Technology is becoming core to everything we do and consume

The COVID19 pandemic has made us relook at everything around us with a new perspective and soundness. While organizations look at returning to the workplace, the need for a modern, agile network is a critical engine that facilitates safe and seamless reintroduction of workers to the premises. In the corporate world, one thing that has been seen in most of the sectors is digitization on a large scale. The digital economy triggered by the pandemic promises to bring in an unprecedented confluence of people, businesses, and things that reconstruct existing business models and builds new opportunities. Therefore, keeping all the changes in mind here are six key trends we foresee that will define the future of the tech and IT industry.

Business agility, flexibility and resilience have become necessities for organizations, and as a result, cloud-based technologies, security, analytics, and automation are all going to be crucial for organizations of all sizes, to empower their employees, and thrive in the next normal. In the coming year, we will witness the next generation of wireless technologies, including 5G and WiFi6 that will help flatten the digital divide, as these will provide bandwidth, speed, and latency, and reach rural areas where fiber is expensive. According to PwC, bringing the internet to those who are offline would add 6.7 trillion dollar to the global economy. This would lift another 500 million people out of poverty, proving that connectivity can help in building an inclusive future.

Today, technology is becoming core to everything we do and consume, therefore, to emerge stronger out of this crisis, businesses will have to digitally disrupt themselves and push the boundaries of innovation.

One of the big challenges of cloud adoption pre-COVID-19 was the amount of operational overhead and risk acceptance, knowledge required to migrate workloads from on-premises to the cloud. Banks also have undergone a huge transformation, as many banks had in place arduous control processes that were difficult to overcome. Due to the pandemic, banks have realized that many offshore resources that were maintaining systems could not log in from home, causing a risk issue. Banks were forced to re-evaluate these processes to ensure they were fit for purpose in this new world, where physical distancing quickly became the norm. As a result, in 2021 we will see banks increase expenditure on process simplification and improvements – something that the cloud can deliver.

With changing geopolitical dynamics, we will see increased focus around data sovereignty and consumer safety, as consumers seek to understand how precisely their data is being used and governed. One of the greatest drivers of cloud within the BFSI sector will be the need for banks to diversify their revenue models from fee-based transactions. Banks will also realize how much easier it is to drive partnerships and gain meaningful data insight in the cloud. Another critical trend to watch for will be the continuing demand for use of hybrid and multi-cloud environments, where banks avoid being locked into a single vendor by using a mixture of private and public cloud offerings. As the industry moves further into its cloud journey, we will see more bank leaders and CIOs recognize the need to get machine-human collaboration right. We will see more investment in employee reskilling and upskilling, as banks begin to unlock the value that lies at the intersection of employees and technology.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA