Are you having trouble keeping up with the constantly evolving world of Information Technology? Unsure of what’s in store for 2014 and early 2015? GadellNet keeps a keen eye on what’s hot in information technology to spot the trends you need to know about.
Here are 7 trends in particular that we expect to get the greatest buzz this year:
Data Security
The importance of this can be summarized in two words, “Target Stores”, who last fall announced that a data breach had affected as many as 70 million people. The impact was felt by Target immediately as its fourth quarter earnings were nearly cut in half, down $441 million from a year earlier. Yet the impact of the breach is expected to continue as costs related to reimbursements to the payment card industry, civil litigation, legal expenses, and remediation activities continue to roll in. But don’t ever think that hackers are solely focused on large companies like Target – it’s estimated that cyber-attacks on small businesses rose 300% in 2012, meaning that companies of all size are at risk.
Disaster Recovery
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, 80% of companies that undergo a disaster without having a proper recovery plan in place fail within a year, and almost half of them don’t even attempt to reopen. With so much at risk, it is imperative that regular testing of your systems be conducted to ensure its ongoing reliability.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing can be defined as any subscription-based or pay-per-use service delivered over the internet that extends IT’s existing capabilities. It offers a way to increase capacity or add capabilities without having to invest in new infrastructure (for example the online version of Office 365 as opposed to the desktop version). As cloud offerings continuing to improve, security grows stronger and prices go down, you can expect to see a greater shift to public cloud environments in many forms.
Business Intelligence
Used by large corporations for years to help improve decision making, cut costs, and identify new opportunities, Business Intelligence has hit the mainstream as companies of all size have begun using it to transform their businesses. In a nutshell, Business Intelligence involves extracting and analyzing important data from an organization’s raw data to turn information into insight.
BYOD
As our society continues to move to being “connected” 24/7, most employers have found it necessary to allow their employees to “bring your own device.” However, allowing employees to do so typically leads to diminished security and greater risk of data leakage. Because of that, it’s important to have mobile device security.
Mobile Device Security
Whether for a BYOD or corporate device, having a Mobile Device Security policy in place and enforcing it will help minimize your risk. Lisa Phifer of Core Competence Inc. has identified 5 best practices for mobile device security:
- Mobile device locks
- Remote data wipe for mobile devices
- Mobile locationing and tracking
- Stored data encryption on mobile devices
- Mobile activity monitoring and audit
Growth of Outsourced IT Support
Many companies have found that it often makes sense to outsource their IT function. Heidi Murphy of Warwick Communications identified 5 big reasons to consider a switch from in-house to outsourced:
- Efficient Cost Management
- Share the Risk Burden
- Reap the Benefits of Freed up Resources
- Access to Data Management Expertise
- Re-focus your Priorities
With the constant change in technology, one can expect some new trends to surface in 2015. But one thing is clear, these 7 trends are not going away anytime soon, so get on board.
