With a new year right around the corner comes new digital initiatives to look forward to. At the rate technology has progressed, and continues to progress, 2019 will be defined by the companies that make big, but strategic bets on digital business transformation initiatives to enhance operational efficiencies. Organization leaders need to learn quickly about which trend(s) will be beneficial to their operations, understand those trends thoroughly, and execute. To help you get started, here are a few digital trends set to take the main stage in 2019.
- Big Bets on Digital
To align with corporate performance goals for the new year, companies will seek to make the big decisions on digital that can help accelerate business growth. This starts with a strong strategy put together by the CEO, CIO/CDO/CTO, CFO, and other functional leaders, and is supported by employees that are personally willing to learn and grow. By focusing on true digital business transformation and having the endurance to see those initiatives through, companies will be relevant and resonant in today’s digital age, and will reap the benefits of being so.
- Next-Gen IoT
With the emergence of smart devices over the last few years, 2019 will see companies bring “smart” to the workplace. Industrial IoT has already taken over numerous industries, and IoT, overall, will be a driving force behind the next-gen platforms companies decide to implement. This advancement will enable more in-depth analysis of large-scale market data and will unravel the valuable, multidimensional correlations that can give insight into more appropriate business actions and outcomes.
- The Disappearance of the Data Center
With everything moving to the cloud, an in-house data center has become less important for companies. For purposes of cost- and time-efficiencies, companies moving to the cloud have more resources to spend on their core competencies while cloud providers take care of locality services and bandwidth provisions. As companies continue to migrate bits of their business to the cloud, expect to see data center lose its floorspace in the modern workplace.
- Cloud Disruption
While the cloud has been a valuable means for massive data storage and sharing, companies are beginning to move past the cloud with new-age technologies. Decentralized, event-driven setups, such as blockchain, and serverless architectures will dominate the market. The companies that leverage these new tools and apply them to their operations will have the leading edge going into the new decade.
- Information Enlightenment
Making the most of your data assets has always been of the utmost importance. In 2019, however, that won’t just be a demand; it will be an outright expectation. Companies skilled in aggregating, analyzing, and using their data the right way will put that data to use through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. With the right combination of business acumen and technological finesse, these companies will improve existing service offerings and possibly even create new sources of revenue.
- Better Customer Experiences
At the end of the day, it’s all about being remembered by your customers for something great. Given the new, stringent data privacy laws throughout the world, companies need to re-evaluate their digital strategy to create safe, meaningful experiences for their customers. By implementing strong cybersecurity and analytics practices, companies will be able to deliver more secure experiences that lead to better interactions with customers. This is a key success factor in tomorrow’s business world where the gap between the physical and the digital must be bridged effectively to develop unique, last impressions in the minds of customers, globally.
Companies, small and large alike, will be fighting for a significant share of tomorrow’s digital opportunities – a big part of establishing dominance in the era of next-gen. Mastech Digital – a digital transformation services company specializing in the creation and success of future-ready enterprises – is leading the charge with strong in-house capabilities in leading technologies as well as an industry-recognized practice that provides rare, highly-skilled individuals capable of taking your organization to the next level. Make 2019 the year your enterprise not only digitally transforms, but elevates.
Mike Bryan
SVP & Head – Direct Sales
