Even before Covid-19 was declared as a pandemic, businesses had utmost need to make shift to digital footprint. But since its arrival, industry has brought about more digital transformation (DX) than the last decade or century combined.  

Business landscape is continuously evolving. The pandemic forced business people to increase their IT investment and make DX as their priority to run the business. DX have become instrumental in the modern world. Below are a few trends that are not only defining 2021 but are also applicable to mid-long-term business environment. Business leaders can leverage them to not only make their business future ready but also develop a smarter economy.    

Prioritizing cybersecurity

The pandemic which started in 2020 made cybersecurity more essential and not just something which is desired. Since most companies switched to remote working or work from home (WFH), it arose the need for more vigilant security measures. The speed of DX must be on par with company’s strategies for infrastructure security.

Data Analytics

We can say data is as important as fuel to run the planet; it’s a goldmine which is still untapped and has potential to serve for next century the way fuel has been doing since its existence. Business leaders across all the industries are trying and will continue to do so to unlock its real potential, which will be laying the foundation of DX.

Remote work to stay longer and will become style of work

Ever since offices have been working from home, companies have identified the potential benefit of remote working and this has and will lead to accelerating DX. In coming years, world will witness more innovation and companies will develop technologies that are smart enough to support the need of WFH population along with fulfilling business goals.

Hybrid Clouds (Public, Private)

I’d say it’s not only transformative trend towards DX but evolution towards DX. People talk about clouds quite a long time now but they do not understand/realize its true potential. Business leaders are/will focus on how to leverage it better. Hybrid cloud solutions will get more traction for speed, security, scalability and cost benefits.

Thus, clouds may not stay in isolation (cloud provider’s physical data centers). This will solve issues like latency, regulatory challenges for data sovereignty. Finally, organizations will have benefits of public cloud & private cloud concurrently.

5G will become mainstream

We’ve been witnessing the evolution of technology from 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, hear a lot about 5G and its benefit. It wasn’t until WFH started which require video conferencing that needed reliable connectivity & more bandwidth ever.

Our reliance on phones, tablets and laptops has never been precedential. Today’s business cannot afford to be disconnected and 5G deployments have become a vital part of solution. Telecom companies & smartphone companies already knew we would need it more than ever.

Customer data platforms

Like I said earlier, data is fuel for today’s business. But DX journey is not only taken by organizations, customers also embark on this journey in parallel. Earlier, business used software like CRM as single tool. This is where CDP steps in become key trend of DX, integrate customer database that helps businesses in unifying big data, processing, consolidation and execution in online and offline channels.

Internet of Things (IoT)

In the last one year, human’s dependency on technology has reached to all time high and it’s going further north. Thus, business leaders must accelerate their technology spending to DX services.

Organizations which are into healthcare and manufacturing has wider use case of IoT but nevertheless, all the industries will have to embrace IoT as leading digital technology.

Conclusion

“Either you hate it or love it, but you can’t ignore it”

DX is taking its place in mind of business leaders at much higher pace than ever and very soon we will embrace these DX into the DNA of our respective businesses.