Asponte has decades of experience working with companies that rely on digital technology and experiences to operate. Since we work closely with IT leaders from several industries, we have some insight into the future of the digital landscape. The following are some key technology predictions that all businesses need to consider in 2021.

Five Key Technology Trends Affecting Business in 2021

1. Everywhere office
The future is now in the digital world of the remote workplace. As we free ourselves from the limitations of time and space we can be productive anywhere, so why not everywhere. When you shut down the office, people start to get creative. First was the wave of virtual backgrounds, then people started moving their offices to suit their lifestyles. The nomadic lifestyle that Alfin Toffler espoused in his book “Future Shock” occurred, then morphed into a nomadic office concept. To paraphrase “For millions, and particularly for the “people of the future,” the home office is where you find it.”

2. Covid kicks Cloud into overdrive
Cloud adoption will accelerate as the office diaspora increases. Employees are abandoning the traditional office in droves and many are never coming back. That precious physical real estate that defined much of the prior century is now seen as an empty drain on the balance sheet. On prem data centers and IT rooms consume resources and need people onsite to run them. Experts in legacy data systems are retiring and their knowledge is becoming scarce, which makes older systems harder and more expensive to maintain. We don’t need an office, we don’t need a data center, we have the cloud.

3. Security SOARing
A distributed workforce coupled with massive data breaches reminded us how interconnected we all are in this digital village. As Moslov stated in hierarchy of needs, we will seek safety before most everything else. In 2021 we will see an increase in security systems imbued with AI to create a suite of SOAR tools. SOAR tools (Security Orchestration Automation Response) optimize resource utilization by streamlining threat intelligence and increasing response time, reducing the need for many manual operations. Tools like SOAR that empower standardized automation practices will reduce the impact that cyber criminals have on the business of the future.

4. Experience economy rising
For years we’ve seen the increasing premium that people are placing on experiences over things. Brands of the future need to present the consumer with a better experience than their competitors and since we’re all at home that experience has to be a digital one. The race is on to see which companies can provide the best experience for the work/shop at home consumer. We’ll also see the rise of new goods and services that attempt to replicate some of the physical experience virtually as we all tire of the zoom cocktail hour.

5. Data Transparency increases
In today’s economy information is worth more than oil. Newer generations of digital consumers are becoming more familiar with the methods which tech companies use to exploit their personal data. We predict that there will be an increased demand for businesses to share the practices they are using to drive targeted advertisements, push services, and recommend relevant content to their users.