Technology Advisor Blog



IT Industry Outlook 2022 - Getting back to Strategic Initiatives?

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 8/15/22 5:37 PM

CompTIA Industry Outook 2022 Report - Ekaru - Blog

We're more than half way through 2022, the world has been through a tough two years with the pandemic, and we're getting through to the other side.  We just checked in again with the CompTIA IT Industry Outlook 2022 report, and it's pretty on track for the year.  Ekaru is a proud member of CompTIA, and if you're not familiar with CompTIA, you should be!  "The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the leading voice and advocate for the $5.3 trillion global information technology ecosystem.  Through education, training, certifications, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce."

During the pandemic, most businesses needed to toss away strategic initiatives and focus on tactical items to stay afloat, necessitated by the need for remote work to support social distancing.  Figuring out a way to keep the lights on, pay employees, hold on to customers, and maintain a revenue flow to make that possible demanded full attention.  Now that the pandemic is mostly behind us, it's time to start thinking strategy again.  

The full report is 48 pages, and it's a recommend "must read".  Here are a few highlights to give you a flavor of the findings.

The Top 10 Trends to Watch in 2022

  1. The Workplace Can No Longer Be Easily Defined.  Protecting the perimeter of the office (firewall, etc), isn't enough anymore.  Workers are in the office, out of the office, and some blend of work from anywhere will be here to stay.  
  2. Changes in Business Travel Drive Innovation. Two years with effectively no business travel have caused people to rethink ROI.  Big conferences?  Being able to collaborate on complex problems?  This will take a while to settle to a new equilibrium.
  3. The Impact of Regulations Goes Beyond New Laws.  As technology has grown to be such an integral part of our lives, regulation is hovering.
  4. Technology Budgets Experience Stealth Growth.  Stealth IT, where business units procure their own technology, makes tracking budgets very difficult.  The marketing department and finance are making important decisions about IT.
  5. Proactive Cybersecurity Takes a Big Step Forward.  The secure perimeter is not longer enough and doesn't make sense in a work from anywhere world.  New cybersecurity measures are needed.
  6. Channel Cybersecurity Has a Ways to Go.  A third of companies in the IT space are only now working on their cybersecurity strategies and are way behind.  
  7. Consulting: Today's Channel Opportunity.  Products and isolated technology are less important today compared to strategies to transform businesses through technology - digital transformation.
  8. Chip Supply-Chain Woes Provide a Wake-Up Call.  Technology companies had moved to a no-inventory model, and with the demands for technology during the pandemic when everyone had to scramble to work from home highlighted the weak link of the supply chain.  No one can tolerate long delays.  With technology, advances happen so quickly that inventory gets stale fast, but there's got to be a better way!
  9. Software Development Gets More Granular.  Gone are the days of only giant software companies able to afford developing code.  The cloud and apps have democratised development.
  10. Foundational Data Management Drives and Analytics Revolution.  What are we going to do with all this data we generate?  The business that figure this out will dominate.

These are just a few highlights from the report which will certainly prompt a lot of thought.  How is 2022 shaping up for your business?  Are you on track to make make the best use of technology?  Is your security up to date with respect to 2022 cyber threats?  As many say, failing to plan is planning to fail.  Here at just past the mid-way point of the year is a great time for a check in.

If you'd like to read more, you can access the full report here:  IT Industry Outlook 2022.

 

 

 

Topics: small business technology, cybersecurity

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