I still chuckle when coming across the, thankfully, odd example, of a highly sophisticated company, which invests large sums on data centre and IT infrastructure, with special attention paid to reliability and resilience, only to discover that one of their key applications is running on a twenty year old machine, because it’s ‘too dangerous’ to migrate it!

Thankfully, very few companies leave themselves open to such a single point of failure.

However, the ongoing threat of the coronavirus, allied to yet another bout of extreme weather conditions, in the UK at least, has set me wondering whether there is an aspect of resilience that is being ignored right now. Thomas Malthus’s ideas around war, famine and disease being natural population checks might not hold so good in the 21^st century, but disease as a business disruptor could just be a problem both now and into the future. Of course, if it wipes out most of the world’s population, then we’ll have bigger problems to worry about than keeping businesses functioning!

Assuming that, thanks in part to our growing immunity to antibiotics, widespread diseases, easily transported around the world thanks to globalisation (both of tourism and business), could well become more common and more disruptive. Right now, it seems as if the closing down of large parts of China, thanks to the coronavirus, is about to have an unexpected consequence on many businesses across the world. In simple terms, the quantity of components and finished goods which China manufactures and then supplies across the globe is already slowing down significantly. Factories are closed, so production has stopped. And even those goods which are completed cannot find any logistics companies ‘brave enough’ to go and collect them.

Ironically, it is the Far East we have to thank for the concept of Just In Time manufacturing, which then spilled over into the general business world. Why hold vast stocks of anything, if you can push them back to the supplier to keep hold of them. A massively reduce inventory, and a great aid to cash flow – only paying for goods when they’ve already been sold on to customers.

Ah, but all of a sudden, thanks to China’s shutdown, this policy doesn’t look so clever, whether you’re a car manufacturer relying on crucial components, or a retail company awaiting clothing shipments.

Okay, so one major health scare doesn’t, just yet, at least, cause a wholescale change in attitude to how, when and where supplies are sourced, but it’s something to bear in mind moving forwards. After all, the once in a lifetime extreme weather events which were so memorable for our parents’ and grandparents’ generations now seem to be occurring every few years. Indeed, in the UK, for example, hardly a winter goes by without pictures of towns and villages under water.

So, maybe no need to panic just yet when it comes to disease, but certainly a situation worth monitoring in the coming years, if the increase in climate volatility is anything to go by. The cost of data centre and IT hardware could well increase in the short term, and while any organisation can sweat older assets for a little longer, if the competition has managed to secure the very latest technology, the gap between the technology haves and have nots could grow that bit wider.

Amidst the changing nature of work, competition, and society, the research suggests ways to reimagine leadership.

A study released by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and Cognizant reveals that most executives around the world are out of touch with what it takes to lead effectively and for their businesses to stay competitive in the digital economy. Reliance on antiquated and ineffective leadership approaches by the current generation of leaders is undermining organizational performance. To remain competitive and lead effectively, executives will need to fully reimagine leadership, the study’s authors have found.

“We are on the precipice of an exciting new world of work, one that gives executives an opportunity to chart a new course for what their leadership should look like, feel like, and be like,” said Doug Ready, senior lecturer in organization effectiveness at the MIT Sloan School of Management and guest editor of the report. “Yet, our study suggests that digitalisation, upstart competitors, the need for breakneck speed and agility, and an increasingly diverse and demanding workforce demand more from leaders than what most can offer. The sobering data underscores the urgent need for a fully reimagined playbook for leaders in the coming digital age.”

The study, as reported in “The New Leadership Playbook for the Digital Age: Reimagining What It Takes to Lead” is based on a survey of 4,394 global executives from over 120 countries, 27 executive interviews, and focus group exchanges with next-gen global emerging leaders. The data reveals:

• Only 12% of respondents strongly agree their own business leaders have the right mindsets to lead them forward, and only 9% agree that their organisation has the skills at the top to thrive in the digital economy.
• Only 13% strongly agree their organisations are prepared to compete in increasingly digitally-driven markets and economies.
• A large majority, 71%, of respondents believe that they are personally prepared to lead in the digital economy. The same group scores significantly lower when asked whether they possess specific digital skills, such as using data analytics to influence their decision-making (55%) or advocating for the use of machine learning technologies in their organisations’ operations (50%).
• While 82% agree the new economy will need “digitally savvy” leaders, less than 10% strongly agree their organisations have the right leadership to thrive in the new digital economy.
• Just 40% believe that their organisations are taking the necessary steps to build robust digital leader pipelines.

“A generation of leaders in large companies are out of sync, out of tune, and out of touch with their workforces, markets, and competitive landscapes. What got them to their current exalted status won’t be effective much longer — unless they take swift action,” said Benjamin Pring, report coauthor and director of the Center for the Future of Work for Cognizant. “Allowing unprepared senior executives with outdated skills and attitudes to stick around forces next-generation, high-potential leaders to move on to new pastures, which harms morale and ultimately shifts the organisation further away from where market demand is heading.”

The authors identify three categories of existing leadership behaviors (the 3Es); these include:

• Eroding behaviors, or antiquated leadership patterns such as relying upon hierarchy for influence, command-and-control decision-making, and rigid strategic planning.
• Enduring behaviors, evergreen and time-tested leadership attributes and behaviors including ethics, trust, and integrity.
• Emerging behaviors, including digital savviness and collaboration skills.

“Our experience suggests that the most advanced leadership teams are those committed to developing these 3Es in their organisations,” added Carol Cohen, report coauthor and senior vice president, global head of talent management and leadership at Cognizant. “A key to success is artfully introducing new leadership approaches that particularly appeal to a new generation of employees while at the same time honoring the time-tested behaviors and attributes that inspire trust, build a sense of community, and motivate employees to improve performance.”

The authors caution that the primary leadership challenges in the digital economy are not solved by merely adopting a group of these 3E behaviors but require developing new mindsets that anchor, inform, and advance these behaviors. They identified four distinct mindsets that together constitute what they believe are the new leadership hallmarks in the digital economy and illustrate through data and case studies how they can shape successful leadership. They include:

• Producer mindset: The producer mindset combines a focus on customers with a focus on analytics, digital savviness, execution, and outcomes.
• Investor mindset: Leaders with an investor mindset pursue a higher purpose than shareholder returns.
• Connector mindset: The connector mindset demonstrates a mastery of relationships, partnerships, and networks to drive organisational effectiveness.
• Explorer mindset: Explorers are curious, creative, and operate well in ambiguous situations. They engage in continuous experimentation, encourage failure, and learn by listening to a variety of voices.

The report also offers further recommendations for a new leadership playbook and briefs leaders on the need to articulate a powerful leadership narrative, build communities of leaders, demand diversity and inclusion, and align talent, leadership, and business strategies. 

An average IT team spends 15% of its total time trying to sort through monitoring alerts as the gap between IT resources, cloud scale and complexity widens.

Software intelligence company Dynatrace has published the findings of an independent global survey of 800 CIOs, which highlights a widening gap between IT resources and the demands of managing the increasing scale and complexity of enterprise cloud ecosystems. IT leaders around the world are concerned about their ability to support the business effectively, as traditional monitoring solutions and custom-built approaches drown their teams in data and alerts that offer more questions than answers. The 2020 global report “Top challenges for CIOs on the road to the AI-driven autonomous cloud” is available for download here.

CIO responses in the research indicate that, on average, IT and cloud operations teams receive nearly 3,000 alerts from their monitoring and management tools each day. With such a high volume of alerts, the average IT team spends 15% of its total available time trying to identify which alerts need to be focused on and which are irrelevant. This costs organizations an average of $1.5 million in overhead expense each year. As a result, CIOs are increasingly looking to AI and automation as they seek to maintain control and close the gap between constrained IT resources and the rising scale and complexity of the enterprise cloud.

Findings from the global report include:

IT is drowning in data

Traditional monitoring tools were not designed to handle the volume, velocity and variety of data generated by applications running in dynamic, web-scale enterprise clouds. These tools are often siloed and lack the broader context of events taking place across the entire technology stack. As a result, they bombard IT and cloud operations teams with hundreds, if not thousands, of alerts every day. IT is drowning in data as incremental improvements to monitoring tools fail to make a difference.

• On average, IT and cloud operations teams receive 2,973 alerts from their monitoring and management tools each day, a 19% increase in the last 12 months.
• 70% of CIOs say their organization is struggling to cope with the number of alerts from monitoring and management tools.
• 75% of organizations say most of the alerts from monitoring and management tools are irrelevant.
• On average, just 26% of the alerts organizations receive each day require actioning.

Existing systems provide more questions than answers

Traditional monitoring tools only provide data on a narrow selection of components from the technology stack. This forces IT teams to manually integrate and correlate alerts to filter out duplicates and false positives before manually identifying the underlying root cause of issues. As a result, IT teams’ ability to support the business and customers are greatly reduced as they’re faced with more questions than answers.

• On average, IT teams spend 15% of their time trying to identify which alerts they need to focus on, and which are irrelevant.
• The time IT teams spend trying to identify which alerts need to be focused on and which are irrelevant costs organizations, on average, $1,530,000 each year.
• The excessive volume of alerts causes 70% of IT teams to experience problems that should have been prevented.

Precise, explainable AI provides relief

Organizations need a radically different approach – an answers-based approach to monitoring, to keep up with the transformation that’s taken place in their IT environments, and an approach with AI and automation at the core.

“Several years ago, we saw that the scale and complexity of enterprise cloud environments was set to soar beyond the capabilities of today’s IT and cloud operations teams,” said Bernd Greifeneder, CTO and founder, Dynatrace. “We realized traditional monitoring tools and approaches wouldn’t come close to understanding the volume, velocity and variety of alerts that are generated today, which is why we reinvented our platform to be unlike any other. The Dynatrace® Software Intelligence Platform is a single platform with multiple modules, leveraging a common data model with a precise explainable AI engine at its core. Unlike other solutions, which just serve up more data on glass, it’s this combination that enables Dynatrace to deliver the precise answers and contextual causation that organizations need to succeed in taming cloud complexity and, ultimately, achieving AI-driven autonomous cloud operations.”

AVEVA has revealed global survey findings identifying the key investment drivers for digital transformation. The survey was conducted with 1,240 decision makers in ten countries in EMEA, North America and APAC across nine industry verticals.

The research identifies a strong demand across both industries and markets to implement advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data visualization to make sense of vast data streams in real time, with 75% of respondents globally prioritizing investment in AI and analytics.

The research also identified three key global investment priorities for organizations when it comes to embarking upon the digital transformation journey:

1.Making sense of data utilizing artificial intelligence and real time data visualization

·The research highlighted a strong demand for technologies that provide predictive outputs from large data flows, with AI and Analytics listed as the most important enabler (75%), closely followed by Real-Time Data Visualization (64%), Augmented, Virtual or Mixed Reality (60%) and Big Data Processing (59%).

·AI was a top three enabler across all industries globally, with the greatest importance assigned in Power and Utilities (81%) and Oil & Gas (particularly upstream 79% and midstream 78%).

·Japan (88%) and China (84%) prioritised AI highest, with the UK (79%) and US (77%) following closely behind.

2.Fostering collaboration through Advanced Process and Engineering Design

·Advanced Process and Engineering Design was the second most important technology (74%) and was in the top three technology priorities across all industries globally, scoring highest among Engineering, Procurement and Construction professionals.

·This was perceived as an essential technology for global production, ranked as the most important enabler for Marine Ship Building (75%), Buildings/Infrastructure (74%) and Packaged Goods (73%), with Oil and Gas and Energy all ranking the technology highly.

·Japan (85%) and Germany (82%) are early adopters with high importance attributed across all regions.

3. Stepping up cyber security and safety capabilities

·Cyber security was the third most prioritised technology enabler (71%) and in particular a focus for Mining (76%), Downstream Oil and Gas (75%), Power & Utilities (70%) and Marine (70%) and the highest priority for Planning & Scheduling specialists.

·Improving Safety and Security through technology investment was a priority across all regions, with the Middle East (68%), Australia (63%) and India (60%) particularly highlighting this issue

For global corporates the two most valuable assets are their people and their data. Businesses today have great responsibility to protect employees and customers, with technology that provides the foresight to critical failures before they occur. Lisa Johnston, CMO, AVEVA commented, “As digital transformation moves to the forefront of the industrial agenda, the power of technology to unify data and break silos is allowing specialists to collaborate and change business models. The world’s most capital-intensive projects, from sustainable energy production and mining to smart factories and connected cities are now being designed, planned and delivered by global multidisciplinary teams all connected seamlessly through technology.”

Other findings from the research included:

·Asset Performance Managers (APM) were found to have the most demanding desires for technology investment, requiring a far-reaching product set and visionary approach. APM was set apart from all other professional categories in the strength of their demand for technology to create new services or products; use data to drive new revenue streams; and to enable collaboration with AI and Analytics their most important enabler. APM also identified technology as providing a great potential to upgrade both safety and security and emergency response times.

·Face to face engagement and trust remain key vectors for driving sales success. Face to face meetings with a vendor, either at a vendor event or as an introductory meeting, are most influential across all categories, with personal referrals also particularly meaningful. Experience with a vendor is highly prioritized in UK, China and India while France, Japan and Australia place considerable weight on case studies from the vendor.

·Remote Operations Centers and Learning Management and Training scored highest for relevance across global industries. China and Japan see a Command Center as most relevant, while the US and Australia cite Supply Chain Optimization is key to their business.

·Delivering cost reduction and enhancing safety prioritised by high growth organisations The countries prioritising cost reduction have been fast to scale over the past decades - China (61%), India (58%) and the Middle East(60%) indicated that significant margin improvement is possible in these geographies from software solutions. This demand for greater efficiency mirrored a requirement to invest in technology to promote safety as these economies continue to mature (China 51%, UAE 68% and India 60%).

“This research was an opportunity to hear from both our existing as well as potential new customers across the globe and our findings mirror the growing demands for technology solutions in the market globally today. Emerging technologies like AI, Machine Learning and Edge Computing which are transforming the technology landscape with vast data streams delivering operable output as well as true business outcomes for our customers today,” concluded Lisa Johnston. 

Infosys Digital Radar 2020 finds that few companies have progressed to the most advanced stages of digital transformation this year.

Businesses globally face a “digital ceiling” when it comes to digital transformation, according to new research from Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. The study reveals that businesses must change their mindsets to achieve sophisticated levels of digital maturity.

Infosys Digital Radar 2020 assessed the digital transformation efforts of companies on a Digital Maturity Index and found year-over-year progress in basic areas, such as digital initiatives to improve a company’s efficiency. However, most companies come up against a “digital ceiling” when trying to achieve the most advanced levels of maturity.

The report, which surveyed over 1,000 executives globally, ranked the most digitally advanced companies as “Visionaries”, followed by “Explorers” and then “Watchers.”

Companies know how to achieve moderate transformation success, with an 18 per cent increase in companies progressing this year from the lowest tier of Watchers to the middle Explorer tier. However, Explorers struggled to move into the top Visionary cluster, with the top tier remaining the same, indicating a “digital ceiling” to transformation efforts.

The Visionary cluster remains unchanged despite companies reporting fewer barriers to digital transformation than last year. Human, rather than technological, barriers are now the most persistent, with the two of the top hurdles being the lack of talent or skills (34 per cent) and a risk-averse corporate culture (35 per cent).

How to break through the digital ceiling?

The research demonstrates that top performers break through the digital ceiling because they think differently.

Firstly, successful companies focus strongly on people, using digital transformation to make improvements centred on customers and employees.

Most companies (68 per cent) across the spectrum stated operational efficiency and increased productivity as a main transformation objective. But successful companies in the Visionary cluster are particularly motivated to make improvements for their employees. Nearly half of Visionaries describe “empowering employees” as a major business objective for transformation, compared with less than one third of Explorers and less than one fifth of Watchers.

