Your organisation can maintain resilience in the face of change, keep ahead of trends, and take advantage of new technologies before your rivals if you have strategic awareness of IT trends and how they relate to business objectives.
Let’s look at the seven trends that will affect IT strategy in every area as well as the top difficulties that firms will encounter in 2023.
Challenges for IT Professionals
Many global changes that have affected businesses since 2020 will come to a head in 2023. They are influencing how businesses spend on IT today and will do so in the upcoming year. They will also push companies to investigate new revenue models and methods of operation.
1. Worldwide Instability
The COVID pandemic-related supply chain crisis has been compounded by additional supply chain disruption brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other international political events. For the foreseeable future, uncertainty over the availability of international exports and the dependability of shipping will have a significant impact on global firms.
2. Economic Unrest
Experts believe that the global economy will experience recession and volatility, partially as a result of the instability in the world. Companies will probably be discouraged from making additional investments and hiring decisions as a result, and there will be pressure to “make do” with higher productivity, labor-saving automation, and cost cuts to offset possible losses.
3. Cyber-threats
The frequency and expense of cyberattacks are rising, as they have for a long time. As a result, businesses will need to consider cybersecurity in their operations, technological advancements, and third-party alliances in 2023.
4. Talent Void
Finding and paying for IT talent has been expensive for some time. It is also challenging to keep employees because of trends like “the Great Resignation.” Employers who can translate between IT issues and business outcomes are especially needed by organizations.
5. Employed Remotely
Hybrid work models are still being used by businesses; by the end of 2022, 25% of all professional positions will be in this format.
It will be far away in America. Because of this, the network perimeter has expanded outside of organisational networks, creating new vulnerabilities and collaboration challenges.
Top IT Trends for 2023
1. Wireless protocols with high bandwidth
According to Gartner, 60% of businesses will be utilising five or more wireless technologies by 2025. This includes 5G, which is a more dependable means to distribute content to clients, interact with remote workers, and manage remote equipment than 4G or 3G.
When it comes to Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the usefulness of 5G is very clear. In 2023, there will be billions more active IoT devices than there are today. Organizations relying on IoT to collect essential data will require 5G’s higher bandwidth and lower latency, which allow it to support more devices.
2. AI-readiness
The past ten years have seen a rapid advancement in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and neural networks thanks to significant advances. Businesses are now investing more in AI than ever before, and by 2028, the sector is expected to be worth more than $422 billion, according to analysts.
Applications that enable better on-the-fly decision-making based on large volumes of data, superior customer experiences, better flexibility in cloud deployments, and much more will be available to AI-ready organisations in 2023. In the end, AI readiness will be a key differentiator with advantages over competitors.
3. Cloud migration
By the end of 2022, global cloud spending will have grown by more than 20% to reach approximately $500 billion, predicts Gartner. We anticipate that more businesses will move their IT infrastructure, data, and apps to the cloud in 2023 due to the cloud’s quicker implementation, lower costs, and more security when compared to alternatives.
There are a few excellent reasons to use so-called “managed hosting” services in the modern era: while this method of IT delivery made sense in the 1990s and the middle of the 2000s, the advent of cloud computing has made it obsolete. Cloud hosting provides all the advantages of managed hosting with minimal drawbacks, such as high monthly expenses, unadvertised costs, a lack of flexibility, and binding service agreements.
4. The cybersecurity culture
Only 50% of small firms presently have a cybersecurity plan, despite the dangers of the current cyber world. In 2023, more companies will start to recognise the critical role that cybersecurity plays in preserving their revenue over the long and short terms.
Cyber training for all employees will become a cornerstone in the culture of many businesses due to the role social engineering plays in facilitating cyberattacks. Multi-factor authentication will also become more popular, especially as tech giants adopt the WebAuthn API and the FIDO2 standard from the Fast Identity Online Alliance.
5. U.S. government cybersecurity compliance
The federal government is taking no chances given the threat that cyberattacks pose to national security. While NIST 800-171 and other cybersecurity requirements have long been mandated for government contractors, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) will place greater responsibility on businesses in the private sector that work with the federal government.
By 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) wants to incorporate CMMC into its contracts. Governmental organisations are working to put ZTA (zero-trust architecture) into place by 2024. Given that 60% of companies will be using zero-trust security principles by 2023, it is projected that both of these projects will have an effect on the private sector.
6. Performance Improvement
Businesses will experience economic difficulties in 2023, so they’ll be looking for every means possible to cut expenses and improve performance. In order to make sure the solutions they are utilising genuinely deliver the required business value over the long and short term, they will continuously analyse KPIs and other measures; if they do not, they will utilise those indicators to continuously fine-tune and enhance their position.
7. Outsourced IT expertise
A competent IT workforce is necessary to address rising IT difficulties. Unfortunately, 75% of IT leaders say it’s getting harder to find IT talent. In 2022, it will be challenging to fill open tech roles. While this is going on, it is also expensive, with critical tech roles experiencing wage and salary increases of more than 20%.
Organizations will eventually find themselves looking for outside experts to support their internal IT teams. For their business and technical skills, many people will turn to managed service providers (MSPs) and virtual chief information officers (vCIOs).
