We have seen some tumultuous times due to the coronavirus pandemic in the last couple of years, and it has undoubtedly changed the way businesses go about their work. They had to adopt newer business and technology strategies to stay relevant.
Due to the pandemic, businesses were compelled to go in their shell. But now with time, they are trying to come out of it and looking for technology strategies that could earn them more money. As per research, more than half of the organizations (53%) plan to increase their budget in tech spending. And to invest the money in the right places, companies need to follow profound IT strategies.
Therefore, in this blog, we will discuss the top technology strategies that will keep business firms afloat even during the worst times. Moreover, keeping the unprecedented nature of the pandemic in mind, we have included those technology business strategies that will give the companies maximum benefit.
Business technology strategies that will help in thriving in challenging times
One thing that the covid-19 pandemic has shown us is the necessity of being constantly evolving. Companies who faced the jolt and rose above it were those never ‘settled’ or never stopped innovating themselves. Thus, organizations will easily face hurdles if they use any of the below-mentioned technology strategies according to their needs.
- The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Did you know that 72% of the top Chief Information Officers (CIOs) prefer Artificial Intelligence (AI) more than any new-age technology?
Now, this number is good enough to add stars to the CV of AI. The business houses must harness the power of AI as it will be a game-changer in:
- Providing personalized and customized services
- Quickly resolves customer queries
- Enhances user experience
Among the many benefits of Artificial Intelligence, we have seen how chatbots have entirely revolutionized the realm of customer service. Moreover, as the technology is on the verge of becoming more sophisticated, it will also attract other business organizations. In addition, AI has substantial benefits such as cost-effectiveness and better efficiency.
2.The pivotal role of cloud computing
We have all seen how impactful and beneficial cloud services are during the pandemic. It helped businesses keep their work on track while employees were working from home. Whether it is to access important files or make collaboration easier between the employees, this technology strategy will be vital in the future.
Cloud computing should be at the center of your IT strategy as in the present times; it has become more than essential for the employees to access data and files from remote locations. Moreover, as we head towards a business world where people would be opting to work remotely or partially remotely, making the business less ‘location-dependent’ is necessary.
- The expansion in the realm of cybersecurity
It will not be an overstatement if we say that it is mandatory to include cybersecurity in the technology strategy. Data is the essential commodity in today’s digitally driven world, and thus it is necessary to render proper security to the data.
A sound cybersecurity infrastructure will enable the business organization to nullify the data breaches or even curb other cyberattacks before they happen. In addition to damage control, cybersecurity can also aid in quick and competent damage repair. Thus, in the coming years, as data breaches are likely to increase, the importance of cybersecurity will increase in the same proportion.
- Importance of edge computing
We talked about the importance of cloud computing for remote work; edge computing is of the same level. Edge computing is a decentralized model, and it focuses on placing the apps closer to the sources of their data. The sources can be devices, edge services, repositories, etc.
Edge computing provides reduced latency, better bandwidth, efficiency, and other helpful qualities. Due to such qualities, many organizations use technology strategy when dealing with time-sensitive information. According to Gartner, almost 80% of the enterprises will be moving away from traditional data centers by 2025, and the reality of edge computing will continue to rise.
- The ‘5G’ revolution
Whether you are talking about improved frequency or high bandwidth, or better connectivity, 5G ticks all the boxes right. While it was a vision a few years back, 5G technology is becoming a reality in many cities like London, Dubai, New York, Seoul, etc. And in the future as well, it will continue its upward trend, making it easier for businesses to resolve their connectivity issues.
The business organization would benefit from 5G technology other than better connectivity. As the capacity of 5G is substantially more than 4G, it will be instrumental in the Internet of Things (IoT) development initiatives. Moreover, with the proliferation of technology, 5G will be widely available; it will open newer avenues for businesses to improve their products and services. Thus, it is necessary to include this technology in your IT strategy in the future.
- Benefits of data fabric
According to Gartner, data fabric is a design concept used as an integrated fabric layer of the connecting process. It renders solid and flexible integration of data sources across platforms. Due to this, the data is available wherever needed, irrespective of its source.
Due to data fabric, the data management efforts are reduced up to 70%.
- Expansion of data-driven decisions
Companies are set to gain a lot from the data-driven decision-making process as it will narrow down the possibility of making uninformed decisions. Businesses that rely on data management tools are 58% more likely to beat competitors who follow a non-data-driven approach.
It is why in the near future, more than 33% of the prominent business organizations will use decision intelligence technology, according to a study done by Gartner.
An organization needs to include a data-driven approach in its IT strategy. If the internal data structure is not proper, it will break the company’s success.
- Privacy-enhancing computations
It is essential for business organizations to maintain the customers’ data privacy as a data breach can harm customer loyalty. Thus, more and more businesses are inclining towards using Privacy Enhancing Computations (PEC) as this technology strategy renders protection to sensitive information.
Whether pooling or analyzing data or sharing any confidential report, 60% of the prominent organizations will use PEC in their IT strategy by 2025.
- Low code and no code
Low-code and no-code development platforms are used to build an application for business and technical purposes. These development platforms aim to render emphatic operational efficiencies and help organizations advance their digital transformation.
The LC/NC solutions allow businesses to build custom systems and speed up the overall applications development and delivery process. This IT strategy also allows the business organizations to meet the customer demands and stay afloat despite the challenges.
- Data Ops and MLOps
Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) refers to managing the ML workflows. It is the process of building and maintaining the machine learning models under established practices, viz., the CI/CD pipelines.
The activities that are performed as a part of MLOps are:
- Automate model lifecycle management
- Integrate ML models into a production system
- Model training and re-training
- Integrating machine learning into strategic processes of business
On the other hand, the main aim of DataOps is to make the entire business organization data-driven. This team focuses on developing an infrastructure that helps employees be more effective with analytics. The data engineers have access to valuable tools such as ETL pipelines that help them to operate on a large scale without any hassle.
- Hyperautomation
This is a business-driven and highly disciplined IT strategy that automates the IT and business processes on a big scale. Using this strategy, the business houses can streamline their remote operations and enhance their scalability and disruption of the business model.
The businesses who implement the right technology stack and strategy can (According to Gartner):
- Improve their quality of work
- Increase the agility of decision-making
- Speed up the entire business process
- Composable applications
If you are talking about new feature implementation, the businesses that take the composable approach can outperform their competitors by 80%. The basic idea of composable apps highlights that it is easier to decouple the functional blocks from the general application. These parts are then fine-tuned to create a new, better application than the previous one.
Final words
Along with the above-mentioned IT strategies, we still have a lot of scope in the business world in years to come. As companies across the globe rise from the crisis-ridden past and look hopefully to the future, they need to adapt according to the new circumstances. Moreover, the IT business strategies will aid the business in embracing digital transformation as well
Thus, it is vital to refine the business technology strategy and revamp its entire plan. Moreover, businesses should not ride the bandwagon without understanding their core needs.