Likewise, Visionaries have an increased focus on customer centred initiatives, being significantly more likely than other clusters to undertake transformation to improve customer experiences and engagement and in order to respond more quickly to customer needs.

Secondly, successful companies have a different mindset when it comes to transformation processes.

Traditional linear transformations result in long transformation timelines, meaning a company’s improvements are out of date by the time the process is complete. Instead, top performers demonstrate a cyclical mindset, implementing recurring rapid feedback loops to accelerate transformation and keep updates relevant. The Visionary cluster is far ahead of others in digital initiatives tied to quick cycles: 75 per cent operate at scale in Agile and DevOps, compared with an overall average of 34 per cent for the entire survey group.

Businesses overestimate tech barriers and underestimate the importance of a company’s mindset

The importance of culture and a cyclical transformation mindset to breaking through the digital ceiling were underestimated by businesses last year.

In the 2019 Digital Radar report, companies were asked to predict the biggest barriers to their transformation progress for the following year. This year’s Infosys Digital Radar 2020 compares these predictions to the actual challenges businesses faced in 2019.

Businesses reported dramatic declines in the impact that technological barriers have on their transformation progress, including:

• Inability to experiment quickly (down 49 per cent);
• Insufficient budget (down 40 per cent);
• Cybersecurity challenges (down 40 per cent).

However, businesses made much less progress against cultural barriers, including lack of change management capabilities (down 7 per cent) and lack of talent (down 6 per cent).

Progress across industries and geographies

• The technology and telecom industries continue to rank highest on the Digital Maturity Index this year.
• Consumer packaged goods, logistics, and healthcare achieved strong year-on-year improvements. The report’s anecdotes from executive interviews suggest that the adoption of telematics, the Internet of Things and smart medical devices contributed to these increases. Likewise, the automotive industry placed fourth by digital maturity and featured the second highest percentage of Visionaries (30 per cent of those surveyed).
• The insurance industry lags significantly behind other sectors, featuring the highest percentage of Watchers (17 per cent).
• The digital ceiling was most dramatic in China, where 23 per cent of companies moved from Watcher to Explorer (which rose from 64 per cent to 87 per cent), but the percentage in the Visionary category (8 per cent) remained the same.

Salil Parekh, CEO and MD at Infosys, commented: “We’ve seen enterprises successfully employ emerging technologies to optimise productivity and efficiency, but struggle at the next stage of digital maturity. Faster, better, and cheaper technology alone will not provide the improvements enterprises need. Our research has shown that companies which can keep pace with digital transformation are those that design digital initiatives to improve customer experiences and empower their employees, differentiating themselves and propelling their business to the most advanced levels of progress.”

Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Global Head at Infosys Knowledge Institute, commented: “This year’s Digital Radar research revealed significant progress across transformation initiatives – however, traditional programme models are not keeping up with the rapid pace of market change and companies face a distinct barrier in reaching top levels of digital maturity.

“The most successful businesses in our survey have an employee focus and a circular transformation mindset, which enable top performers to kick off a virtuous cycle in the company. The result is a “living enterprise” that is constantly sensing, improving, and attuned to its customers and employees. This living enterprise is suited to serving a larger circle of stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, and larger society – not just shareholders.”

61% of CIOs say time spent on strategic planning increased in last 12 months.

The role of the CIO is evolving with more of a focus on revenue and strategy, according to the 2019 Global CIO Survey from Logicalis, a global provider of IT solutions. The study, which questioned 888 CIOs from around the world, found that 61% of CIOs have spent more time on strategic planning in the last 12 months whilst 43% are now being measured on their contribution to revenue growth.

The survey reveals that although CIOs are becoming more strategic and accountable, they are under pressure with reduced budgets and higher security risks. Almost half of respondents (48%) say that their time spent on security defenses has increased in the last year, with CIO’s spending 25% of their time on information and security compliance. The maintenance of technology remains a key aspect of the CIO’s role, with CIO’s on average, spending one-third (33%) of their time focused on day-to-day management of technology.

The increased strain is having a negative impact on CIOs’ enjoyment of their job. Almost half of CIOs (49%) believe their job satisfaction has decreased in the last 12 months, whilst 29% say their work/life balance has worsened. The expanded focus on strategy and revenue has had an impact on the amount of time CIOs are able to spend on innovation, with 30% saying it has decreased in the last 12 months.

Mark Rogers, CEO at Logicalis, said: “It is clear from these survey results that the role of the CIO has changed and is continuing to evolve. Digital transformation has impacted almost every industry, which has led to the role of the CIO increasing in importance. CIOs are now expected to be responsible for business performance at a strategic level which has added to the time that they are expected to spend on maintaining IT infrastructure.”

“This increase in strategic responsibility - should be embraced by businesses and CIOs alike - because technology does hold the key to unlocking competitive advantage and operational efficiency. However, these survey results are stark in their findings and show the increased amount of pressure being exerted on CIOs. Organisations must ensure their CIO is fully supported and has the necessary resources to carry out their job effectively. Businesses are pushing their CIOs to understand more about the line of business and input on strategy, whilst CIOs are still under pressure carrying out day-to-day activities. Clearly, this needs to be addressed.”

Nutanix, has published the findings of its second global Enterprise Cloud Index survey and research report, which measures enterprise progress with adopting private, hybrid and public clouds. The new report found enterprises plan to aggressively shift investment to hybrid cloud architectures, with respondents reporting steady and substantial hybrid deployment plans over the next five years. The vast majority of 2019 survey respondents (85%) selected hybrid cloud as their ideal IT operating model.

For the second consecutive year, Vanson Bourne conducted research on behalf of Nutanix to learn about the state of global enterprise cloud deployments and adoption plans. The researcher surveyed 2,650 IT decision-makers in 24 countries around the world about where they’re running their business applications today, where they plan to run them in the future, what their cloud challenges are, and how their cloud initiatives stack up against other IT projects and priorities. The 2019 respondent base spanned multiple industries, business sizes, and the following geographies: the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); and the Asia-Pacific (APJ) region.

This year’s report illustrated that creating and executing a cloud strategy has become a multidimensional challenge. At one time, a primary value proposition associated with the public cloud was substantial upfront capex savings. Now, enterprises have discovered that there are other considerations when selecting the best cloud for the business as well, and that one size cloud strategy doesn’t fit all use cases. For example, while applications with unpredictable usage may be best suited to the public clouds offering elastic IT resources, workloads with more predictable characteristics can often run on-premises at a lower cost than public cloud. Savings are also dependent on businesses’ ability to match each application to the appropriate cloud service and pricing tier, and to remain diligent about regularly reviewing service plans and fees, which change frequently.

In this ever-changing environment, flexibility is essential, and a hybrid cloud provides this choice. Other key findings from the report include:

1. Apps are migrating away from the public cloud back to on-premises infrastructures. Nearly three-fourths (73%) of respondents reported that they are moving some applications off the public cloud and back on prem, and 22% of those users are moving five or more applications. These moves underscore, in part, enterprises’ need for hybrid cloud’s flexibility in allowing them to adapt their infrastructures based on their fluctuating requirements.
2. Security remains the biggest factor impacting enterprises’ future cloud strategies. Well over half of 2019 respondents (60%) said that the state of security among clouds would have the biggest influence on their cloud deployment plans going forward. Similarly, data security and compliance represented the top variable (26%) in determining where an enterprise runs a given workload.
3. IT professionals deem the hybrid cloud the most secure of all the IT operating models. More than a quarter of respondents (28%) picked the hybrid model as the most secure — substantially surpassing those who chose a fully private cloud/on-prem model (21%) and more than twice as many as those who chose traditional (non-cloud-enabled) private data centres (13%). One reason for this is perhaps because enterprises can select the right cloud for their security requirements.
4. Nearly a quarter (23.5%) of respondents currently aren’t leveraging any cloud technology today. Many companies still fall behind when it comes to enterprise cloud adoption. However, respondents’ reported plans indicate that in one year’s time, the number of enterprises with no cloud deployments will plummet to 6.5% and in two years’ time will drop by more than half to 3%. Regionally, the Americas reported a slightly lower incidence of non-cloud use (21%) compared to EMEA (25%) and APJ (24%).
5. Enterprises are striving to integrate cloud computing with their digital transformation goals. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of 2019 respondents said digital transformation was driving their cloud implementations, and 64% said that digital transformation was the top business priority in their organisations.

“As organisations continue to grapple with complex digital transformation initiatives, flexibility and security are critical components to enable seamless and reliable cloud adoption,” said Wendy M. Pfeiffer, CIO of Nutanix. “The enterprise has progressed in its understanding and adoption of hybrid cloud, but there is still work to do when it comes to reaping all of its benefits. In the next few years, we’ll see businesses rethinking how to best utilise hybrid cloud, including hiring for hybrid computing skills and reskilling IT teams to keep up with emerging technologies.”

“Cloud computing has become an integral part of business strategy, but it has introduced several challenges along with it," said Ashish Nadkarni, group vice president of infrastructure systems, platforms and technologies at IDC. "These include security and application performance concerns and high cost. As the 2019 Enterprise Cloud Index report demonstrates, hybrid cloud will continue to be the best option for enterprises, enabling them to securely meet modernisation and agility requirements for workloads.” 

Continuing unprecedented growth in the datacentre sector may be at risk due to increasing concerns around scarce resource and rising labour costs according to the latest industry survey from Business Critical Solutions (BCS), the specialist professional services provider to the international digital infrastructure industry.

The Winter Report 2020, now in its 11^thyear, is undertaken by independent research house IX Consulting, who capture the views of over 300 senior datacentre professionals across Europe, including owners, operators, developers, consultants and end users. It is commissioned by BCS, the specialist services provider to the digital infrastructure industry.

Just over two-thirds of respondents believe that the next year will see an increase in demand, up on the 55% from our previous summer survey. This is supported by over 90% of developers and investor respondents stating they expect to see a further expansion in their data centre portfolio over the coming year.

However, concerns are being raised by many Design Engineering and Construction (DEC) respondents around general shortages amongst design, construction and operational professionals with four-fifths expressing resourcing concerns. DEC respondents identified build professionals as being subject to the most serious shortages – 82% stated this view compared with 78% for design professionals and 77% for operational functionality of data centres.

When asked to rank the impact of this our respondents highlighted the increased workload placed on their existing staff (96%), rising operating/labour costs (92%) and over 80% indicating that this has led to an increase in the use of outsourcing options over the past 12 months. The increased workload for existing staff had in turn led to problems in resourcing existing work, with just over 70% stating that they had experienced difficulties in meeting deadlines or client objectives.

James Hart, CEO at BCS (Business Critical Solutions) said: “At BCS we are currently doing the round of careers fairs looking for candidates for next year’s graduate and apprenticeship scheme. When we are talking to these young people we often find that they either haven’t even considered our sector and/or they have misconceived ideas about what this career path involves. We can address this by going into universities, colleges and schools telling STEM graduates about the data centre industry and how great it is. Without action, this these issues will become more acute, so the rallying cry for 2020 is that the sector is an exciting place to be and we have to get out there and spread the word!”

New study finds that nearly 90% of organisations faced business email compromise (BEC) and spear phishing attacks in 2019.

Proofpoint has released its sixth annual global State of the Phishreport, which provides an in-depth look at user phishing awareness, vulnerability, and resilience. Among the key findings, nearly 90 percent of global organisations surveyed were targeted with business email compromise (BEC) and spear phishing attacks, reflecting cybercriminals’ continued focus on compromising individual end users. Seventy-eight percent also reported that security awareness training activities resulted in measurable reductions in phishing susceptibility.

Proofpoint’s annual State of the Phish report examines global data from nearly 50 million simulated phishing attacks sent by Proofpoint customers over a one-year period, along with third-party survey responses from more than 600 information security professionals in the U.S., Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the UK. The report also analyses the fundamental cybersecurity knowledge of more than 3,500 working adults who were surveyed across those same seven countries.

“Effective security awareness training must focus on the issues and behaviours that matter most to an organisation’s mission,” said Joe Ferrara, senior vice president and general manager of Security Awareness Training for Proofpoint. “We recommend taking a people-centric approach to cybersecurity by blending organisation-wide awareness training initiatives with targeted, threat-driven education. The goal is to empower users to recognise and report attacks.”

End-user email reporting, a critical metric for gauging positive employee behaviour, is also examined within this year’s report. The volume of reported messages jumped significantly year over year, with end users reporting more than nine million suspicious emails in 2019, an increase of 67 percent over 2018. The increase is a positive sign for infosec teams, as Proofpoint threat intelligence has shown a trend toward more targeted, personalised attacks over bulk campaigns. Users need to be increasingly vigilant in order to identify sophisticated phishing lures, and reporting mechanisms allow employees to alert infosec teams to potentially dangerous messages that evade perimeter defences.

Additional State of the Phish report global findings include the following takeaways. Specifics on North America, EMEA, and APAC are detailed within the report as well.

·More than half (55 percent) of surveyed organisations dealt with at least one successful phishing attack in 2019, and infosecurity professionals reported a high frequency of social engineering attempts across a range of methods: 88 percent of organisations worldwide reported spear-phishing attacks, 86 percent reported BEC attacks, 86 percent reported social media attacks, 84 percent reported SMS/text phishing (smishing), 83 percent reported voice phishing (vishing), and 81 percent reported malicious USB drops.

·Sixty-five percent of surveyed infosec professionals said their organisation experienced a ransomware infection in 2019; 33 percent opted to pay the ransom while 32 percent did not. Of those who negotiated with attackers, nine percent were hit with follow-up ransom demands, and 22 percent never got access to their data, even after paying a ransom.

·Organisations are benefitting from consequence models. Globally, 63 percent of organisations take corrective action with users who repeatedly make mistakes related to phishing attacks. Most infosec respondents said that employee awareness improved following the implementation of a consequence model.

·Many working adults fail to follow cybersecurity best practices. Forty-fivepercent admit to password reuse, more than 50 percent do not password-protect home networks, and 90 percent said they use employer-issued devices for personal activities. In addition, 32 percent of working adults were unfamiliar with virtual private network (VPN) services.

·Recognition of common cybersecurity terms is lacking among many users. In the global survey, working adults were asked to identify the definitions of the following cybersecurity terms: phishing (61 percent correct), ransomware (31 percent correct), smishing (30 percent correct), and vishing (25 percent correct). These findings spotlight a knowledge gap among some users and a potential language barrier for security teams attempting to educate employees about these threats. It’s critical for organisations to communicate effectively with users and empower them to be a strong last line of defence.

·Millennials continue to underperform other age groups in fundamental phishing and ransomware awareness, a caution that organisations should not assume younger workers have an innate understanding of cybersecurity threats. Millennials had the best recognition of only one term: smishing. 

A new report published by CREST looks for solutions to the increasing problems of stress and burnout among many cyber security professionals, often working remotely in high-pressure and under-resourced environments. CREST – the not-for-profit body that represents the technical security industry including vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, incident response, threat intelligence and SOC (Security Operations Centre) – highlights its concerns and says that more needs to be done to identify the early stages of stress and provide more support.

Recent statistics show that 30% of security team members experience tremendous stress, while 27% of CISOs admit stress levels greatly affect the ability to do their jobs and 23% say stress adversely affects relationships out of work.

“While most security professionals are passionate about what they do and thrive well under bouts of pressure, it is important to recognise when this healthy and positive stress becomes unhealthy and detrimental to performance and wellbeing, and where people are working remotely, as many are, it can be really difficult to spot because of a lack of support and communication,” says Ian Glover, president of CREST. “The problem can sometimes be compounded by the rise in complex attacks, long hours spent under a constant ‘state of alert’, the shortage of skills and pressure from senior management and regulators. Reported breaches are a frequent reminder of the business and reputational consequences if mistakes are made or malicious activity is missed.”

Author of the report, David Slade, aPsychotherapist, points to the main stress warning signs to look out for, which include anxiety, lack of confidence, making erratic decisions, irritability, a reduction in concentration, poor time keeping and generally feeling overwhelmed. These factors can lead to bouts of insomnia, a decline in performance, increasing use of drugs or alcohol, over or under eating, taking more sick days, withdrawal, a loss of motivation and actual physical and mental exhaustion.

“As in many high-pressure professions, it is very rare for people in cyber security to seek professional help when feeling stressed or overwhelmed,” says David Slade. “We need to instil a culture of better communication and peer-to peer support as well as encouraging practical measures such as taking regular breaks, exercise and holidays as well as introducing relaxation techniquessuch as mindfulness and having time set aside to discuss individual worries and concerns.”

The CREST report urges businesses and organisations to accept responsibility to ease staff stress levels by creating an organisational culture of openness at all levels and building a flexible environment in which individuals get encouragement, advice and support. This includes access to sources of advice on mental health issues, training tools and workshops, along with stress and burnout self-help videos.With the increasingly acute skills shortage in cyber security, CREST also believes that more automation can play a part in taking the strain off overworked staff, while the use of DevSecOps can help to move from a reactiveapproach to cyber security to a ‘security by design’ model.

“Management’s urgent task is to ensure that the organisation flourishes in a way that serves both the people outside and the people inside with a way of assessing how well the psychological needs of both groups are taken into account,” says Slade. “This would ensure that any change of structure or practice does not impinge on these needs.”

The CREST report was borne out of research conducted among its members and an open Access to Cyber Day that included stress and burnout workshops.“The level of interest and engagement in putting the report together was a clear demonstration of both the growing concern around stress and burnout in the industry, and the willingness to do something about it” adds Ian Glover. “If we want to retain the skills and experience we already have while also encouraging the best new talent into the cyber security industry, we need to recognise the problems and face up to the challenges to create exciting and stimulating careers while providing the right environment and support.” 

60% of breaches in 2019 involved vulnerabilities where available patches were not applied.

ServiceNow has released its second sponsored study on cybersecurity vulnerability and patch management,conducted with the Ponemon Institute. The study,“Costs and Consequences of Gaps in Vulnerability Response”,found that despite a 24% average increase in annual spending on prevention, detection and remediation in 2019 compared with 2018, patching is delayed an average of 12 days due to data silos and poor organisational coordination. Looking specifically at the most critical vulnerabilities, the average timeline to patch is 16 days.

At the same time, the risk is increasing. According to thefindings, there was a 17% increase in cyberattacks over the past year, and 60% of breaches were linked to a vulnerability where a patch was available, but not applied. The study surveyed almost 3,000 security professionals in nine countries to understand how organisations are responding to vulnerabilities.In this report, ServiceNow presents the consolidatedfindings and comparisons to its 2018 study,Today’s State of Vulnerability Response: Patch Work Requires Attention.

The survey results reinforce a need for organisations to prioritise more effective and efficient security vulnerability management:

• 34% increase in weekly costs spent on patching compared to 2018.
• 30% more downtime vs. 2018, due to delays in patching vulnerabilities.
• 69% of respondents plan to hire an average offive staff members dedicated to patching in the next year, at an average cost of $650,000 annually for each organisation.
• 88% of respondents said they must engage with other departments across their organisations, which results in coordination issues that delay patching by an average of 12 days.

Thefindings also indicate a persistent cybercriminal environment, underscoring the need to act quickly:

• 17% increase in the volume of cyberattacks in the last 12 months compared to the same timeframe in 2018.
• Nearly 27% increase in cyberattack severity compared to 2018.

The report points to other factors beyond staffing that contribute to delays in vulnerability patching:

• 76% of respondents noted the lack of a common view of applications and assets across security and IT teams.
• 74% of respondents said they cannot take critical applications and systems offline to patch them quickly.
• 72% of respondents said it is difficult to prioritise what needs to be patched.

According to thefindings, automationdelivers a significant payoff in terms of being able to respond quickly and effectively to vulnerabilities. Four infive (80%) of respondents who employ automation techniques say they respond to vulnerabilities in a shorter timeframe through automation.

“This study shows the vulnerability gap that has been a growing pain point for CIOs and CISOs,” said Jordi Ferrer, Vice President and General Manager UK&I at ServiceNow. “Companies saw a 30% increase in downtime due to patching of vulnerabilities, which hurts customers, employees and brands. Many organisations have the motivation to address this challenge but struggle to effectively leverage their resources for more impactful vulnerability management. Teams that invest in automation and maturing their IT and security team interactions will strengthen the security posture across their organisations.”

Cloud Industry Forum finds that the Cloud is critical to more than eight in ten Digital Transformation projects.

Over a quarter (28%) of businesses in the UK now have a fully formed digital transformation strategy in place, and over half (54%) are in the process of implementing one, according to the latest research from Cloud Industry Forum (CIF). Critically the Cloud is seen as either very important or vital to organisations’ digital strategies to 82% of respondents.

Launched today, the research, which was conducted by Vanson Bourne and surveyed UK-based IT and business decision-makers, sought to understand how they were exploiting cloud and other next generation technologies, and the barriers standing in the way of adoption.

Almost all of the respondents (98%) said that their digital transformation strategy is at least fairly clearly defined, with just over a third (34%) having full clarity. When asked if their organisation is doing enough to become fully digitised 28% felt they were doing more than enough, and a further 56% stated that they were doing just enough. There is still work to be done with a lack of skills (40%) and the perennial lack of budget (38%) being cited as key hinderances to further and deeper digital transformation.

Alex Hilton, CEO, Cloud Industry Forum, stated: “Digital transformation is a well and truly established concept, with only a tiny minority of our sample not embracing it in some way. We are beginning to see greater clarity in the way leaders are formulating their strategies, but it does not mean it is time to rest on our laurels.

“There is still much that businesses can do to speed up processes, build efficiency and convince all leaders that digital is the way to go. Cloud’s role in all of this remains vital, given its emphasis on flexibility at a time when these qualities are more important than ever.”

Key findings include:

• Over a quarter (28%) of businesses have a fully formed digital transformation strategy in place, and over half (54%) are in the process of implementing one
• Cloud is critical to 22% of respondents’ digital transformation projects and very important in 60% of the sample
• Organisations are continuing to harness the benefits of the Cloud with 93% now using cloud-based services in one form or another
• 71% of businesses plan to build new applications for the Cloud in the future, moving away from legacy in favour of a more cloud-native approach and 87% expecting to increase their use of Cloud in the next year
• However, there are challenges: around a third of IT projects are not being completed on time or budget

Alex Hilton, continued: “UK businesses clearly recognise the need for transformation and are gradually leaving legacy technologies behind in favour of next generation technologies as they pursue competitive advantage. Cloud is critical to this shift, thanks not only to the flexibility of the delivery model, but also the ease with which servers can be provisioned, which reduces financial and business risk. Furthermore, cloud’s ability to explore the value of vast unstructured data sets is next to none, which in turn is essential for IoT and AI.

“However, it’s clear that the majority of UK organisations are right at the start of this journey and many are being prevented from exploiting IoT, blockchain and AI due to skills shortages, a lack of vision, and, indeed, a lack of support from vendors. The research found that the lack of human resources, alongside a general skills shortage and a lack of budget, are the biggest challenges hampering further transformation.

“According to the research 56% of the sample cited that they are looking for strong, trusted relationships with suppliers, and a further 51% are looking for deep technical knowhow. The vendor community and the channel have a big role to play here, refining their service and support capabilities, and helping end users comprehend the transformative potential of these next generation technologies,” concluded Alex.

“Although political uncertainties pushed the global economy closer to recession, it did not occur in 2019 and is still not the most likely scenario for 2020 and beyond,” said John-David Lovelock,  distinguished research vice president at Gartner. “With the waning of global uncertainties, businesses are redoubling investments in IT as they anticipate revenue growth, but their spending patterns are continually shifting.”

Software will be the fastest-growing major market this year, reaching double-digit growth at 10.5% (see Table 1). “Almost all of the market segments with enterprise software are being driven by the adoption of software as a service (SaaS),” said Mr. Lovelock. “We even expect spending on forms of software that are not cloud to continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate. SaaS is gaining more of the new spending, although licensed-based software will still be purchased and its use expanded through 2023.”

Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)

Source: Gartner (January 2020)

Growth in enterprise IT spending for cloud-based offerings will be faster than growth in traditional (noncloud) IT offerings through 2022. Organizations with a high percentage of IT spending dedicated to cloud adoption is indicative of where the next-generation, disruptive business models will emerge.

“Last quarter, we introduced the ‘and’ dilemma where enterprises are challenged with cutting costs and investing for growth simultaneously. Maturing cloud environments is an example of how this dilemma is alleviated: Organizations can expect a greater return on their cloud investments through cost savings, improved agility and innovation, and better security. This spending trend isn’t going away anytime soon.”

The headwind coming from a strong U.S. dollar has become a deterrent to IT spending on devices and data center equipment in effected countries. “For example, mobile phone spending in Japan will decline this year due to local average selling prices going up as a result of the U.S. dollar increasing. The U.K.’s spending on PCs, printers, servers and even external storage systems is expected to decline by 3%, too,” said Mr. Lovelock.

Despite last quarter showing the sharpest decline within the device market among all segments, it will return to overall growth in 2020 due to the adoption of new, less-expensive phone options from emerging countries. “The almost $10 billion increase in device spending in Greater China and Emerging Asia/Pacific is more than enough to offset the expected declines in Western Europe and Latin America,” said Mr. Lovelock.

Collaboration on the increase

Over the next two years, 50% of organizations will experience increased collaboration between their business and IT teams, according to Gartner, Inc. The dispute between business and IT teams over the control of technology will lessen as both sides learn that joint participation is critical to the success of innovation in a digital workplace.

“Business units and IT teams can no longer function in silos, as distant teams can cause chaos,” said Keith Mann, senior research director at Gartner. “Traditionally, each business unit has had its own technology personnel, which has made businesses reluctant to follow the directive of central IT teams. Increasingly, however, organizations now understand that a unified objective is essential to ensure the integrity and stability of core business. As a result, individuals stay aligned with a common goal, work more collaboratively and implement new technologies effectively across the business.”

Evolution of the Role of Application Leader

The role of application leader has changed significantly with the replacement of manual tasks by cloud-based applications in digital workplaces. The application leader must ensure that this transition is supported by appropriate skills and talent.

As more and more organizations opt for cloud-based applications, AI techniques such as machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), chatbots and virtual assistants are emerging as digital integrator technologies. “While the choice of integration technologies continues to expand, the ability to use designed applications and data structures in an integrated manner remains a complex and growing challenge for businesses. In such scenarios, application leaders need to deliver the role of integration specialists in order to ensure that projects are completed faster and at lower cost,” said Mr. Mann.

Application leaders will have to replace the command-and-control model with versatility, diversity and team engagement with key stakeholders. Application leaders must become more people-centric and provide critical support to digital transformation initiatives.

Additionally, in a digital workplace, it is the application leader’s responsibility to serve as the organizational “nerve center” by quickly sensing, responding to, and provisioning applications and infrastructures. “Application leaders will bring together business units and central IT teams to form the overall digital business team,” said Mr. Mann.

Much management work to be fully automated by 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies such as virtual personal assistants and chatbots are rapidly making headway into the workplace. By 2024, Gartner, Inc. predicts that these technologies will replace almost 69% of the manager’s workload.

“The role of manager will see a complete overhaul in the next four years,” said Helen Poitevin, research vice-president at Gartner. “Currently, managers often need to spend time filling in forms, updating information and approving workflows. By using AI to automate these tasks, they can spend less time managing transactions and can invest more time on learning, performance management and goal setting.”

AI and emerging technologies will undeniably change the role of the manager and will allow employees to extend their degree of responsibility and influence, without taking on management tasks. Application leaders focused on innovation and AI are now accountable for improving worker experience, developing worker skills and building organizational competency in responsible use of AI.

“Application leaders will need to support a gradual transition to increased automation of management tasks as this functionality becomes increasingly available across more enterprise applications,” said Ms. Poitevin.

AI to Foster Workplace Diversity

Nearly 75% of heads of recruiting reported that talent shortages will have a major effect on their organizations. Enterprises have been experiencing critical talent shortage for several years.  Organizations need to consider people with disabilities, an untapped pool of critically skilled talent. Today, AI and other emerging technologies are making work more accessible for employees with disabilities.

Gartner estimates that organizations actively employing people with disabilities have 89% higher retention rates, a 72% increase in employee productivity and a 29% increase in profitability.

In addition, Gartner said that by 2023, the number of people with disabilities employed will triple, due to AI and emerging technologies reducing barriers to access.

“Some organizations are successfully using AI to make work accessible for those with special needs,” said Ms. Poitevin. “Restaurants are piloting AI robotics technology that enables paralyzed employees to control robotic waiters remotely. With technologies like braille-readers and virtual reality, organizations are more open to opportunities to employ a diverse workforce.”

By 2022, organizations that do not employ people with disabilities will fall behind their competitors.

IDC defines the future of intelligence as an organization's capacity to learn, combined with its ability to synthesize the information it needs in order to learn and to apply the resulting insights at scale. The ability to continuously learn at scale – and apply that learning across the entire organization instead of in silos at a faster rate than the competition – is the crucial differentiator that will separate those with greater enterprise intelligence enterprises from their peers.

The capabilities needed in the drive towards the future of intelligence will depend on a platform that enables ongoing explanation, monitoring, learning, and adaptation that will drive economies of intelligence.

IDC predicts that over the next four to five years, enterprises that invest in future of intelligence capabilities effectively will experience a 100% increase in knowledge worker productivity, resulting in shorter reaction times, increased product innovation, and improved customer satisfaction, in turn leading to sustainable market share leadership (or achievement of their mission) in their industry. These enterprises will be able to:

• Execute their responses to customers, competitors, regulators, and partners in half the time of their peers — often by anticipating situations in advance.
• Increase their success rate of new product introduction by 25%.
• Expand their scope by offering a wider variety of experiences and increase their Net Promoter Scores at a rate 1.5 times as fast as their competitors.

"In 2019, enterprises globally spent $190 billion on data management, analytics, and AI technologies and services — not even including labor costs or purchases of external data. How much of that spending generated intelligence and how much of that investment generated value are questions many executives are unable to answer," said Dan Vesset, group vice president, Analytics and Information Management and IDC's Future of Intelligence research practice lead. "Enterprises that achieve economy of intelligence will have a competitive advantage just as those enterprises in the past that achieved economies of scale and scope had an advantage over their peers."

Cloud IT infrastructure revenues decline

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, vendor revenue from sales of IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud environments, including public and private cloud, declined in the third quarter of 2019 (3Q19) as the overall IT infrastructure market continues to experience weakening sales following strong growth in 2018. The decline of 1.8% year over year was much softer than in 2Q19 as the overall spend on IT infrastructure for cloud environments reached $16.8 billion. IDC slightly increased its forecast for total spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 2019 to $65.4 billion, which represents flat performance compared to 2018.

The decline in cloud IT infrastructure spending was driven by the public cloud segment, which was down 3.7% year over year, reaching $11.9 billion; sequentially from 2Q19, this represents a 24.4% increase. As the overall segment is generally trending up, it tends to be more volatile quarterly as a significant part of the public cloud IT segment is represented by a few hyperscale service providers. This softness of the public cloud IT segment is aligned with IDC's expectation of a slowdown in this segment in 2019 after a strong performance in 2018. It is expected to reach $44 billion in sales for the full year 2019, a decline of 3.3% from 2018. Despite softness, public cloud continues to account for most of the spending on cloud IT environments. However, as demand for private cloud IT infrastructure is increasing, the share of public cloud IT infrastructure continued to decline in 2019 and will be declining slightly throughout the forecast period. Spending on private cloud IT infrastructure has shown more stable growth since IDC started tracking sales of IT infrastructure products in various deployment environments. In 3Q19, vendor revenues from private cloud environments increased 3.2% year over year, reaching nearly $5 billion. IDC expects spending in this segment to grow 7.2% year over year in 2019 to $21.4 billion.

