With another trying year in the books, it is the right time for your small business to think about some important IT trends that will impact your organization in 2022 and beyond.
In this article, we have identified six significant IT trends that will impact small businesses in the coming year and beyond. By being aware of these trends and responding to them appropriately, your organization will gain an advantage over your competitors and will be able to more effectively achieve your unique goals.
Locationless organizations become more popular
The pandemic will continue to be the driving force behind the most important technology trends in 2022. COVID has continued to force workers to stay at home and work remotely. The technology to make effective collaboration and work meetings possible has steadily improved with many workers feeling even more comfortable at home. A remarkable 77% of employees in one survey report that they are more productive working from home.
As companies take note of the ability to maintain or improve productivity with remote workers, they will continue to move away from the high overhead cost of physical office space. The trend of technology development to enhance the ability of companies to thrive in a locationless setting will accelerate in 2022.
Cybersecurity responsibility will involve the entire company
The pandemic and the shift to remote work has dramatically increased the number of cybersecurity incidents and threats facing organizations. As a result, companies of all sizes have responded with more investment in IT security, training, and resources. Technology companies have developed a wide variety of solutions to protect cloud-based applications and mobile devices, and organizations are working to integrate them into their networks.
Security experts predict that one major theme that will be stressed in 2022 is the necessity of all employees in an organization to make cybersecurity a priority in all activities and always maintain good cyber hygiene. There will also be a dramatic increase in training and solutions that make it easier for employees to protect an organization from cyberattacks. One key will be the ability of employees to detect network breaches and notify the IT security team of possible threats and disruptions. Companies will put a focus on emphasizing the message that the responsibility for cybersecurity falls on the entire team–not just on IT resources.
IT security compliance certificates become more important
As a result of the growing cybersecurity threat, companies will find that the need to obtain IT security compliance certificates is becoming more important. This is especially relevant for companies of all sizes working in the federal and state government sector where the requirement to be CMMC-compliant is becoming standard. These stricter IT security compliance requirements are expanding to include vendors and subcontractors working for the primary contractors on government projects.
In addition, private companies in all industries are increasingly moving toward obtaining these IT security compliance certificates and are requiring that the companies that work with them do the same.
AI engineering improves value of AI
For some time now, companies have been using artificial intelligence (AI) in varieties of ways to manage, regulate, and evaluate the massive amounts of data they collect. However, many organizations have noticed that a significant portion of their AI project haven’t been managed well or haven’t delivered the results they had promised. As a result, there is a new trend toward the concept of AI engineering, with the goal of providing a disciplined, consistent AI structure that companies can use to ensure their efforts are useful.
By using a proven AI engineering process, organizations will be able to improve the performance, reliability, and scalability of their AI models and projects. These efforts will result in an improved return on investment for companies.
Hyperautomation moves from tasks to processes
Companies have routinely been using drones and robots to automate and improve repetitive menial tasks, but the new trend is toward hyperautomation of entire processes. Technology continues to advance in areas that enable organizations to automate the different tasks making up an entire process. The latest goal, which is becoming increasingly reachable, is for companies to have the ability to move automation across multiple processes involving the entire breadth of the organization. With hyperautomation becoming possible in new business areas and processes, companies hope to relieve their employees from menial and repetitive tasks and make their operations more efficient.
Greater democratization of data and technology
An important technology trend is the move toward a greater democratization of data and technology. One way this is evident is the growing ability of companies to use cloud-based solutions for all aspects of their operations. The cloud-based concept of everything-as-a-service has enabled companies to outsource services that used to only be in-house and has put the skills and tools for technological innovation in as many hands as possible.
Companies are increasingly able to take advantage of ready-built AI solutions for HR, marketing, and project management as well as for the planning and design of production processes. Instead of having experts on staff, companies can lease these “digital brains” for any of the work they want done.
Another rapidly developing trend is the move toward no-code interfaces for different solutions and processes. The goal of these no-code interfaces is to allow people without programming knowledge or a high-level understanding of statistics and data structures to be able to engage in developing and producing innovative ideas, processes, and solutions. One leader in this effort is a research group known as OpenAI, which was founded by Elon Musk and is supported by Microsoft and other major technology brands. This group has recently introduced Codex, a programming model that generates code from simple spoken human language.
As the possibilities offered by cloud-based everything-as-a-service converges with the maturing technology of no-code interfaces, the level of innovation from many more sources will rise considerably.
Consult with a trusted IT Support Partner
To better understand and take advantage of these important IT trends, we recommend working with a trusted IT Support partner like Network Depot. A reliable IT partner and IT security compliance expert will have the experience and insight into your company’s unique needs to help you most effectively assess and overcome the challenges your organization will face in 2022.
Your IT partner will offer recommendations on the latest and most effective hardware and software tools, IT security applications and solutions, as well as other materials, methods, and equipment.
Their expertise will enable your small business to resolve typical business issues as well as overcome the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Having an IT security compliance expert as a partner will help your company assess its current state of compliance readiness and expand your ability to work on more government and private contracts.
By understanding and responding to the trends described in this article and with the valuable assistance of a trusted IT Support partner, your organization will be able to achieve its unique mission more effectively in 2022 and beyond.