Enterprise IT Trends: The Future of Your Company’s Technology 

We’re only four months into 2021 and at the edge of a promising summer. Still, many companies are setting out their future plan. Following over a year of remote work for many organizations, what comes next isn’t exactly clear. However, trends that arose in the previous year may provide certain departments with a clearer path forward. Here we explore enterprise IT trends we expect to see in this year and years to come. 

1). Cloud Migration 

Cloud computing isn’t new. That doesn’t mean everyone is doing it. In fact, it’s fairly typical for organizations to still have some form of outdated, or legacy, infrastructure. When the digital process of a company is limited to its onsite infrastructure, that means a number of negatives. For one, it increases exposure to cyber-attack. For another, it often works slower than cloud-based alternatives. And, finally, it limits the flexibility of the employees. During the peak of the pandemic, employees would be hard pressed to work from home without access to the company’s digital operations. 

So why does this belong with enterprise IT trends of 2021? Well, as companies move away from a strictly on premise set up, they need to adopt a new method. There are several options: public cloud, private cloud and a hybrid system. If Deloitte’s report is to be believed, 90% of global enterprises will be reliant on the hybrid option. But it never hurts to explore your options and decide which will work best for your organization.  

2). Edge Computing 

The science fiction predictions of past decades favored flying devices and alien interaction. The reality of 2021 is simple, yet fascinating advancement in our ability to transfer information. Edge computing is one such example. The distance between a phone and its signal tower can mean the difference between instantaneous load times and minutes of buffering and multiple error messages.  

Edge computing cuts down on that latency by providing data storage and computation—once specific to your carrier’s server—on your phone. It would be like swimming across a lake to reach your destination on the other side, versus speedboating across the surface. The promised reduction in bandwidth and increased speeds solidifies edge computing’s position among enterprise IT trends of this year. Bandwidth costs and more efficient real-time applications are vital opportunities for cost control and improved productivity. Edge computing also means an expansion of points exposed to cybersecurity risk, a concern companies should plan for. 

3). Unified Endpoint Management 

Security issues are a primary concern to every company. Just consider the many points of entry. Every computer and device connected, every Smart Device on the IoT network, and the list goes on. This series of risks explains the rise of Unified Endpoint Management (UEM). UEM tools allow IT departments to protect devices with additional encryption, locate lost assets and increase reactivity. All the complexities of multiple systems’ securities in one view? Sounds like a dream come true. 

4). Automation in IT 

Automation in IT jumped in 2020 as companies adapted to a surge in online everything. New traffic meant new tools, new offerings to capture attentions in new ways. Novel automations sought to provide visitors and app users with experiences specific to their shared data. Providing such an experience would be impossible without automation, or at least would take so long as to exhaust audience interest and employee ability. The future is in the software, the tools that create unique experiences for users based on the information they have access to. Some of Gartner’s predictions on this increased automation make 2025 seem like a new era. But who’s to say it won’t be? IT departments utilizing automation will have a serious leg up on competition lagging behind in this area. 

5). Outsourced Mobility 

As mentioned in the previous point, IT automation is essential, in part because it frees up personnel. This is one of the biggest reasons companies are outsourcing their in-house mobility program. IT departments have their hands full managing the company’s network, trouble-shooting computer issues and other priorities. Sourcing, distributing and performing help-desk duties for mobile devices requires considerable effort in a company of any size. That doesn’t even include carrier negotiations and the recycling of devices once they’re no longer useable. 

IT Departments are outsourcing mobility for several key reasons. First, it’s saving them time and manpower. Second, it helps cost control efforts. Many organizations realize savings when partnered with the right managed mobility services (MMS) provider, and governance is a key element of success. Third, it’s trusting support issues to experts. The right MMS provider will have a qualified help desk there to help any employee troubleshooting an issue with their device. And, finally, it offers them program flexibility. The right MMS provider not only supports the mobility program that best suits the company, but also hosts a platform that supports applications and connections vital to the company’s mobility program. 

Making the Most of Current Enterprise IT Trends 

Wherever your company currently stands, its future is not rooted in onsite servers and in-house mobility programs. However you came out of 2020, 2021 is an opportunity to control costs and advance internal processes that enable your company to adapt to serious changes. Explore the implementation of these trends. All of them may not be applicable to your company or its current situation. Just keep in mind, companies taking advantages of these trends end up leaps and bounds ahead of their competitors who aren’t.

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