As investments in cloud IT infrastructure continue to increase, with some swings up and down in the quarterly intervals, the IT infrastructure industry is approaching the point where spending on cloud IT infrastructure consistently surpasses spending on non-cloud IT infrastructure. Until 3Q19, it happened only once, in 3Q18, and in 3Q19 it crossed the 50% mark for the second time since IDC started tracking IT infrastructure deployments. In 3Q19, cloud IT environments accounted for 53.4% of vendor revenues. However, for the full year 2019, spending on cloud IT infrastructure is expected to stay just below the 50% mark at 49.8%. This year (2020) is expected to become the tipping point with spending on cloud IT infrastructure staying in the 50+% range.

Across the three IT infrastructure domains, Ethernet switches is the only segment expected to deliver visible year-over-year growth in 2019, up 11.2%, while spending on compute platforms will decline 3.1% and spending on storage will grow just 0.8%. Compute will remain the largest category of cloud IT infrastructure spending at $34.1 billion.

Sales of IT infrastructure products into traditional (non-cloud) IT environments declined 7.7% from a year ago in 3Q19. For the full year 2019, worldwide spending on traditional non-cloud IT infrastructure is expected to decline by 5.3%. By 2023, IDC expects that traditional non-cloud IT infrastructure will only represent 41.9% of total worldwide IT infrastructure spending (down from 51.6% in 2018). This share loss and the growing share of cloud environments in overall spending on IT infrastructure is common across all regions. While the industry overall is moving toward greater use of cloud, there are certain types of workloads and business practices, and sometimes end user inertia, which keep demand for traditional dedicated IT infrastructure afloat.

Geographically, the cloud IT Infrastructure segment had a mixed performance in 3Q19. Declines in the U.S., Western Europe, and Latin America were driven by overall market weakness; in these and some other regions 3Q19 softness in cloud IT infrastructure spending was also affected by comparisons to a strong 3Q18. In Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), the second largest geography after the U.S., spending on cloud IT infrastructure increased 1.2% year over year, which is low for this region. However, it is in comparison with strong double-digit growth in 2018. Other growing regions in 3Q19 included Canada (4.9%), Central & Eastern Europe (4.6%), and Middle East & Africa (18.1%).

Notes:

* IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide cloud IT infrastructure market when there is a difference of one percent or less in the vendor revenue shares among two or more vendors.

** Due to the existing joint venture between HPE and the New H3C Group, IDC reports external market share on a global level for HPE as "HPE/New H3C Group" starting from Q2 2016 and going forward.

*** Due to the existing joint venture between IBM and Inspur, IDC will be reporting external market share on a global level for Inspur and Inspur Power Systems as "Inspur/Inspur Power Systems" starting from 3Q 2018.

Long-term, IDC expects spending on cloud IT infrastructure to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%, reaching $92 billion in 2023 and accounting for 58.1% of total IT infrastructure spend. Public cloud datacenters will account for 66.3% of this amount, growing at a 6% CAGR. Spending on private cloud infrastructure will grow at a CAGR of 9.2%.

Spending on robotics systems and drones forecast to reach $128.7 Billion in 2020

Worldwide spending on robotics systems and drones will be $128.7 billion in 2020, an increase of 17.1% over 2019, according to a new update to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Robotics and Drones Spending Guide. By 2023, IDC expects this spending will reach $241.4 billion with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8%.

Robotics systems will be the larger of the two categories throughout the five-year forecast period with worldwide robotics spending forecast to be $112.4 billion in 2020. Spending on drones will total $16.3 billion in 2020 but is forecast to grow at a faster rate (33.3% CAGR) than robotics systems (17.8% CAGR).

Hardware purchases will dominate the robotics market with 60% of all spending going toward robotic systems, after-market robotics hardware, and system hardware. Purchases of industrial robots and service robots will total more than $30 billion in 2020. Meanwhile, robotics-related software spending will mostly go toward purchases of command and control applications and robotics-specific applications. Services spending will be spread across several segments, including systems integration, application management, and hardware deployment and support. Services spending is forecast to grow at a slightly faster rate (21.3% CAGR) than software or hardware spending (21.2% CAGR and 15.5% CAGR, respectively).

"Software developments are among the most important trends currently shaping the robotics industry. Solution providers are progressively integrating additional software-based, often cloud-based, functionalities into robotics systems. An operational-centric example is an asset management application to monitor the robotic equipment performance in real-time. It aligns solutions with current expectations for modern operational technology (OT) at large and plays in facilitated adoption by operations leaders," said Remy Glaisner, research director, Worldwide Robotics: Commercial Service Robots. "Equally important is the early trend driven by burgeoning 'software-defined' capabilities for robotics and drone solutions. The purpose is to enable systems beyond some of the limitations imposed by hardware and to open up entirely new sets of commercially viable use-cases."

Discrete manufacturing will be responsible for nearly half of all robotics systems spending worldwide in 2020 with purchases totaling $53.8 billion. The next largest industries for robotics systems will be process manufacturing, resource industries, healthcare, and retail. The industries that will see the fastest growth in robotics spending over the 2019-2023 forecast are wholesale (30.5% CAGR), retail (29.3% CAGR), and construction (25.2% CAGR).

"Despite movement toward a trade agreement between the U.S. and China, it appears that tariffs may remain in place on many robotics systems. This will have a negative impact on both the manufacturing and resource industries, where robotics adoption has been strong. The additional duties will likely slow investment in the robotics systems used in manufacturing processes, automated supply chains, and mining operations," said Jessica Goepfert, program vice president, Customer Insights & Analysis.

Spending on drones will also be dominated by hardware purchases with more than 90% of the category total going toward consumer drones, after-market sensors, and service drones in 2020. Drone software spending will primarily go to command and control applications and drone-specific applications while services spending will be led by education and training. Software will see the fastest growth (38.2% CAGR) over the five-year forecast, followed closely by services (37.6% CAGR) and hardware (32.8% CAGR).

Consumer spending on drones will total $6.5 billion in 2020 and will represent nearly 40% of the worldwide total throughout the forecast. Industry spending on drones will be led by utilities ($1.9 billion), construction ($1.4 billion), and the discrete manufacturing and resource industries ($1.2 billion each). IDC expects the resource industry to move ahead of both construction and discrete manufacturing to become the second largest industry for drone spending in 2021. The fastest growth in drone spending over the five-year forecast period will come from the federal/central government (63.4% CAGR), education (55.9% CAGR), and state/local government (49.9% CAGR).

"We expect to see some price increases as drone manufacturers pass on the cost of tariffs imposed on the import/export of drones. The construction and resource industries will particularly feel the effects of these price increases. In contrast, many consumer drone manufacturers have chosen against raising prices and are absorbing the additional costs in order to maintain supply and to satisfy continuing consumer demand for drones. While the pending trade agreement offers some hope, these industries will face continued headwinds as long as tariffs remain in place," said Stacey Soohoo, research manager, Customer Insights & Analysis. "Elsewhere, robotics manufacturers will continue to face the one-two punch of higher costs for both materials and imported components."

On a geographic basis, China will be the largest region for drones and robotics systems with overall spending of $46.9 billion in 2020. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC) will be the second largest region with $25.1 billion in spending, followed by the United States ($17.5 billion) and Western Europe ($14.4 billion). China will also be the leading region for robotics systems with $43.4 billion in spending this year. The United States will be the largest region for drones in 2020 with spending of nearly $5.7 billion. The fastest spending growth for robotics systems will be in the Middle East & Africa which will see a five-year CAGR of 24.9%. China will follow closely with a CAGR of 23.5%. The fastest growth in drone spending will be in APeJC, with a five-year CAGR of 78.5%, and Japan (63.0% CAGR).

Blockchain promises to redefine trust - it lets us build decentralised systems where we do not need to trust the owners of the system. Likewise, blockchain lets previously untrusted parties establish trust quickly and efficiently. This enables developers to build novel applications that can work in untrusted environments. However it is not readily apparent where blockchain use cases are feasible and can deliver clear value. Here at WS02 we recently analysed blockchain’s viability using the Emerging Technology Analysis Canvas (ETAC) taking a broad view of emerging technology and probing impact, feasibility, risks and future timelines.

It’s hard to talk about all the different blockchain use cases collectively and come to sensible conclusions. This is because they are many and varied and each will have varying requirements and goals. Therefore, we began our analysis by surveying the feasibility of 10 categories of blockchain use cases including digital currency, ledgers and lightweight financial systems, among others, and we put these into various categories. This has enabled us to identify a number of common traits.

New versus old systems of trust

What we found was that most of the use cases we looked at have already been solved in some way. So, why do we need to implement blockchain?

The answer is that blockchain can provide a new kind of trust.

Traditional, pre-blockchain systems generally function effectively. However, they implicitly assume two kinds of trust. In the first instance, we trust the “super users” of what are centralised implementations. Here, one person or a few individuals have deep access to the system and are deemed trustworthy. Alternatively, with an organisation or government, we can reasonably assume processes are in place that should deter wrongdoing.

The second way we establish trust is through an out-of-bound means, such as signing a legal contract, obtaining a reference or by providing a credit card to gain access. This is why most systems or ecosystems require you to provide credentials, which you need to create through some other channel, before you can access them.

Unlike traditional trust systems, blockchain-based systems can operate without either of the assumptions being true. Operating without the first assumption is known as decentralisation and doing so without the second is known as “dynamic trust establishment.” However, our ability to operate without these assumptions and achieve a new level of trust does not always mean that we should. We need to consider the trade-off between the cost of using blockchain and the potential return.  This is not a technical decision, but one that looks at values and how much risk we’re willing to take.

Weighing the costs of blockchain

Our analysis identified several challenges, some of these were technical and will likely be fixed in the future, others were risks that are inherent aspects of blockchain and unlikely to change. Blockchain challenges are limited scalability and latency, limited privacy, storage constraints and unsustainable consensus (e.g. current consensus algorithms are slow and consume significant computing power). Meanwhile, blockchain risks include irrevocability, regulator absence, misunderstood side effects, fluctuations in bitcoin prices and unclear regulatory responses.

We evaluated all of the use case categories in the context of blockchain’s challenges and risks and arrived at three levels of feasibility.

First, blockchain technology is ready for applications in digital currency, including initial coin offerings (ICOs); provenance, e.g. supply chains and other B2B scenarios; and disintermediation. We expect to see use cases in the next three years.

Second, ledgers (of identity, ownership, status and authority), voting and healthcare, are only feasible for limited use cases where the technical limitations do not hinder them.

For other use cases such as lightweight financial systems, smart contracts, new internet apps and autonomous ecosystems, blockchain faces significant challenges, including performance, irrevocability, the need for regulation and lack of consensus mechanisms. These are hard problems to fix and could take at least five to 10 years to resolve.  In most cases, today’s centralised or semi-centralised solutions for establishing trust are faster, have more throughput and are cheaper than decentralised blockchain-based solutions.

So is blockchain worth it?

Neither the decentralisation nor the dynamic trust establishment enabled by blockchain is free. However, while true decentralisation is expensive, once in place, it makes dynamic trust establishment easy to implement.

Decentralisation can be useful in a number of scenarios such as: limiting government censorship and control; avoiding having a single organisation controlling critical systems; preventing rogue employees from causing significant damages. It also enables system rules to be applied to everyone evenly and reduces damage because fewer user accounts are compromised in the event of a hack/system breach..

Moreover, the polarised arguments around blockchain’s value suggest there is no shared understanding of the value of decentralisation. Organisations express concern around the arbitrary power of governments as well as large organisations, but do they understand the trade-offs and additional resources required to attain higher trust? Similarly, privacy is a concern, but most of us share data daily in exchange for free access to the internet and social media platforms.

Clearly, decentralisation needs to be part of a policy decision that is taken only after wide discussion. On the one hand, in an increasingly software-controlled world — from banking to healthcare and autonomous cars — the risks associated with centralised systems are increasing. That said, trying to attain full decentralisation could kill blockchain, especially if overly ambitious targets are set because the cost will be prohibitive.

Fortunately, centralised versus decentralised does not have to be an all-or-nothing decision. Multiple levels of decentralisation are possible. For example, private blockchains are essentially semi-decentralised because any action requires consensus among a few key players. Therefore, it is important to critically examine each blockchain use case.

Significant financial investments have been made in blockchain, but if the quest for a fully decentralised solution takes too long; it will put the future of blockchain at risk. This makes a good case for starting with a semi-decentralised approach to minimise risk and then strive for full decentralisation in a second phase.

A full analysis of the trade-offs

Blockchain provides mechanisms for establishing trust that reduce the risks associated with centralised systems and enable agility by automating the verification required to establish trust. However, compared to current decentralised or semi-decentralised blockchain solutions, centralised solutions are faster, have more throughput and cost less to implement. That said, as governments and market demands address the technical challenges blockchain faces, the associated costs and barriers to implementation will be reduced. In summary, deciding which blockchain use case to invest in and when requires deep critical analysis of all the trade-offs.

As more and more businesses prioritise sustainability and pledge to reduce carbon emissions, whether it’s to satisfy investors, customers or employees, effectively tracking a business’ carbon footprint is becoming increasingly important. As it stands, carbon reporting is a complex and manual process, often self-reported with little validation from external parties and next to no involvement from the supply chain, meaning that insights into a company’s carbon footprint can be reported incorrectly and, even, window dressed to be more appealing.

One solution to this that’s growing in validity is the use of blockchain to record carbon emissions. Its decentralised characteristic and networking features means carbon reporting can be conducted with greater transparency and control, providing insights into the whole company’s carbon footprint, including those of supplier, distributors and customers, without any risk of manipulation or error.  

In an age where a company’s reputation is directly affected by its stance on sustainability and more and more consumers are making purchase choices based on an organisation’s contribution to the environment, creating greater sustainability transparency will be the key to satisfying all stakeholders with an interest in sustainability and helping enterprises meet their targets.

When we look back on the late 90s and early 2000s, it is often defined as the “dot com” era of business — a single leap in technology that radically changed the way we do business and share data. In much the same way, we may be leaving the social media era and beginning a new era defined by an emerging technology: blockchain. Blockchain for business has been talked about and developed since 2008, however, this revolution does need to be carefully managed. If blockchain is to change the way we do business, and how economies operate, then we need to think carefully about what will follow.

For those who do not know, blockchain technology allows for data transfers to be both transparent and automated. Be it a transfer of electronic funds between banks, companies or peers, data transparency is created due to public or private ledgers. All involved with the transactions can audit every step and ensure that each party is holding up their end of the bargain. Therefore, if an inventory record needs to be kept on file and updated every two weeks, the blockchain can store that record and allow all parties to check on its status. The second part of blockchain's formula is automation, or smart contracts. A smart contract will execute a transaction or a data transfer when specific criteria are met. Take the inventory record mentioned above; there may be a stipulation in the blockchain that states data will only be transferred if the record is properly updated. If the record holder misses their deadline, the transaction will automatically not go through, and instead, notify all parties that the record holder is in violation of the agreement.

This has been considered in great detail by financial service firms, and for good reason. When dealing with money, there are a great deal of checks and balances that must be in place in order to loan money or release funds. Currently, many of these records are looked into manually, with each step of a loan process requiring human intervention. However, if this could be automated, and transactions could be approved by checking all criteria against a database, millions (if not trillions) of dollars could potentially be saved. The benefits of transparency and automation are beginning to go well beyond finance. Throughout 2018, we will very likely see the dawn of this new technological era as blockchain begins to directly impact a multitude of industries.

