizations,” said Gene Kim, author, researcher, former CTO and founder of security company Tripwire, and a devoted advocate for IT best practices.

Organizations are looking for quick and agile solutions in the current market, which means the competition is at its peak. DevOps features a highly collaborative approach between different departments of your organization, including development, Q&A, security, admin and other departments.

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Implementing a DevOps approach can increase the speed of delivery of the product or service through automation, elimination of non-efficient processes, and superior communication and collaboration between departments.

Remote Work Technologies

Continual technology development allows remote working to evolve and thrive. The COVID-19 pandemic changed how some businesses use technology to keep employees and customers connected. Remote work experienced growth of roughly 44% over the last five years and the pandemic will likely boost that amount significantly.

“The future we envision for work allows for infinite virtual workspaces that will unlock social and economic opportunities for people regardless of barriers like physical location. It will take time to get there, and we continue to build toward this,” said Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook Reality Labs.

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Remote work technologies are on the rise. Virtual desktop technologies (VDI) and desktop as a service (DaaS) are allowing employers to give employees access tto essential applications and data on devices whether employees are in or outside the office These technologies are bringing efficiencies to IT departments, making it easier and quicker to keep employees up to date on the latest applications. 

Cloud-Native Approach

Cloud-native technologies are more attention in the IT world. Implementing a cloud-native approach – applications built in and run from cloud computing – and delivering products or services using this approach promises to bring agility, speed and ROI to IT departments. 

"Cloud native’ is more than ‘cloud only.’ It means bringing cloud-centric best practices to software and IT generally, whether that be in the cloud or on premises,” wrote Jason Bloomber in a Forbes article titled Think You're Cloud Native? Only If You're Doing This?

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Containers give developers the ability to create predictable environments in which to create, run and move applications separately from other critical applications. Different hardware can power these “cloud-native” apps, including on-premises data centers or public cloud services.

The global application container market was estimated at $698 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $8.20 billion by 2025, according to Allied Market Research.

Artificial Intelligence in Marketing

Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to make a real change in the business world, especially in marketing. Every business needs a marketing strategy which goal is to convert potential customers into returning buyers. Creating a digital marketing strategy requires a bunch of structured data that can be interpreted in a way that gives an idea for creating an actionable strategy. That's where AI comes in handy.

In its initial stages, multiple tools support processes of gathering and interpreting information, which helps tremendously in creating a winning marketing strategy. For instance, AI can compare data from previous ad campaigns, figure out why something isn't working as expected, and provide you with an action plan. Not to mention that the whole process often can be done in minutes.

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For instance, Adobe's Marketo is an excellent example of showing how AI can help attract more customers and optimize marketing efforts. It uses data from previous campaigns and automatically shares recommendations for improving specific parts of a campaign. AI can help surface valuable information based on comprehensive research in a matter of seconds.

Automation

AI is going to bring drastic changes in every industry. Automation is possible through AI, which gets more advanced with each iteration since it's continuously in a 'learning process'. 

"IT automation is slowly moving towards self-learning, which enables systems to test and monitor themselves, enhancing business processes and delivery.", said Kiran Chittury, CTO at Sungard Availability Service.

Imagine an automated hiring process that screens candidate applications in seconds and presents candidates that are the best fit. BrezyHR is one example where AI supports a screening process, helping to accelerate the overall hiring process.

Automated software showed significant results in help desk and support departments. More prominent companies tend to have a whole department working as a help desk supporting customers with information. Nowadays, chatbots are slowly becoming a norm, and they are getting smarter. Communicating between departments usually takes time, and it's not the most effective way to share information. Chatbots are gapping the bridge in communication between departments, which allows higher productivity and delivery.

Adaptable business leaders are better equipped to succeed in today’s rapidly changing world. The IT industry helping businesses and agencies adapt, remain relevant and thrive. Staying in tune with IT trends will help business leaders be more strategic and able to react to change.

Anita Sambol contributed this article. She a content strategist and creator, and a content associate to EU Business School, where she's writing about business education, student life and online learning. Find her on LinkedIn.

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