IT Technology And Software To Watch For This Year
2017 was indeed a memorable year for the tech industry—and not always in a good way. But moving forward into 2018, the drumbeat around AI continued throughout the year, and amid all the hype some real use cases started to emerge. Today, data is now recognized as a primary asset for businesses and are exploring new ways to connect and analyze data for maximum value. And the move to the cloud continues full speed, with enterprises grappling with how to best leverage the diversity of services on offer. So, without further to do, here are just a few technology trends for enterprises to keep an eye on as we continue on through 2018.
AI’s Out – Apps In
This past year we saw a lot of AI’s who can’t necessarily be mapped easily to real business needs. In the year 2018, the focus needs to shift to building smarter applications instead of just smarter AI. Those looking into AI’s in 2018 should narrow their focus and consider specific applications that can benefit from it. Ultimately, the goal of AI is not smarter AI but more productive applications to aid in all aspects of your business.
Advancing the cloud data platform
Chances are, every organization will have at least some presence in the cloud come 2018. But what will separate the cloud winners from the losers is going to come down to data analytics capabilities. Most likely, data isn’t going to stop being critical to organizations in the next year; it’s going to become more important. But no one has really emerged with a superior data environment in the cloud. The industry needs a solid data platform, and it needs one ASAP. Some emerging players, like Databricks, have strong offerings, but for heavyweights like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, winning the cloud wars in 2018 will come down to whoever has the superior platform for analytics.
Putting the ‘I’ back in IT
About a decade ago, IT people took care of apps, wired up servers, and configured networks, yet in the age of the cloud, a lot of that work has gone away. What we’re left with is data. It’s the key asset for businesses today, and for a long-time management of that data was also in the realm of IT. But now IT knows little about data science or the new business functions it now supports. We need to put the “I” back in IT—focusing on intelligence and rethinking how IT is configured and the role it plays. Or else the only thing left for IT to do is security.