Healthcare

Like with financial services, efficacy isn’t a strong suit of the healthcare industry. It can take days (if not weeks) to get approvals on referrals and medication due to strict regulations and confidentiality standards. These delays drive up the cost of healthcare and drive down patient satisfaction. However, because blockchain is automated and can check records as well as regulations instantly, this technology has the potential to make a major impact on how we receive our healthcare.

Take, for example, getting approval from an insurance company for baby formula. In many states, if a newborn has a milk allergy, insurance companies will be required to provide prescription formula for a period of time as long as it can be proven that the allergy exists. As it currently stands, this would require the family to visit their pediatrician and perform a test. If the milk allergy test returns positive, then the doctor will prescribe a formula, which the child’s family will need to submit to insurance. From here, a decision from the insurer can usually take one or two weeks. If denied, resubmission can occur, taking another week or two before a decision is made. This is just one example of how a patient will need to wait on medicine because of the inefficacy of healthcare’s approval process.

If approval or denial was performed on a blockchain, however, the turnaround time would significantly decrease because a patient’s history would already be in the block. An approval process would become automated, with the software knowing what documents need to be attached, what each corresponding law in for the state, what the patients plan covers and if all necessary steps have been completed. Instead of a one- to two-week wait, with manual checks along the way, blockchain’s automation could provide approval or denial in a matter of seconds after it checks against a database. If requirements haven’t been met, the block would provide a clear statement to all parties involved, letting everyone know what is still required (thanks to the visible ledger).

Supply Chain

While healthcare regulations deal with federal and state red tape, supply chains will often add international regulations into the mix, which require even more checks and approvals along the way. As it currently stands, 90% of all global #trade is moved by ocean freight, and it is highly dependent on non-digital paperwork.

The shipping and receiving process can require up to 30 sign-offs from organizations lasting more than a month. If a form is ever late, it will leave a container at the shipping port for days, if not weeks. These delays cost time and money, but blockchain could solve these problems.

By digitising both the paperwork and the approval processes, the supply chain process will become far more transparent and efficient. All involved parties will be able to track a shipment, see where a container is in its journey and understand, if there is a delay, who is responsible for the hold up. Once approval is needed from a company or a specific party, they will be notified and approval can be granted digitally and remotely, allowing the supply chain to continue moving. Coupled with the IoT revolution, organization would even be able to reroute items within the shipping container to their destination without ever needing to manually input any data. 

Major Hotels and Hospitality

While healthcare and supply chains have inordinate amounts of paperwork and regulations, the hospitality industry is dealing with a different challenge: crowdsourcing. AirBnB, HomeAway and other home-sharing services are taking would-be guests away from traditional hotels because of price, as well as convenience. Guests want to feel like they’re getting a unique experience. Fortunately, blockchain can help resolve these issues and make larger hotel brands more personalized.

Thanks again to integration of different types of technology, this time GPS, a blockchain technology, can completely tailor a guest’s hotel experience. Once the hotel is booked, the hotel can be notified and they can then select the room they’d like to stay in, be it closer to an elevator, near the breakfast area, or totally away from everyone if they’d like. Then, once the guest arrives in the hotel’s city, the blockchain can recognize this and provide updates on their room, either through email or the hotel’s app. That hotel app can also be automated and used as a keycard once the room is ready. Once the guest is ready to leave, the blockchain will settle their bill (if they haven’t paid ahead of time or if there are any additional chargers), then ask if they’d like to rebook in the future, which would start the process all over again.

Agriculture

The above examples have shown how blockchain can benefit large institutions and corporations, but as blockchain technology becomes more popular and simpler to set up, it will also help the profit margin and transparency for smaller business owners such as farmers. Providing food to retailers in mass requires federal regulations to be met from the time a seed hits the ground to when the final product hits store shelves. For family farmers or tiny international suppliers, proving they are meeting all requirements and getting a fair share of the profits can take a significant amount of time and cut into the bottom line.

Through blockchain, however, smaller operations would be able to submit paperwork to the ledger quickly, proving that they are meeting all regulations. Once a harvest comes in and it’s time for shipment, as seen in the supply chain section, they would be able to send their product to stores and ensure it is being delivered properly. Unlike a toy or piece of furniture, fresh food products have a shelf life, so getting a product from a farm to a store shelf as quickly as possible directly affects the farmers revenue. If the block continues to the sale of the item, a farmer would be able to tell how well their product is performing, and ensure they are getting a proper cut of the profits.

Any small business owner, from startup software providers to mom-and-pop clothing designers, can benefit from blockchain automation. It levels the playing field, and due to transparency, makes sure everyone is doing their part and holding true to their agreements. Thanks to automation, it also significant reduces paperwork and manual checks, which for many industries, is incredibly burdensome and expensive. While financial services may make the phrase “blockchain” known, in 2018, expect blockchain to being its rise in popularity across all industries.

Sustainability has now become a very important issue for all businesses.  Not only because they are gaining a better understanding and profound sense of responsibility about the impact they – and we as individuals – have on the world, but because it affects how successful companies will be.  Interest in sustainable businesses will only flourish, impacting how individuals and companies choose products and services, ​as well as where the talent of tomorrow wants to work.

Simultaneously, our dependency on data centres is set to grow as technologies such as AI, 5G and IoT become part of everyday life, both personally and professionally. IDC predicts worldwide data creation will grow to 163 zettabytes by 2025 – ten times the amount of data produced in 2017. With that in mind, ​we need to ask ourselves what the factors are in choosing where to locate sustainable data centres and IT infrastructure.  The reality is that any data centre provisioned by a company must serve two sustainability masters and find that all-important balance between them.

Firstly, which goes without saying, the data centre must be sustainable for the business in terms of cost and performance.  If the service that customers receive is degraded, there are outages or latency issues with their websites and applications it will simply create too many risks and, in a worst-case scenario, place the businesses itself in peril.  The productivity and staff within the business can also be in jeopardy given the extent to which most business rely on cloud-based services as part of their own infrastructure.

The second ‘master’, becoming increasingly noticeable, is the push we all feel both commercially and personally to be more responsible custodians of our planet.  Consumers, potential employees, investors and business partners are increasingly making decisions about the companies they want to be associated with based on their commitment to a sustainable environment.  For data centres, this used to simply be about PUE (power usage effectiveness). However, data centre owners now need to consider the sources from which power comes, the physical impact of the site, recyclability, as well as the impact of the communications infrastructure on which the data centre relies to reach all those that use its services.  We also need to consider the biggest waste product of data centres, heat.  Is it being re-used as part of heat consuming systems, or simply ejected into the atmosphere?

Let’s take a look at how some of these factors more directly related to infrastructure are being addressed in the context of one European country, Sweden, which has made the kind of progress that others can only be envious of.

Power generation

For such an energy intensive industry, something that is set to increase in the future as volumes of data and processing needs increase, the source of power for data centres has become a global issue of concern.  Whilst many countries are making progress on moving to power generation that is less dependent on fossil fuels, Sweden is leading the way.

Sweden's electrical power comes primarily from hydro and nuclear sources. Together, they account for 80 per cent of all electricity production in the country. The remainder comes largely from wind and co-generation of heat and power.

In 2017, total electricity production amounted to 159 TWh. Hydropower accounted for 64 TWh, which represents 40 per cent of Sweden's total electricity production capacity. During a typical year, approximately 65 TWh of electricity is produced this way, but fluctuating precipitation can cause this to deviate by around 15 TWh. Wind is also a growing area, and in 2019 was expected to reach 20 TWh.

Overall, Sweden’s high proportion of hydro, wind and nuclear power make it a very low producer of hydrocarbon- based electricity, and it therefore has a competitive green electricity footprint when compared with other European countries.

Application and latency

Whether the latency added by network overhead is important or not will depend upon the nature of an application and the user’s perception of performance. The total application latency will, in addition to the network latency, be the sum of delay contributed by the hardware, software and application implementation of the user’s system, as well as the load on any external servers that the application relies on.

For the user, it is the total quality of experience that counts. This is where the long-term approach of Nordic countries towards telecommunications infrastructure has put them in an enviable position, embracing technologies that are efficient, fast and with a long lifespan.

The Nordic region is particularly well connected and all countries in the region were early adopters of fibre technology, more than three decades ago. This is especially true for the Stockholm region which is arguably one of the best-connected in the world. Here, an extensive network of fibre optic infrastructure connects locations in all geographical directions: to the north of Sweden – all the way into the Arctic Circle, towards Oslo in the west, eastwards with cables to Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius via the Lithuanian coast then St. Petersburg and onwards into Russia. And finally, towards the south with multiple paths towards Copenhagen, Western Europe, the US, Asia and beyond. In addition to Telia Carrier, there are twelve other international carriers offering services in Stockholm.

Fixed users within range

One of the most widely-discussed topics in the telecom world is the time that it takes for data traffic to reach a particular destination and come back again. This is referred to as Round Trip Delay (RTD) and quite simply, it measures (in milliseconds) the time it takes for traffic to transit the network from its point of origin to a specific destination and back.

How fibre connections are routed and joined together across the globe has a big impact on bandwidth and latency. Sweden and Stockholm in particular has made itself the beating heart of fibre backbone traffic with over 350 million users having an RTP of less than 30ms.  A huge factor in this is the way in which Telia and other fibre carriers have located their Points-of-Presence (PoPs) in key metropolitan locations across the backbones available.

Sustainability counts

Choosing the right location for a data centre, or indeed the service provider from which you will procure data centre services is critical – it always has been – but now performance and cost are no longer the major criteria.  The world views the impact of data centres very differently and the BBC has even said ‘eco-browsing’ will trend in 2020, as consumers seek to reduce their impact with less browsing.

Ignoring sustainability as part of your data centre planning decisions will have long-term impacts on your business and, as we all know, switching providers it not something that can be done overnight.  Consider all the factors and get it right the first time.

However, digital transformation is not reserved for large corporations with extensive resources, and companies of all shapes and sizes are starting their own transformation journeys, from trying out new digital workflows to investing in cloud-based solutions. IDC estimates that around $2.3 trillion will be spent on digital projects by 2023 – account for more than half of all IT spending.

Whatever the sector and focus of the business, digitalisation projects align with the objective of making the business more efficient and agile. A successful project can lower costs by reducing infrastructure overheads, improving flexibility and scalability, and even unlocking entirely new business models and markets.

In many cases achieving these results can mean implementing major changes across the business, often overturning decades of established working practices. This means proper planning and preparation is essential for any project to succeed. However, many organisations focus on the technical aspect of digital transformation and overlook one of the most important aspects of their business – their employees.

The risk of forgetting to put employees first

Getting the workforce onside can have a huge impact on a project’s chances of success. Research from McKinsey shows that a staggering 70 percent of digital transformations fail, with poor employee engagement being one of the most important factors.

Implementing new technologies and working practices without properly consulting with the workforce can cause a number of serious issues that prevent a project from reaching its full potential, or even derail it completely. 

If the decision to go ahead with new technology comes entirely from the top, it will be made without proper insight into the needs of the workers who will be dealing with it on a daily basis. This can easily result in the launch of new technology that lacks essential functionality or is a poor fit with established processes. On the other end of the scale, the organisation may invest in a top-of-the-line solution without preparing the workforce to use it effectively, resulting in poor ROI. It’s also common to find that digital projects include solutions that do no integrate well with existing systems used by the organisation, or those of third-parties, because the decision makers were not aware of these complexities.

Aside from specific technical issues, unilaterally forging ahead with digital transformation can also be bad for morale. As a rule, people do not like being surprised with major changes and are likely to resist change if they feel it is being forced upon them. Unless employee buy-in is established at the start of the project, employees will often go back to the tried and tested solutions they are familiar with, skirting around the new technologies and workflows wherever possible. Without full commitment and take-up from the workforce, the digital project will have little chance of achieving any objectives around improving efficiency and agility, potentially resulting in a damaging series of unintended consequences such as resentment, increased staff turnover, lack of continuity, higher recruitment and training costs and lower overall productivity.

In order to avoid issues such as these, it is crucial that employee engagement efforts begin at the very start of the project, long before implementation and ideally before the solutions have even been chosen.

Research from Gartner has found that managing employee commitment to any change in the workplace becomes more difficult the further along the process is. The research found that nearly three-quarters of employees subjected to major changes in the workplace experience moderate-to-high stress levels.

Focusing on communication

Rather than digital transformation being something dictated by the company’s senior leaders, it should be seen as a collaborative project that involves employees at all levels across the organisation. From day one, senior managers should have a clear strategy for communicating their plans for digital transformation with employees, long before they begin scouting for potential solutions.

Appointing someone to act as a digital transformation evangelist can be a useful approach, ensuring that there is a single figurehead who is able to coordinate and take responsibility. Depending on the size of the company, this could be the CIO, another senior IT decision maker or may even be an entirely new role. Digital transformation leaders should be in constant contact with representatives from different departments across the business to share information and gather feedback.

To establish a proper dialogue with the workforce, the organisation can also provide individual employees with a clear channel of communication to both receive information and provide their own ideas and feedback. A central focal point such as a workplace portal can be very effective at ensuring that staff have their say, particularly if it is integrated with an existing employee intranet or dashboard. This will make it easy for the decision makers tasked with overseeing the project to communicate with the workforce and allow employees to respond without disrupting their own workflows. 

Once a communication strategy and the right tools have been implemented, IT and business heads can start gathering valuable feedback and insight that will help to shape both individual projects and the company’s digital transformation journey at large.

Managing this through a central portal or dashboard will also make it easier for the decision makers to compare data from across different departments, such as HR, finance or production, and help them to choose solutions and strategies that will work across the board. As solutions are tested and implemented, project leads can incorporate feedback from department heads and the wider workforce to help shape and guide the implementation.

By including all employees in a digitalisation project from the very beginning and ensuring that they have a centralised resource for staying informed and providing their own feedback, organisations will be able to pave the way for a smoother digital transformation journey.

It’s time to have a look at the year 2020 and what it would have in store for enterprises.

Since we are in the business of securing our enterprise customers’ infrastructures, we keep a close eye on how the security and encryption landscape is changing so we can help our customers to stay one step ahead.

In 2019, ransomware made a comeback, worldwide mobile operators made aggressive strides in the transformation to 5G, and GDPR achieved its first full year of implementation and the industry saw some of the largest fines ever given for massive data breaches experienced by enterprises.

2020 will no doubt continue to bring a host of the not new, like the continued rash of DDoS attacks on government entities and cloud and gaming services, to the new and emerging. Below are just a few of the trends we see coming next year.

Ransomware will increase globally through 2020

Ransomware attacks are gaining widespread popularity because they can now be launched even against smaller players. Even a small amount of data can be used to hold an entire organisation, city or even country for ransom. The trend of attacks levied against North American cities and city governments will only continue to grow.

We will see at least three new strains of ransomware types introduced:

• Modular or multi-leveled/layered ransomware and malware attacks will become the norm as this evasion technique becomes more prevalent. Modular attacks use multiple trojans and viruses to start the attack before the actual malware or ransomware is eventually downloaded and launched
• 70 percent of all malware attacks will use encryption to evade security measures (encrypted malware attacks)

To no surprise, the cyber security skills gap will keep on widening. As a result, security teams will struggle with creating fool-proof policies and leveraging the full potential of their security investments

Slow Adoption of new Encryption Standards

Although TLS 1.3 was ratified by the Internet Engineering Taskforce in August of 2018, we won’t see widespread or mainstream adoption: less than 10 percent of websites worldwide will start using TLS 1.3. TLS 1.2 will remain relevant, and therefore will remain the leading TLS version in use globally since it has not been compromised yet, it supports PFS, and the industry is generally slow when it comes to adopting new standards. Conversely, Elliptical-curve cryptology (ECC) ciphers will see more than 80 percent adoption as older ciphers, such as RSA ciphers, are disappearing.

