Making IT work… IT predictions for 2014
Technology at home and at work is moving at break-neck pace. Many new cars have built in GPS navigation systems, eco stop-start technology, reversing cameras and parking sensors. All of this technology has been integrated seamlessly into a mass-produced domestic product, the humble car.
So what about IT trends for next year? I believe these are the ‘must-watch’ technologies, in fact you are probably using some already.
Mobile computing is rapidly changing our lives. Being able to access the internet, email, video, documents or presentations from a mobile or tablet device from anywhere in the world connected to Wi-Fi or 3G is an amazing human capability. We are truly ‘on the grid’ 24/7. I’ve been travelling internationally quite a lot recently, and I have had seamless reach-back to our Intranet, file servers, email and VoIP phone system, all from a small touch-screen notebook that fits neatly in my man bag. Smart phones and tablets will account for over 60% of IT hardware sales next year, and PC sales will continue to decline.
Cloud computing is still a bit of a buzzword. Many of the companies and products that I have seen are just ‘hosted’ applications that don’t really scale. However, there is one great example, which is Microsoft Office 365. This is a pay per use per month service, which can be increased or decreased easily. My prediction is that new businesses setting up in 2014 will instinctively adopt a ‘cloud first’ strategy, regarding their IT and systems. This means as these businesses grow, they will be able to scale up quickly, react to opportunities and demand in their sector, whilst avoiding up-front capital expenditure.
Security wise I believe we will see a large national business hit by an enduring cyber-attack, which will cause on-going disruption. We have just seen that over 8% of European flights were delayed or cancelled, being caused by the UK National Air Traffic Service phone system failing. It was the phone system. Nothing clever or safety critical.
How resilient will your business be in 2014?