Problem: What are the significant technology changes that are going to shape the enterprise over the next 5-10 years?
Initial Hypothesis: Working within technology and making businesses more competitive, I see the speed at which technology changes. Working with multiple large customers, I know that people are generally looking at a handful of strategic technology trends. While technology trends are actually all connected and have a hierarchy. Essentially, I am categorizing the significant tech trends, rather than drilling down to lower levels, such as Mobile application patterns or specific technologies like O365.
While technologies are not so kind as to make themselves easy to segregate, I feel the big trends are:
Analytics - Storage, mining, analysing data and reporting. Essentially, this is an old industry with new trends, such as larger data sets, new data sources (e.g., social media), and additional reporting formats/media; AI has experienced a surge in recognition. The trend has been to make analytics available closer to real-time, and it's now moving into predictive. Robotics is closely tied to data analysis.
Security - With the increasing amount of data and devices, the old world of protecting one's own assets and monitoring external people in a regulated manner is no longer the primary method of securing. The key is understanding that identity is king. Whether it is an individual or a computer, we need to be able to verify the identity of the person or system claiming to be who they say they are (non-repudiation). Block-chain - While I think it's important and, in some industries, absolutely critical, this, to me, falls under security. We need to trust and share between machines and transactions. Once again, an old industry is undergoing a shift in focus, with identity and collaboration now central to security, rather than relying on a centralized, castle-like security model.
Cloud Computing - Low-cost computing paid for on-demand is a continuing trend for businesses. Now, with advancements in virtualisation and cloud computing and the emergence of the big three (AWS, Azure, and Google), these services are improving rapidly. Cloud computing ties to Analytics and security. Virtualisation has progressed, and we are getting better at providing computing safely and at a lower cost.
Sub Trends:
Robotics/Automation - Automation replaces manual steps typically performed by humans, and historically, this has been more prevalent in manufacturing. Going forward, I envision it replacing rudimentary information worker roles. Ingesting legislative data is a great example, and coupled with machine learning, we can build up models to identify which laws are applicable in different jurisdictions. Medical diagnoses are often referred to under AI as not intelligence; it's pattern recognition and analytics to determine a likely problem from the data picked up and cleaned. The medical example will be essential to us thriving on this planet; doctors will only get complex issues, and the rudimentary stuff will disappear and be dealt with better, meaning fewer returning patients.
IoT - is not exactly new; we just have to do it better on a larger scale. So, while technology is changing, systems communication is not. I view drones as a subset of IoT, specifically hardware devices that utilize analytics. Pretty similar to fully automated self-driving cars.
Initial Hypothesis: Working within technology and making businesses more competitive, I see the speed at which technology changes. Working with multiple large customers, I know that people are generally looking at a handful of strategic technology trends. While technology trends are actually all connected and have a hierarchy. Essentially, I am categorizing the significant tech trends, rather than drilling down to lower levels, such as Mobile application patterns or specific technologies like O365.
While technologies are not so kind as to make themselves easy to segregate, I feel the big trends are:
Analytics - Storage, mining, analysing data and reporting. Essentially, this is an old industry with new trends, such as larger data sets, new data sources (e.g., social media), and additional reporting formats/media; AI has experienced a surge in recognition. The trend has been to make analytics available closer to real-time, and it's now moving into predictive. Robotics is closely tied to data analysis.
Security - With the increasing amount of data and devices, the old world of protecting one's own assets and monitoring external people in a regulated manner is no longer the primary method of securing. The key is understanding that identity is king. Whether it is an individual or a computer, we need to be able to verify the identity of the person or system claiming to be who they say they are (non-repudiation). Block-chain - While I think it's important and, in some industries, absolutely critical, this, to me, falls under security. We need to trust and share between machines and transactions. Once again, an old industry is undergoing a shift in focus, with identity and collaboration now central to security, rather than relying on a centralized, castle-like security model.
Cloud Computing - Low-cost computing paid for on-demand is a continuing trend for businesses. Now, with advancements in virtualisation and cloud computing and the emergence of the big three (AWS, Azure, and Google), these services are improving rapidly. Cloud computing ties to Analytics and security. Virtualisation has progressed, and we are getting better at providing computing safely and at a lower cost.
Sub Trends:
Robotics/Automation - Automation replaces manual steps typically performed by humans, and historically, this has been more prevalent in manufacturing. Going forward, I envision it replacing rudimentary information worker roles. Ingesting legislative data is a great example, and coupled with machine learning, we can build up models to identify which laws are applicable in different jurisdictions. Medical diagnoses are often referred to under AI as not intelligence; it's pattern recognition and analytics to determine a likely problem from the data picked up and cleaned. The medical example will be essential to us thriving on this planet; doctors will only get complex issues, and the rudimentary stuff will disappear and be dealt with better, meaning fewer returning patients.
IoT - is not exactly new; we just have to do it better on a larger scale. So, while technology is changing, systems communication is not. I view drones as a subset of IoT, specifically hardware devices that utilize analytics. Pretty similar to fully automated self-driving cars.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality will be significant, but like blockchain, they will have unique applications across various industries. It relies on Analytics and security as its underpinning.
Here is some research I gleaned from 5 key firms on current technology mega-trends (this is how I see these firms' views on the tech mega-trends,):
PWC
===
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Augment Reality (AR)
Blockchain
Drones (UAV)
IoT
Robotics
Virtual Reality
3D printing
EY
===
Artificial Intelligence - Cognitive learning
Robotic Automation (RPA)
Blockchain
Analytics
Internet of Things (IoT)
Cybersecurity
Deloitte
=======
Dark Analytics
Machine Intelligence
Mixed Reality
Inevitable architecture (cloud computing)
Everything as a service (cloud computing)
Blockchain
KPMG
====
Big Data & Analytics/AI
Cloud Computing
Cryptocurrency/Digital Payments
IoT
Robotics
Cybersecurity
Virtual and augmented reality - stock and glasses -Google glasses
McKinsey
=======
AI
Analytics
Robotics
Possible Resolution: Most people in technology are aware of the megatrends, how relatively important each trend is and the details of how quickly change is happening. For me, analytics, speed to market, and trust need to underpin everything I deliver.