Decryption: It’s not a Choice Any Longer

TLS decryption will become mainstream as more attacks leverage encryption for infection and data breaches. Since decryption remains a compute-intensive process, firewall performance degradation will remain higher than 50 percent and most enterprises will continue to overpay for SSL decryption due to lack of skills within the security teams. To mitigate firewall performance challenges and lack of skilled staff, enterprises will have to adopt dedicated decryption solutions as a more efficient option as next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) continue to polish their on-board decryption capabilities

Cyber attacks are indeed the new normal. Each year brings new security threats, data breaches and operational challenges, ensuing that businesses, governments and consumers have to always be on their toes. 2020 won’t be any different, particularly with the transformation to 5G mobile networks and the dramatic rise in IoT, by both consumers and businesses. The potential for massive and widespread cyber threats expands exponentially.

Let’s hope that organisations, as well as security vendors, focus on better understanding the security needs of the industry, and invest in solutions and policies that would give them a better chance at defending against the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.

Contribution of digital workers will grow by 50%

“75% of organisations are struggling to recruit digital skills, making room for a boom in the number of digital workers in businesses. These workers can augment automation efforts with AI and machine learning, working in harmony alongside humans. In fact, we found that the contribution of digital workers will grow by 50% in the next two years, illustrating a real shift to a future built on human-machine collaboration.

Automation can and should be human-centric – humans and machines, not human versus machines. Only then can human workers focus on higher-level, creative and socially responsible tasks, and give customers better experiences and faster service. In 2020, businesses that are quick to incorporate digital workers with content intelligence skills within their automation platforms will gain a significant competitive edge.”

Overhauling processes will become a necessity, not a nice-to-have

“With the process mining market set to triple by 2023, and as more complex deployments of digital transformation technologies ramp up, the ability to monitor a business’ processes will become critically important. However, individual technologies like RPA and BPM only have visibility over the steps they control – so new technology is needed to provide visibility of the process end-to-end. 

To get the insights needed to improve customer service and operational efficiency, and ultimately boost profits, organisations will need to take advantage of process intelligence tools that go beyond more simple process mining. Process intelligence provides a comprehensive view of running processes, giving businesses the ability to act on what they find and improve processes in real-time. While we expect to see large enterprises leading the way, some smaller businesses in process-intensive industries like customer service or finance will begin to transform their processes too in the coming year.”

RPA adoption will boom in the UK as businesses see rapid ROI

“Currently, less than a quarter of UK businesses are investing in RPA. With more than 4 in 5 of those who have invested in RPA having seen a return on their investment within just a year, with a majority seeing improvements in efficiency, market share, and revenue growth, we expect to see adoption of RPA in the UK boom in 2020. We predict that adoption will be particularly strong in the banking and financial services sector, which is already leading the way with 38% adoption. By the end of 2020, we can expect this to have increased to two-thirds of businesses in this sector. Indeed, Forrester predicts in 2020 that more than a million knowledge worker jobs worldwide will be replaced by RPA bots thereby allowing staff to focus on more complex tasks.

Going beyond just RPA, businesses are seeing even greater benefits when investing in RPA alongside process or content automation technologies – with 71% having grown their revenue, compared to 37% of those using RPA alone. Again, we’re likely to see banking and financial services businesses leading the charge, to enhance efficiency and productivity in an uncertain economy.”

CIOs will put AI ethics at the top of their agenda

“The new challenge for CIOs adopting AI technologies comes down to one thing: ethics. It has now become paramount that CIOs know what uses of AI could cause problems – whether bad, biased or unethical – and what they can do to make sure their business remains on the right side. In 2020, we’ll see CIOs begin to question their AI deployments: are the AI applications they are building are moral, safe, and right? Is the data behind your AI technology good, or does it have algorithmic bias? 

With augmented intelligence set to the become the new normal, no CIO wants to be known for bad and biased use of AI – especially since the legal ramifications of such actions will ramp up significantly in 2020. This will be the year that AI ethics hits the agenda of every CIO, and businesses, workers, and the public will all benefit from it.”

Companies all over the world in every industry are currently overwhelmed with data. The total amount of data, which doubles every two years, clocked in at 4.4 zettabytes (trillion gigabytes) in 2013 and is likely to hit 44 zettabytes by 2020.  This will have a significant impact on the modern enterprise as the digital revolution continues to transform businesses, bringing new challenges. 

1.    Rich media content surpasses traditional content

The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words,” will hold especially true in 2020 as rich media content like videos and images become increasingly prevalent in modern businesses. How people consume information is drastically changing and is reflected in how they interact with organizations. We’ll see a huge increase in the exchange and sharing of rich media between businesses and customers to simplify and expedite their experiences. For example, customers sharing dash cam footage and a photograph of the damage to a car with an insurance agency following an accident. In 2020, expect that rich media will surpass all of the traditional content created to date, posing new challenges for how enterprises manage and regulate more complicated content.  

2.    Content will increase tenfold 

With the rise of rich media and growing number of business applications, the amount of content will increase at least tenfold. As the volume increases, organizations will face a challenge in trying to understand the information they’re responsible for. Already, we’re seeing organizations unable to effectively grasp their vast content sources, an issue that will become a bigger concern as the content grows in volume and complexity.  

3.    Managing dark data  

Simply put, dark data is information, often personal information, that enterprises have, but don’t realize they have. Dark data encompasses unstructured data, which Gartner predicts will encompass 80% of all global data by 2022, and is often stored in silos, network file stores and unregulated tools across an organization. With new data regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, there will be an increased urgency for organizations to get a handle on their dark data. Until they do, I expect to see more organizations getting hit with serious fines for not protecting their information.    

4.    Blockchain will play a bigger role in privacy  

Blockchain will become more pervasive for business applications. Within data privacy and security, there are countless applications that could benefit from blockchain. For example, a healthcare organization utilizing blockchain to manage the authentication of patient records. It removes the potential for human error and ensures a completely secure process.   

5.    Facing the challenge of shadow IT

Younger workers are rejecting traditional enterprise technology in favor of their own tools. Many IT leaders are already concerned with the practice, often referred to as Shadow IT, and in the coming year, the issue will escalate to business leadership. Employees using rogue tools unvalidated by IT professionals puts the entire organization and its customers at risk. It’s an extremely important issue that shows no sign of improving as more young workers climb the corporate ladder. 

6.    Hype technology will bring value to the modern enterprise

The technologies that have previously delivered more hype than value will start to come to fruition. There will be a democratization of artificial intelligence technology, allowing more and more people to actually start driving significant business value from using the technology to solve business problems. Within the data space, AI will be critical in helping companies understand the information they have. Furthermore, it will dictate what information is valuable and what can be removed. No longer will organizations need to waste time, money and effort storing use less information ‘just in case’.    

7.    Unpacking the process of digitisation

Organizations making digital investments will increasingly start with process. The most valuable investments always directly connect to the customer. Thus, digital transformations should begin by evaluating the customer journey. What processes are part of that journey? And how can these be improved to provide exceptional experiences for the customer. That’s where the most valuable digital transformation will begin.  

8.    Democratisation of technology 

As new technologies, that were once complex - needing a data scientist to understand, become more accessible, there will be a democratization of these technologies. Consider the fact that there used to be typists when typewriters were the new, latest technologies. We'll one day look at certain data science roles as we do typists. Employees across an organization will become more familiar and knowledgeable with artificial intelligence and machine learning so that very niche technology job roles will go the way of the typing pools of old.  

Hybrid, in theory, provides the pros of both, while offering a far more flexible platform: one that can scale up and down and access the latest technology features of the cloud vendors, whilst maximizing utility of the existing assets on a more predictable capex model.

However, there’s still much confusion around what the hybrid cloud is and isn’t, which is holding back some businesses from achieving the very best from their IT infrastructure.

Clarifying the confusing

It’s worth mentioning right off the bat that hybrid cloud is rarely something that’s decided upon as a primary option – rather, it’s something businesses move to out of necessity.

While small businesses can, with their light infrastructure and minor data footprint, jump straight to a public cloud service relatively easily, for larger organisations it’s a different story. Incumbent enterprise are usually burdened with legacy IT architecture compiled over decades of operation and M&A activity. Trying to move everything to a public cloud service with the click of a button is, unfortunately, impossible which is often why a hybrid half-way house approach is adopted.

The most successful hybrid journeys begin by addressing the application portfolio rather than a straightforward lift and shift. Is there data that is required to stay on premises for contractual reasons? Are there technical, commercial or licensing requirements that demand some form of private cloud too? Where that’s the case (ruling out a cloud-only option), larger organisations are finding that the hybrid cloud – the best of both worlds – is the way forward.

Still, it tends to rely on a matter of rationalizing the application portfolio. How many businesses, for instance, have separate applications that provide duplicate capabilities to separate parts of the business? This usual comes about as a result of M&A activity or via some form of decentralised IT decision making. Understandably, many have taken advantage of a migration to a hybrid cloud system to consolidate their applications and remove such duplication before moving to public cloud.

That’s especially evident in applications that have a cloud-native version available. In lieu of that update being an immediate viable path, parking existing applications on a hybrid cloud is a solid holding position - assuming, of course, that the cost benefits of shifting an application and its data to the cloud outweigh the price of doing so.

A necessity, but still, a useful place to be

What’s ultimately become clear this year is that hybrid cloud is a useful interim place to be. One that’s especially invaluable for organisations whose infrastructure is in a state of some flux. For companies that don’t have an appropriate native cloud option in place, it can be a bridge to better. A full public cloud service is typically the end goal, and the majority of businesses now acknowledge that it’s a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’.

What’s more, there are plenty of solutions currently on the market that make hybrid infrastructure a viable and long-term option. Private cloud platforms such as AWS Outposts and Azure Stack, for example, bring native AWS and Azure services to both data centres and on-site facilities. They’ve also made inroads into the world of hybrid cloud, which in turn demonstrates that major players in this space are working with hybrid in the medium as well as the long term.

Hybrid cloud offers businesses a way to move on from legacy systems without having to transform to a public cloud architecture overnight. It allows organisations to tread a cautious path to becoming cloud-first, offering a beneficial transitional state and the opportunity to plan the next stage of development.

I must be honest and confess that my knowledge of the World Economic Forum (WEF) was limited to a once-a-year meeting in Davos-Klosters where the world's top leaders collaborate to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. The Forum's mission, as I understood it, was to improve the state of the world by bringing together leaders across industries and society – a pretty lofty goal!

What I didn’t know is that the WEF has numerous platforms, councils, communities, and workgroups that are all dedicated to the same goal. I was pleased to find out 5G was high on the Forum’s radar when they contacted me a few months ago and said they were forming a 5G workgroup comprised of stakeholders across the next gen telco ecosystem. I was more pleased when they asked me to join this group, the World Economic Forum’s 5G-Next Generation Networks Programme, and I happily accepted.

It was an exciting invitation for me because I’d spend the prior six months researching and collaborating on the data center architecture needed for 5G. I wanted to share what I’d learned with a broader group and collaborate further with the members of this programme. I was also interested in participating in the cross-industry workshops planned for London, Singapore, and Silicon Valley.

Sharpening Our 5G Focus

The first workshop was held in London and focused on three areas:

• sharing knowledge on 5G/next gen mobile technologies, as well as enterprise use cases and experiences;
• understanding implications for enterprises and ecosystem players looking to innovate in the 5G era;
• exploring cross-industry collaborative opportunities with objectives and impact areas across three domains: industry, society, and government. 

The first output from the 5G-Next Generation Networks Programme is a “Repository of 5G Use Cases,”  that features 5G case studies from Korea Telecom, Ericsson, Nokia, Ford, Lyft, and others. Schneider Electric’s use case is featured on pages 31 and 32 with the topic of Metro/Regional and Local Mobile Edge Cloud (MEC) buildout. Highlights include:

• the need to deploy an architecture of data centers that includes core, regional/metro mobile edge cloud, and local mobile edge cloud;
• the need for 7.5 million standalone 5G towers with base stations including MEC (mobile edge cloud) in the future;
• a description of the ecosystem players driving 5G.

Hope for Finding the “Killer App” for 5G

In addition to the “Repository of 5G Use Cases,” a white paper called “The Impact of 5G: Creating New Value across Industries and Society” is also available. Schneider Electric collaborated on the content and provided a manufacturing-based case study:

Case Study

Schneider Electric plans to leverage 5G to simplify factory IT operations, improve support to manufacturing, and accelerate factory digitization. 5G demonstrations at Schneider Electric’s Le Vaudreuil factory leverage low latency and high throughput and secure indoor coverage to validate a range of use cases along various aspects. These include:

• enhancing the operational efficiency of field maintenance technicians through content delivery and seamless assistance from remote experts;
• enabling Schneider customers to remotely tour the factory with a telepresence robot;
• enabling Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) in the factory to send video streams and sensors and receive real-time instructions to perform tasks not programmed in AGVs.

As the group moves forward, programme members will continue to collaborate and we are confident we will identify the “killer app” that will drive deployment and adoption of 5G.

At Schneider Electric, we are also collaborating on establishing cooperative models for infrastructure investment. Topics under discussion include policy impact and stakeholder mapping (smart cities), business/revenue models, infrastructure investment ecosystem, etc.

Subsequent to the Forum’s next workshops, look for new 5G content to be published. It’s going to be an exciting journey!

Everything from dining out to staying in hotels has been brought in line with the digital age, and augmented reality is one of the top emerging tools being used within the hospitality sector. From speeding up check in desks to providing guests with control over the ambience of their rooms, we’re going to take a look at some of the top ways that these technologies are being implemented into the industry.

Adding new dimensions with AR

Augmented reality, known as AR, uses technology to alter a person’s perception of their surroundings. It offers a simulated virtual environment for a person to interact with. It can be applied to a range of purposes, from entertainment to training facilities, and it can be accessed through devices such as smartphones, headsets, or tablets. With AR, the existing surroundings are still there, but the digital elements it creates add a layer over reality — hence the name! Through AR, environments can become more interactive, providing the user with a new perspective. So, how can this be adapted for the hospitality sector?

Interact with your room

AR has become commonplace in hotel rooms, serving guests by enhancing their stay and giving them an element of personalisation. Nowadays, customers are attracted to the concept of an experience, and the idea of any kind of unique element contributes to this. In this way, AR can be used to make rooms more interactive, which will add value to the guest’s stay. Providing maps which facilitate AR technologies is a popular approach, and when a smartphone is pointed at areas on the map AR generates a range of helpful visual content. This added convenience is what distinguishes a stay as an ‘experience’, by providing customers with a handy solution making their stay better overall.

Entertainment source

Gamification has a huge scope for application within the hospitality sector. It has become a phenomena of sorts in the wider world, with successes such as GeoCaching and Pokémon Go sweeping across the nation sending participants on augmented missions and treasure hunts. AR has become one of the most accessible, portable applications for gamification, and all a user needs to get started is a smartphone.

As an entertainment platform, AR can be used anywhere with an enabled device. There’s no end to the visual creations which can be generated — from creating simulations of global landmarks to depictions of celebrities, the possibilities are endless! AR based apps could even allow guests to redecorate rooms, allowing you to tailor your stay to your décor preferences, demonstrating how effective the technology could become for allowing guests to have more say over their stay.

Take a tour the smart way

While the booking process has moved online, we could be anticipating a further shift towards AR based booking systems. While 360 degree tours such as the Kingslodge Inn virtual tour are already popular with guests, this service could become even more thorough. The technology can add real time dates and information to provide guests with a better idea of room availability, the facilities available, and any events happening in the location of the hotel. By providing these extra details, guests can book a trip that suits their requirements. Information such as transport links could also feature on these AR tours, giving guests a genuine perspective of how they’ll get around the area during their stay. Whether you’re visiting the hustle and bustle of London, or if you’re simply looking for some traditional pubs in Durham, an AR tour could give you a first-hand perspective through some creative digital elements.

