What Technology Trends Should You Watch for in 2021?
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A new year brings with it planning to stay competitive and strategizing for business technology upgrades that will make the most difference for your bottom line.
Watching upcoming technology trends is a great way to anticipate where you may need to focus your IT budget. Companies that are paying attention to new IT advances as well how technology is adjusting to world circumstances (like the pandemic) have the best chance of being resilient and growing.
A survey of small businesses by Cisco found that 70% of small business owners are accelerating their digital transformations because of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has changed the way we live and work.
In your planning for 2021, it’s important to pay attention to the following technology trends that will be shaping how businesses operate this year and beyond.
Zero Trust IT Security Strategies
Cybercrime statistics rose dramatically during 2020 for everything from phishing scams to ransomware attacks. Criminals took advantage of the pandemic disruption as well as new sophisticated malware variants.
During the midst of the pandemic, the FBI reported a 400% increase in cybercrime reports.
Trying to identity cyberthreats is becoming much more difficult because of the stealth techniques they use. This had led to the popularity of a cybersecurity strategy called Zero Trust.
Zero Trust means that system protections are put in place to trust no application except for those that are approved. This application white listing ensures that even if a system has never seen a malware variant before, it can still block it because it will block anything not on the approved list to do things like enter a network, run a program, or give instructions to a system application.
Centralized Databases
Companies are finding that cloud data can get unruly the more applications you use. And if applications aren’t sharing data, that means companies can end up with multiple databases of customer information in different apps that don’t all have the same data.
A new type of application that’s gaining popularity and will grow in 2021 is a customer data platform (CDP). This is not a CRM program, but rather a centralized database where all customer information is kept. The CDP then is connected to other apps (like a CRM, ticket system, etc.), which all pull data from that single database.
This improves data quality, visibility of all data to all apps, and reduces data error and manual entries of the same information into different SaaS tools.
The Home Office As the New Main Office
Permanent remote workers are projected to double this year, as companies coming off the pandemic lockdowns are realizing the benefits of a remote work environment.
Many companies are keeping remote workers permanently for some or all positions for reasons such as:
Higher productivity
Business continuity and flexibility
Lower costs
Fewer sick/personal days taken
Higher employee morale
What this means for companies is that they are transforming the way they think about “the office,” and how they need to handle things like device and network security. Remote home offices are now a big part of the conversation when it comes to technology and cybersecurity budgets for 2021.
Optimizing for Behavioral Analytics
Web tracking tools are moving past just tracking cookies and into mapping tools that can gauge how fast people are moving down a page to where their eyes land on the content they’re reading.
This behavior analytics technology is going to be more mainstream and as easy to add to a website as a few lines of code from a SaaS tool.
Automation and systems like chatbots that use natural language are improving customer service and shortening response times. The next step is to not just be reactive, but to actually change what content is served up based upon how a website visitor is engaging with the page to improve their experience.
Big Push for IoT as 5G Comes Online
IoT has been a technology trend for a few years now, but one thing that has kept it from exploding even faster is the need for faster and more robust networks.
As 5G finally reaches fruition this year and delivers on those lightning-fast speeds and near zero latency, you’ll see more IoT devices being deployed in businesses.
Not only is 5G supposed to be faster, it also can handle more devices than a 4G/LTE network, which means no congestion as more devices are added.
Some of the IoT devices making their way into offices are:
Voice assistance connected to business apps (like calendars, contacts, etc.)
Smart lighting
Smart locks
IP security cameras
Smart sensors
Get Help With Your Technology Plan for 2021
BrainStomp experts can help your business plan for smart technology upgrades so you’re prepared to take on this year and beyond successfully.
Contact us for a consultation at 260-918-3548 or reach out online.
