The growth of the IT industry seems not to be slowing down in 2022, despite the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years. Unfortunately, uncertainty has crept into many businesses, although most are cautiously and optimistically making a comeback to their IT initiatives.
As businesses and companies plan to dive into the emerging technologies and fast-track their digital transformation, there are expectations of a surge in 2022 tech budgets. Therefore, it’s safe to say that 2022 will not only play as a year of recovery but a year for innovation and acceleration. So, what are the top factors that will drive IT changes in 2022? Here are the top 5 factors that will define the IT industry outlook for 2022.
Changes in Workplaces Structure
If there’s one crucial lesson that businesses have learned DURING the COVID-19 pandemic period, it’s the importance of adopting remote working. The shift from traditional office-based work to a full-time home-based job has exposed a significant business area that companies must explore in 2022. Many workers who were forced to work remotely want to work and operate in remote in-offices or instead craft flexible working arrangements that capitalize the capability to work from anywhere.
From an IT perspective, most IT departments used to operate from a central place have been forced to create permanent solutions to accommodate the increasing need for remote working. Fortunately, channel firms have found an opportunity to be innovative with their IT hardware and edge-based security to facilitate a permanent migration from offices to homes. According to a McKinsey Global Survey, companies have increased the digitalization of their workplaces structure by about three to four years. Therefore, we should expect more changes to come in 2022.
Change in Business Travel
Business travel has remained the core of many companies for decades. From overseas trips, mega-conferences, visits to headquarters, and routine visits, the road-warrior culture was the core to many business operations. Unfortunately, the pandemic grounded almost every form of business travel. Amid this grounding, companies were forced to quickly pivot their operations to alternative solutions like video conference callings.
Companies like Zoom were the primary beneficiaries of these innovative moves. According to Statista, Zoom was the most popular option among different video conferencing apps. Even though many businesses achieve a lot through video conferencing, there are still some concerns about the dwindling effectiveness of in-person meetings. Things seem to change in 2022 when it comes to business travel culture:
- Businesses will aim to consider business travel only if there’s a proven ROI.
- There’s a probability of the rise of small regional conferences.
- Workers will have the chance to refrain from traveling requests, especially with the anticipated innovations in virtual conferencing technologies and increased climate awareness contributed by the effects of frequent travel.
5G Everywhere
5G is finally here. At least almost every person can now access 5G technology. Ericsson predicts that about 100 million subscribers will be 5G- enabled by 2022. So, what will it impact your business growth in 2022?
- Power Remote Working. With high-speed networks, people can now confidently live and work from their desired location
- Enhanced Computing. 5G will IMPROVE computing features like existing cloud infrastructure, helping transactional businesses like mobile banking and trading apps. It will also impact Fintechs or IT companies that require live interactions like live sports and online gaming
- Enable Quality Brand Experiences. 5G enables immersive interactive brand experiences by powering 3D, high-resolution videos, and 360-degree. Therefore, come 2022, we expect businesses to provide better branding experiences through these capabilities
- Improved Apps Performance. 5G has already provided a significant application predictability advancement. Therefore, in 2022 consumers using Apps will not have to worry about less data loss or unreliability. This means that the quality of quantity and quality of content will increase
- Allow Real-time Insight into products and services. It’s no secret that data is the new oil, and everyone is rushing to utilize its unending opportunities. With the ability of 5G to distribute and provide large sums of data with near 100% uptime and low latency, it’s clear that there will be a surge in data-driven business modules and strategies in 2022.
Proactive Cybersecurity Measures
2021 has seen a sobering reminder of the need for adopting stricter cybersecurity measures, following various cybersecurity incidents related to notable companies like Microsoft Exchange, SolarWinds, and Colonial Pipeline, to name a few. So, what are the challenges and measures that everyone should expect amid the possible surge in cybersecurity threats in 2022?
Securing the Remote Workplace Structure
During the pandemic, many workplaces deployed new software and hardware to ensure business continuity, leaving little time to integrate them into existing security measures. Therefore, we expect businesses to bring security infrastructure into view in 2022.
Secure Measures will be a Default Norm for Everyone
A security breach can result from a simple user’s error to unintentional issuance of insecure default configurations. With the massive data breaches experienced in 2021, vendors will most likely take more proactive security approaches to guardrails for their customers. Therefore, you should expect vendors to use features like Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Multi-Factor Authentication as a means of upgrading their security.
Cybersecurity Threats Might Exploit Existing Woes in the Global Supply Chain
The global supply chain has been in disarray, especially with the spike in shipping products between continents and the widespread undersupply of semiconductors. It’s expected that the worldwide supply chain will remain that way probably until 2023.
Malicious actors might exploit the supply chain desperation among consumers and businesses amid this turmoil. Well, with the evidence of an increased Business Email Compromise in 2021, we should expect more stringent measures to be adopted to minimize unprecedented exploitation of the global supply chain.
It Might Take a While to Normalize Chip Supply against Its Demand
Covid-19 fueled demand for semiconductors that created an unprecedented demand for chips, making 2021 the year of chip shortage. Therefore, there have been significant delays in production for devices that cut across the entire IT industry.
Although semiconductor companies have responded well to this problem by announcing multi-billion investments to build fabrication plants to sustain semiconductors’ supply, it might take until 2023 to feel a direct impact. Since chips are used in almost every electronic device nowadays, there are chances that their undersupply will be felt across the entire IT industry.
On a brighter note, 2022 seems to be a big year for chipmakers like AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA, or Qualcomm and other midsized chipmakers like Lattice Semiconductor and Marvell Technologies to try to meet the surging semiconductor demand. Therefore, we might experience a shortage of semiconductors in 2022. Still, as the chip supply starts to normalize, we will be getting more of their capabilities as advanced IT solutions like AI’s momentum get into shape in the coming years.
Brace Yourself for 2022 With the Best IT Solutions
With the uncertainty and hopes that 2022 brings to the IT industry, partnering with an IT company is the only safe solution for your business. This will help you identify key IT factors that will affect your business and develop customized solutions to minimize their risks and make the best out of them. At Hampton Roads Communication Technologies, we aim to help you with the best IT solutions that will impact your business now and in the future. Contact us today, and let’s help you approach 2022 with confidence.
Special thanks to Ulistic High-Performance Club member, James Forbis from 4BIS.COM, a great Cincinnati IT services company for their help with this article.