The hospitality industry looks set to embrace all of these advances, in order to captivate the imagination of an ever-modernising audience!

Sources:

https://www.geocaching.com/play

https://pokemongolive.com/en/

https://arpost.co/2019/10/11/augmented-reality-revolutionizing-hospitality-industry/

https://hoteltechnologynews.com/2019/03/how-augmented-reality-technology-is-shaping-the-hotel-industry/

https://www.quytech.com/blog/augmented-reality-redefining-hotel-and-travel-industries/

https://roombre.com/en/blog/hotel-technology/hospitality-trends-augmented-reality-ar.html

https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/click-magazine/impact-augmented-reality-hospitality-industry

Having the right employees on board for this process is vital, and using data analytics to intelligently identify who these employees are is what will set apart the successful businesses from the unsuccessful.

However, knowing where to start is often the problem. With so much data to look at, where is the best place to begin? Identifying top performers is a key challenge, but by using metrics on areas such as attendance, engagement and performance, these individuals can not only be recognised, but replicated to ensure all employees are happy and productive in their roles.

What does a ‘top’ performer look like?

Most organisations will say that they only want top performers. And why not, why should they settle for less? Yet, many organisations still need to consider what ‘top’ really means – but this can only be achieved by adding data in the mix to identify not only existing top performers but potential top performers.

For example, the benchmark for a top performer might be exceptional attendance, excellent engagement in tasks and achieving outstanding results. If this is the case, then a potential top performer might be an employee that hits two out of the three areas, with areas to improve in the third. By identifying which area the employee may need to develop skills or characteristics, the organisation can ensure that employee is fully supported to go from being a potential top performer to an actual top performer.

The same methodology applies for disengaged employees; what can a top-performing employee that is highly engaged teach the organisation about an employee that has recently become disengaged, and how can they become engaged? By looking at areas such as the employee’s current workload – are they under- or over-worked? – and their current team – has the size of the team decreased, or are they fully supported? – the organisation will gain a better understanding of which circumstances or factors may be contributing to the employee’s current lack of engagement. Looking into these areas will not only help to improve the working life of the employee but also identify if there is untapped potential for the employee to become a top performer.

Top performers in the recruitment process

How can the success of top performers be replicated in the search for future employees? The information gained from looking at the characteristics and skills of top-performing employees can be extremely useful when establishing if a possible new recruit would be a good fit for the company. Do their interests and past experience match that of current top performers? Do they share similar employment history or skills that mean the employee has the potential to also be successful?

At the same time, organisations must look at exiting employees and assess if they possess any skills that should be avoided or replicated, or if they are leaving a gap that must be filled. If so, can any winning characteristics or skills be identified in the list of candidates being considered? This may be the secret to replicating the success of current top performers – but only data can reveal that.

Retaining top performers

Identifying top performers and understanding how these characteristics can be used within the recruitment process is important, but organisations can’t forget to examine how these top-performing employees can be retained themselves. After all, these aren’t employees that organisations would want to risk losing. Organisations and HR teams can start by looking at employees that have been with the company the longest; what has made them stay for so long? Does the employee have a great relationship with their line manager, or have they taken advantage of particular perks? These areas can also be used to identify what can attract an employee to stay at the organisation, rather than look for a job elsewhere, which can also inform future company policies or incentives.

The right path for success starts with any organisation really knowing who its employees are, which are top-performing, or potentially top-performing, and how this can be replicated both amongst existing and potential employees. Armed with this insight from HR analytics, organisations can create a workforce that is motivated, engaged and dedicated to seeing the organisation grow and succeed.

In fact, “Fifty-seven percent of mobility decision makers said they have edge computing on their roadmap for the next 12 months,” according to a Forrester Analytics Global Business Technographics® Mobility Survey. That said, this is only the surface of what’s to come - here are my opinions and predictions on what will become mainstream throughout this year.

The growing landscape of the IoT

The global internet of things (IoT) market was valued at US$ 190.0 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach US$ 1,102.6 billion by 2026, according to research from Fortune Business Insights. As a result, organisations will be gathering data and insights from almost everything we use – not just from the moment we wake up but even while we sleep. Technologists say the birth of the iPhone led to the upsurge of edge computing and IoT. Considering the extent of Apple’s accomplishments, we will see a much wider variety of businesses making use of this capability to put reasonable amounts of compute into a tiny form factor and move it into dedicated functions.

As a result, in 2020, rather than revolutionary, expansion in the IoT space will be evolutionary. It will continue to progress, pushed forward by a requirement for more compelling, efficient, and cost-effective solutions, with edge computing at the forefront.

At the edge of the network 

The majority of data is being created outside the four walls of the traditional data centre, which is unsurprising, as today’s world becomes more and more data-driven. As organisations get into the swing of 2020, they are beginning to closely analyse their cloud data storage. Cloud was originally perceived as the answer to all problems, but now the question is, at what cost? 

More companies are looking at hybrid cloud and edge computing strategies in the hope of keeping data closer to its origin. This year, we’re expecting to see organisations more heavily relying on hybrid environments, and using edge computing to store, process, and minimise extensive quantities of data, which are then later transferred to a centralised data centre or the cloud.

Bigger and badder threats on the horizon

Over the past year, an onslaught of news headlines revealed that organisations from banks to airlines to hospitals, even entire local governments, fell prey to ransomware attacks. These menacing attacks are growing at a frightful pace, and will continue to become more sophisticated, more lucrative, and increasingly devious in 2020. Already this year has seen Travelex hitting the headlines as it fell victim to a ransomware attack. It is time for organisations of all sizes to think about what resources they need to modernise and protect their IT infrastructure. 

As these threats continue into 2020, companies must understand that traditional legacy tools are leaving them exposed and vulnerable to tactical and well-organised criminals, as well as obstructing their digital transformation journey. Organisations should now be taking advantage of highly available solutions, such as hyperconverged infrastructure and edge computing, that allow them to not only keep up with changing consumer demands, but deploy the most effective cyber defences, disaster recovery, and backup.

Incase IT professionals are required to face the aftermath of data being corrupted, and with ransomware at the forefront of many organisations’ minds, a step-change is needed in the event of an attack. These organisations will increasingly be guided by insurance companies as they take more of an active role, not just in the recovery of data, but in deciding whether or not to pay the ransom demand. The total cost of doing business will also escalate in conjunction with the growing threat of cyber-attacks, and every company, no matter the size, should be preparing itself for the impact

Reducing the footprint

Smaller computing form factors that perform enterprise-level tasks will be required to address the needs of both IoT and edge computing. The principal driving factor of this trend will be the cost of deploying and maintaining computing systems outside of the data centre. The smaller the form factor, the lower the requirements for power, cooling, and space.

Cloud computing is simply not suitable for many computing needs at the edge of the network where IoT is growing, even with 5G networks. Small computing devices and appliances that can run business-critical applications and be highly available will be critical to meeting the growing computing demands of this new decade.

With a much more discrete footprint than traditional servers and server-based appliances, smaller form factor computing will make technology more accessible outside of data centres. Many traditional systems can be replaced with smaller, cooler, and less power-hungry alternatives. A more compact footprint also aligns with the environmental initiatives of organisations around the world to reduce energy consumption into the coming years.  

Edge computing, IoT and data protection will experience momentous gains in 2020, ensuring those who deploy these technologies get a great start to the decade. We also expect to see major changes in the way that organisations utilise these technologies and, further, how consumers respond to various innovations.  

This revealed that not having enough visibility over the increasing number of endpoints, such as laptops, servers, virtual machines, containers, or cloud infrastructure, leaving them unaware and unable to protect all systems, was the biggest concern for the coming year (25%). The next biggest area of concern for respondents is the sophistication of attackers rising (23%) followed by employees clicking malicious links (18%), and the complexity of managing physical, virtual, cloud and container infrastructure (15%). 

What this all serves to underline is the fact that successful cyber attacks usually occur when businesses don’t get the foundational security concepts right. When an organisation doesn’t have visibility and, by extension, control of the potential entry points across its IT environment, they are inherently vulnerable to attack. To best equip organisations for the threats to come this year, organisations must ensure that they are taking several important steps to build a comprehensive IT security strategy so that they can protect critical assets, monitor impact, and recover from any unexpected attacks or disruption. This includes:

1. Assessing organisational obstacles: Are security and IT operations teams working in tandem or in confusion about which department is responsible for ensuring resilience against disruption and cyber threats? According to our latest research (67 percent) of businesses say that driving collaboration between security and IT ops teams is a major challenge. The IT operations and security teams should be working together to protect the IT environment, company and customer data - without this, they can’t achieve true visibility of their environment and endpoints, which leaves them vulnerable to attack. 

2. Knowing your environment: Understanding what is in an IT environment is a crucial step. If a CISO stops by the IT team and asks how many unpatched devices are on a network, can this be answered accurately? As organisations look to build a strong security culture, it is essential that IT operations and security teams unite around a common set of actionable data for true visibility and control over all of their computing devices. This will enable them to prevent, adapt and rapidly respond in real-time to any technical disruption or cyber threat.

3. Decluttering the infrastructure: One of the most cited issues throughout WannaCry and other major security incidents is the challenge of updating operating systems in an environment laden with legacy apps. If a business is running a critical application that requires keeping an outdated operating system on life support, it’s time to rethink its value. Generating awareness of risks around old infrastructure can also help employees better understand vulnerabilities themselves, including how easy it is for opportunistic attackers to exploit outdated tools.

4. Eliminating fragmentation: Most IT security and operations teams operate using a messy combination of point products—cumbersome to manage, impossible to fully integrateIt is crucial for teams to have clear visibility of what is across their environment, and this means eradicating silos and siloed ways of working and investing in a unified endpoint management and security platform instead of collections of point tools.

5. Educating your employees: By various estimates, up to 83 per cent of ransomware attacks originate when an employee clicks on a malicious link, opens an infected attachment, or visits a compromised website. Investing in ongoing training for employees to protect against phishing attacks should be a key part of your IT security strategy.

In order to have an effective IT security strategy in place, an organisation must have two lines of defence; employee advocacy and comprehensive IT security structure. Crucial to combatting any type of threat – whether a sophisticated attack, employee clicking on a malicious link or one that exploits an out-of-date piece of software - is clear visibility of all of the endpoints across the network and the ability to stop disruption almost instantly.

Despite cybersecurity investment increasing each year between 12 to 15% according to Gartner, organisations are struggling to keep up with the sophistication of threats. Attackers are successfully pivoting away from complex technical exploits and instead are identifying simpler ways to exploit a business’s core functionality; the business’s logic.

Business logic attacks are on the rise and pose a significant security threat to organisations across all sectors in 2020. These attacks don’t target what many consider to be traditional security vulnerabilities, but instead use automated bots to exploit weaknesses in the normal, everyday use of a website or app.

The recent Just Eat and Deliveroo hacks are good examples. Each food delivery service relies on a great customer experience and zero friction, to provide customers with this level of convenience, features such as one-click ordering and the storing of card details are incorporated into the service’s core-functionality. However, bot technology simplifies the practice of fraudulently taking over an account, enabling hackers to commit fraud via the account or sell on the verified username and password for a profit. In such instances, organisations often remain unaware that any untoward behaviour has taken place and so are unable to stop it in its tracks.

Taking preventative steps is vital. Businesses must focus on identifying bot intent, by not only asking “is this a bot?” but also “what is this bot doing?”. Once they have gained this visibility and understanding of their web-facing traffic, they can both stop the attack and mitigate risks.

Streaming services will be the next target

The popularity of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu makes streaming services a prime target for account takeover hackers. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a rise of in the sales of compromised streaming services accounts. With the launch of new services such as AppleTV+ and Disney+, we don’t see this slowing down anytime soon.

These new platforms represent a new high value service that is virgin territory for thousands of previous breached credentials. In fact, just hours after the Disney+ launch in the US, Canada and the Netherlands, accounts and combo lists were put up for sale on hacking forums.

Like food delivery companies, streaming services are facing intense competition. That means the products and services they roll out must be as frictionless as possible, including their login systems. Therein lies the problem. These login systems naturally drive consumers to use simple, short passwords and the same password for various platforms, to make it easier to login on TVs and smart devices every time they want to watch a series or movie. On the other hand, this also makes it easier for criminals to access customer accounts using automated bots, like the recent Just Eat and Deliveroo hacks demonstrated.

The fact that users connect to their accounts when on holiday or at friends’ homes only adds to the issue. Streaming and delivery services find it harder to recognise when an account has been genuinely compromised and put the necessary, security processes in place. 

As we head into 2020, streaming services need to improve their understanding of what bots are doing and not just how they are doing it. By doing so, they can start to manage good bots and rapidly mitigate malicious bot attacks, without adding friction to the customer journey.

Watch out for free VPNs 

Earlier this year, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) reported that at 613.1 million, streaming subscriptions had now surpassed cable subscriptions worldwide; the list of subscription services will continue to grow in 2020 with some big names announcing plans to launch new services.

And with all growth comes new challenges. As the number of streaming services increases, more consumers are going to use VPNs to watch movies or TV shows when visiting a country and most likely use those that are free. However, some of these “free” VPN services aren’t completely free, there is always a price to pay; whether it is monetary or otherwise. Free VPN providers often require users to forego either: speed, bandwidth or your security. Sometimes all three.

VPNs used by residential users include the right for the provider to make that connection available for use by automated bot traffic that wants to automate web requests from genuine residential addresses. These ‘residential proxy’ networks are essentially legitimate commercial botnets.

But because there is no infrastructure associated with running them, they are not detected by standard IP address blacklists and they use real consumer devices, so device-based fingerprinting will appear as a real user. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of residential proxies to perform different illegal or unauthorised activities on users’ machines. It is therefore important to diligently research a VPN provider, ensuring you thoroughly read the terms and conditions, before installing any VPN software; especially as more streaming services get launched in 2020.

However, 5G will also create unprecedented complexity for network operators and service providers. 5G networks aren’t just expected to deliver high-quality sound and picture quality – they’ll be the carriers of 8K video streaming, machine communications and a whole host of applications never seen before. 5G networks will produce masses of data that operators will need to analyse, interpret and act on to deliver the one-to-one services consumers demand.

To deliver a truly resilient and customer-centric network, telco operators have no choice but to automate. The latest AI and machine learning technologies can monitor, operate and optimise the 5G networks of the future, delivering an unlimited connectivity service that’s stable, cost-effective and competitive.  

A big data problem

The anticipation surrounding 5G is enormous. By connecting everyone to everything, and across every sector, the technology is widely expected to kick off a new industrial and technological revolution.

Yet the advent of 5G invites a massive capacity and operational challenge. As more customers and organisations migrate, 5G networks are expected to grow to cover 65 per cent of the world’s population and carry 35 per cent of all its mobile data by 2024. For telecommunications operators, this data will be generated in unprecedented volumes. Telecommunications operators will need to constantly invest in their infrastructure to support the capacity increases needed. 

With the number of devices connected and communicating within the Internet of Things (IoT), and the high-speed, high-bandwidth possibilities of 5G, traditional data collection and analysis is no longer sufficient. For the sake of planning, running and optimising customer experiences, operators will have a limitless need for more intelligent decision-making. Decisions also need to be taken across domains and silos in a split second to meet customer expectations and honour service agreements.

Delivering on this promise would be impossible if we could only depend on human staff and operators to generate insight and make decisions. Fortunately, AI and machine learning have a vital role to play here. When you merge AI and IoT, you get the Artificial Intelligence of Things, or AIoT – a revolutionary combination that can transform industries, elevate customer experiences and accelerate business performance exponentially.

