No one expected 2020 to bring a pandemic outbreak! However, the last six months have seen an immense digital transformation in comparison to the previous decade. Every transformation initiative is already getting accelerated. There were several digital transformation estimations made a year back that benefited from this rapid change. However, other changes got displaced by urgent requirements, such as reliable and 24×7 secure connectivity.
What does this indicate for 2021? Will the leading technologies like data analytics and AI still keep on dominating? Or will other technologies be taking the lead? However, only time can tell this. Here are some of the crucial digital transformation trends for 2021.
- 5G will become mainstream
Most of us have heard about the advantages of 5G for years now. However, since 2020 remote work, digital collaboration, and videoconferencing became essential parts of our lives; most people required increased bandwidth and reliable connectivity. There has been an increased reliance on tablets, phones, and various other devices, such as IoT sensors.
It only indicates the requirement for a multi-lane superhighway that the telecommunication organizations realized will be the need of the day. You can’t afford to stay disconnected in a business ambiance. Hence, the 5G executions have become a core part of life. Today, most people are working collectively and managing work and school from home. Therefore, the relevance of 5G is bound to become important in 2021.
In the early half of 2020, the pandemic outbreak did interrupt work on 5G network executions. However, the initiatives have resumed back work, and big markets such as China are on their way to fulfill the 2020 deployment goals. On the other hand, leading handset manufacturers of the world will be releasing the advanced 5G phones, which will be the technology leader. It will allow people to make use of 5G smartphones by 2021.
- The hybrid cloud suggested a winning enterprise architecture
It was a known fact that businesses have been shifting to a hybrid cloud structure. From the on-premise solutions to SaaS applications to a blend of private and public clouds, the hybrid cloud strategies help companies arrive at the correct balance for the distinctive cloud infrastructure requirements.
In the past few years, there have been increased investments in the hybrid cloud from leading names like IBM, Oracle, and Google. The OEMs, such as Cisco and Dell, maximize the investment in developing tools that allow easy connectivity between cloud and on-premise datacentres.
All these investments meet the consumer where they are currently! It addresses the exponential data growth challenges and is proactive on security, privacy, and compliance. The modern-day approach to the hybrid cloud has been growing from conventional IT to assist industrial applications. For instance, some brands have come up with an IoT platform using a hybrid cloud approach and open source. The industrial data it deals with can integrate seamlessly with the conventional applications, cloud data centers, and workloads.
Hybrid cloud would have been one of the trends, even if there had been no pandemic outbreak. However, the pandemic’s sudden disruption highlighted the importance of having an adaptable and agile cloud infrastructure. Most companies are moving towards this change because this trend helps companies during moments of uncertainty.
- An explosion in CDP
Over the past few months, there has been an explosion of CDP (Customer Data Platforms) with good reasons! The fragmented data from various sources can get complex to organize, which isn’t best for organizations that depend on well-curated and timely data for functioning optimally. According to an IBM study, insufficient data costs U.S businesses about $3 trillion annually.
Hence, it has become essential to address this challenge. The CDP helps resolve this issue by collecting data from every source, tagging and organizing it, and making it usable for everyone who wants to access it. The leading brands like Microsoft, Adobe, and Oracle are already trying to provide the market with new CDPs. Recent entries in CDP services take a new approach to resolve the challenge of gaining a 360-degree customer view.
In the past few years, there has been a proliferation of big data and analytics, which will not stop. Data will keep expanding exponentially and will not stop. The visualization tools, analytics platforms, and data warehouses from leading service providers won’t lose their relevancy.
However, the increase of customer data platforms will gain prominence in 2021. Today, business operations have become more fragmented because of the work from home models and constant data acceleration, and the CDPs will become more critical in 2021.
- Confidential and privacy computing gains momentum.
One more approach to up your cybersecurity, especially when addressing data privacy and communications, is confidential computing. The concept of confidential computing is to encrypt the overall computing process and not just the information.
It helps to create extra security layers around the mission-critical data. Leading names like VMware, Microsoft, and Google are assisting in coming up with best practices and new protocols. The technology is still in an infant state. However, estimates suggest that in 2021 confidential computing will become mainstream.
- Headless technology disrupts the industries and shapes commerce
It might sound a little scary, but the headless tech indicates that businesses can separate the front-end presentation layer from the back-end data functions for setting customized shopping experiences. It is as simple as letting Amazon Alexa know to purchase social media or your favorite coffee. The question is, why is this essential?
Today, people are into several kinds of commerce. Research indicates that 89% of the businesses share that their customer acquisition cost has gone up in the last two years. It means that companies should maximize the ROI of the new consumer acquisition expenses. And second, it has become essential to concentrate on customer retention and development. To know more about this, you can get in touch with digital agencies Toronto.
These are some of the most critical trends for digital transformation in 2021! It will help companies to shape their operations better for 2021 and beyond.
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