By 2022, Gartner predicts that more than 80 per cent of enterprise IoT projects will include an AI component, up from a mere 10 per cent today.

The best laid plans…

Telcos should seek to automate processes continuously during 5G rollout, with each step iterating on the last. By doing this, operators can sidestep major investments and overhauls by performing focused adjustments and expansions that both improve network performance and enhance the user experience.

However, before you maintain or enhance a 5G network, you first need to build it. Even at the planning stage there is enormous potential to make use of AIoT.

In today’s fast-moving, digital world, telcos are under tremendous pressure to deliver speed and scalability. To compete, they must be able to move resources, deliver connectivity and construct new capacity rapidly. However, it isn’t easy to respond with agility when, to supply connectivity to a new site of location, often requires the building of a new radio tower or data centre and significant civil engineering.

Network planning is often time and resource-intensive because the work is so data-heavy. Before a decision can be made, operators need to carefully review and analyse an assortment of population tables and network traffic. The objective is to have the cell site built and ready before customer demands start flooding in, but it’s challenging when the planning process is so complex and time-consuming.        

AIoT solutions are invaluable here because they can do much of the heavy-lifting for you. AIoT and analytics can process and produce insights from an immense amount and variety of data faster than any human can. With this information, operators can truly predict - rather than simply respond - to demand, ensuring they can build a cell site in the most lucrative location before the competition moves in.  

The customer comes first

AIoT really comes into its own, however, in network operations. 5G networks are micro in nature, made up of thousands of disparate and often siloed cell sites and data centres, each carrying and processing immense quantities of data. Keeping track and monitoring all of these sites, ensuring they are working properly and running efficiently, won’t be feasible without some form of automation.

You also need to consider the huge amount of data that needs to be analysed. It’s no longer feasible to move all of that data to a data centre or the cloud before you are able to detect network anomalies. This means that you need the ability to deploy AI out to the edges of the network, analysing the data in-stream, as it’s created. Actions can then be taken to fix problems before they disrupt the network, by detecting patterns of behaviour that provide an early warning of likely issues.

AIoT can predict network faults based on historical data and real-time, continuous analysis. It uses many different prediction models to work out the probability that a set threshold will be breached, alerting operators to the threat before it can snowball into a crisis.

The process is even more rigorous when machine learning is deployed for anomaly detection. Once a capacity issue is discovered, AIoT can search for the root cause and find the answer fast. From a business perspective, this enables automated monitoring and helps deliver on customer priorities like KPIs and SLAs.

Operators are still some time away from ‘closed loop automation’, where AIoT systems are able to automatically resolve network issues and provision resources. But the building blocks of technology to do this already exist. The challenge is capturing all the data that skilled workers use to make decisions, so that the decision-making process can be automated. For the time being, however, operators can benefit greatly from their workers acting in concert with AI solutions. They can work symbiotically, with the AI performing the analysis and providing the insight, while the human operators use this intelligence to solve challenges. Not only does this reduce human error, it frees the experts to focus on more tactical and valuable tasks. 

Ultimately, 5G brings challenges but also great opportunities to the telco market. It will introduce an unprecedented level of complexity and disruption, which can be mitigated by adding a layer of automation to the process. AI-driven automation is an opportunity for operators to meet their business goals and deliver resilient, on-demand services optimised to meet the needs of the customer.

This move to the cloud means that many businesses are now reassessing how they connect to their data and applications. Should they use ‘traditional’ wide-area network (WAN) methodologies or should they consider using SD-WAN?

SD-Wan, software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN), were seen as a gimmick by many when they first entered the public discourse, due to outlandish promises of reduced bandwidth costs. The truth is that SD-WAN can reduce these costs, but not always – leading to a level of a distrust at board level.

Changing perception of SD-WAN

Over the past 12 months or so, the reputation of these types of networks has begun to change. The original myth of cost-savings has been dispelled and CIOs have started to recognise the true value of SD-WAN – agility, scalability, and dynamic network control.

Enterprise network architects are now demanding solutions that are better suited to meet the changing needs of their business and operational requirements. This means quicker to deploy, better use of available bandwidth, dynamic congestion control, and application-aware routing. And this is why it’s time to take SD-WAN seriously.

SD-WAN as the future

There are several other things, on top of that widespread adoption of public cloud services, currently causing business decision makers to turn their heads away from the familiar concept of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and look to the more agile SD-WAN as the future of their networks. 

Another trend is the high costs of traditional bandwidth, especially private circuits, as high-quality Internet services are becoming more prevalent. 

Today’s average worker needs access to large amounts of bandwidth on a range of devices to meet enterprise operational requirements, whether downloading or streaming high volumes of content, having instant access to corporate data and information, and even collaboration such as video calls. This high use of bandwidth will only increase in the future as well, with big data and IoT playing a crucial role as network architectures continue to evolve.

To meet these needs, SD-WAN is able to run over a variety of transmission infrastructures, including public Internet, private circuits, and LTE (3G/4G). This connectivity can be added seamlessly without the pain of expensive re-configurations of remote devices, and therefore will greatly reduce the cost of deployment.

In addition to all this, one of the most significant benefits SD-WAN has over traditional WAN models is the ability to dynamically route traffic across any piece of bandwidth a business owns, as the technology is transport-agnostic.

Businesses preparing for change

Despite these clear benefits, there has not been widespread adoption of SD-WAN yet. Many companies have been tied down to multi-year service contracts, so have been unable to adopt new technology. Introducing the use of SD-WAN can also require significant investment, so many CFOs are keen to sweat the existing technology they use as much as possible.

However, over the next 12 to 18 months this looks certain to change.

SD-WAN gives enterprises the agility, scalability, and visibility from a network perspective to meet the structural change in application and data location, as well as meeting the impending requirements for big data and IoT applications. 

There’s no doubt we’ll see significant market uptake for SD-WAN once legacy network obligations have been met and existing assets have been written off. In the mean-time, business are in danger of falling behind the curve if they are not already looking at how SD-WAN could underpin their business application and data access strategy.

As the SD-WAN migration can be complex and costly, businesses should ideally look to partner with a company that has experience in helping companies utilise the benefits of the new SD-WAN model. The benefits of SD-WAN are plenty, but only if the migration is managed well and the technology leveraged to its full capacity. SD-WAN technology may not have reached its full potential yet, but it’s time for business leaders to take it seriously.

Pulse Secure 2020 Predictions

Regulatory requirements catch up to reduce IoT and IIoT device security exposure

“After years of haplessly watching technology race ahead of regulation, governments around the world have started to enact regulations to protect consumers and mitigate security risk. A big focus for 2020 will be the increase in regulatory requirements around IoT and IIOT devices as they proliferate in corporate networks and OT systems. When organizations do not know where a device is on their network, or who it is communicating with, that poses severe security risks. And, as more organizations adopt IoT and IIoT devices in the workforce, there need to be security policy and controls in place. In the United States, much of this regulatory reform has been spearheaded by the state of California, which recently passed SB-327, the first law to cover IoT devices. It will take effect January 1, 2020, and regulators around the world will certainly be watching to see how effective the legislation is at minimizing security risks from IoT devices. Since the regulatory laws often have a cascading effect, we can certainly expect to see similar bills appearing across the country and eventually at a federal level. Organizations will need to make sure they, or any third-party security vendors, are compliant to protect IoT devices and the information they contain.” - Mike Riemer, Chief Security Architect at Pulse Secure.

Consumers will expect security in cloud and SaaS

“Cloud is now the norm across a wide range of industries, as is SaaS. Traditionally, the response to adopting a new enterprise technology is to purchase new products to secure it. As the digital enterprise has become more complex, that model is simply not sustainable for stretched security personnel. Adding to this complexity are regulations like the GDPR, which introduced penalties for not adequately securing consumer data. In 2020, cloud and SaaS providers are working with security vendors to proactively secure cloud and hybrid environments, as well as secure SaaS products. As customers adopt Zero Trust policies, they will scrutinize any outside software for security flaws that could compromise their business, raising the industry standard for security in cloud and SaaS products.” -  Mike Riemer, Chief Security Architect at Pulse Secure.

Zero Trust goes from “nice to have” to “must have”

“Zero Trust garnered a significant amount of attention in 2019 as companies at the cutting edge of enterprise technology began adopting it. In 2020, organizations at all levels of digitization will convert to Zero Trust frameworks as the threat landscape diversifies. As remote work and hybrid IT models become increasingly common, organizations across all industries will adopt Zero Trust in order to better manage user access and data. With hybrid IT adoption comes an additional challenge: transition. Securing legacy systems while ensuring data is moved securely requires a complete understanding of the ecosystem, as well as the ability to translate different policies across shifting systems. By vetting every user and device before allowing them access, Zero Trust minimizes threats while ensuring nothing is lost in transition.” - Sudhakar Ramakrishna, CEO at Pulse Secure.

Healthcare braces for a flood of cybercrime

“It is already well-understood that the healthcare industry struggles to secure its trove of sensitive data. But, even as widely discussed as this issue is, the healthcare industry has been slow to adopt effective security measures and quick to embrace an even greater influx of data during digital transformation efforts. As healthcare continues to evolve towards the convenient, self-service model that today’s digital-first consumer demands, there will be serious security implications as companies try to control the release of data and information. For example, telemedicine is making patient care extremely convenient, but is the doctor-patient communication secured and encrypted? If not, anyone can intercept the data and communication in transit. How do you secure that information stored on the end-user’s phone? The security of any network is only as strong as the weakest link. In this service model, the end-point device is most likely to be compromised and healthcare organizations need to ensure they are meeting all the security and regulatory requirements. 

Adding to the pressure is the looming threat of new patient data regulations, including a revamp to HIPAA that could always require that health data be accessible to patients. To deal with regulatory scrutiny, the healthcare industry will have to rapidly modernize cybersecurity practices with a Zero Trust model that can adapt to the flood of new data sources but also secure cloud and hybrid environments. Should the patient access data requirement pass, providers will also need to manage an influx of new access points and users.” -  Mike Riemer, Chief Security Architect at Pulse Secure.

It’s the same with data. Filling up on information doesn’t necessarily make a business better; in fact, the wrong sort of data can have a highly damaging effect on the health of the whole organisation. That’s because – in the era of the connected business – the effects of bad data aren’t confined to the system in which it resides. Instead, it ripples out to a range of other applications and processes that rely on that information. 

Businesses may not realise it, but bad data is a serious and costly issue. In 2016, IBM estimated that poor quality data costs over $3 trillion in the US alone. (By comparison, the size of the entire big data industry in the same year, according to IDC, was a ‘paltry’ $136 billion.)  

This can only ever be an estimate, though, because it’s difficult to put a price tag on the missed opportunities, reputational damage and lost revenue that comes from having the wrong data – not to mention the time and effort involved in searching for and correcting it. Knowledge workers spend far too much time searching for and correcting errors in their data. 

Other researchers provide further evidence for the devastating impact of bad data. Gartner found that the average cost to organisations is $15 million a year, while a report from the Royal Mail suggested that it causes a loss of six per cent of annual turnover. Why are businesses failing to address an issue with such a direct impact on their bottom line – especially given today’s fixation on data-powered insight? 

The domino effect of bad data 

You would expect that the figures listed above would provide plenty of food for thought, especially as every line of business, from marketing to finance, customer service to supply chain, is now so completely dependent on accurate data on which to base their insights. Yet in our pursuit of data quantity we seem to have forgotten one of the oldest tenets of the information age: ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out’.  

Too often, businesses lack a coherent data integration strategy which means that inaccurate or incomplete data causes a domino effect through the organisation.  

Nothing highlights the interconnected nature of modern business better than the issue of bad data. If a department does a bad job of keeping data clean, up-to-date, and accurate, it affects every other department that relies on that data. This means that the effects are not limited to those who are responsible for managing records and updating systems; instead, they spread throughout the organisation. This results in all manner of problems: from badly-targeted marketing campaigns to poor customer service outcomes, to errors in payroll, resource allocation and product development. 

Another grave consequence of inaccurate data is that it can lead to people mistrusting the insights that they gain, and even resenting the data creators who have allowed erroneous information to creep into their systems.  

A recipe for success 

For all the hype around data-driven insights, businesses are facing a data credibility problem, with insights and performance metrics badly skewed by inaccurate information. So, while no-one discounts the importance of having large data sets from which to draw insight, the more urgent challenge facing organisations is to improve the quality and accuracy of the information that they hold. 

Just as the food we eat has a direct effect on our wellbeing, so the quality of their information has a bearing on the health of a business. That’s why they need to treat data as a delicacy, rather than just fuel. By focusing on data quality, they can then ensure a positive domino effect throughout the organisation, with departments and workers able to trust to the insight they derive from it. 

To do this, every organisation must undertake a regular data quality audit that not only verifies the accuracy of information that is kept, but also examines the internal processes and workflows associated with gathering and storing information.  

For example, the organisation needs to have complete confidence that employees are capturing all relevant information in systems such as ERP systems, and that all data is entered accurately and kept up to date. This should include cross-referencing with information held in other systems such as CRM, ensuring that the business can have faith in the data on which it bases its most important decisions. 

The recipe for success is simple: be as discriminating with your data as you would towards the food you put in your mouth: prioritise data quality to ensure you get accurate insights. 

An insider will manipulate AI to frame an innocent individual

It’s an unfortunate fact that, because people train artificial intelligence (AI), AI adopts the same human biases we thought it might ignore. Despite this being the case, the legal system has been happy to employ the technology to try and secure prosecutions. This was seen in a judge ordering Amazon to divulge Echo recordings in a US double murder trial. Unless guarded against, this will allow nefarious insiders to feed AI false information to convict an innocent party – the criminal justice system may well have to wrestle with such circumstances in future.

The increasing spread of biometrics will bring unforeseen consequences

In another example of technology advancing beyond the pace of regulation, unfortunate members of the public stand to be victimised through their biometric data. Such intrinsically personal information may be stolen and used time and time again for fraud. Unlike stolen data such as credit card details, it is not possible to change the compromised information, outside of changing one’s face. Unfortunately, the industry might only standardise regulation once the dangers of biometric data have been made fully apparent.

Ransomware attacks will target critical business infrastructure

Ransomware has already become an oft-utilised weapon in the arsenal of the cybercriminal. Indeed, researchers found that the average pay-out by victims increased in 2019 to $41,000 USD. Given the success of this tactic, attackers will now train their sights upon critical business infrastructure. The health sector has already been hit across the Western world and power grids may now become the next lucrative target for ambitious cybercriminals. Such attacks may have worrying societal implications, eroding trust in a government’s ability to protect its citizens.  

 Iran’s offensive cyber operations will grow at a faster rate than China’s

Information surrounding Iran’s cyber operation capabilities is especially relevant given the extreme geopolitical tension between Iran and the U.S. that the new year has already heralded. Iran is now due to overtake China – long seen as the West’s biggest adversary in this sphere – and the current diplomatic climate points to the Islamic Republic exploring every avenue to bloody the American nose. There is far less in the way of a deterrent to stay Iran’s hand – unlike China, the theocracy has no diplomatic relations with the U.S. and the crippling sanctions already imposed upon it means that it cares little for trade ramifications. Combine these factors, and the pace of current events, and we are due to see far more cyber activity from this bellicose state.

Quantum computing will reach more widespread use, including towards malicious ends

Google’s ‘Sycamore’ project is leading the charge towards quantum computing and, although such projects are still far off advanced quantum computing, further progress is sure to be made in 2020. Such developments are sure to change the way in which we perform cryptography and this technology will eventually enter into widespread use. Already, Microsoft has announced a new Azure Quantum service, through which select customers will be able to run quantum code and make use of quantum hardware. These advancements are expected to lead to developments in modern AI, and we can expect more efficient AI data analysis and a better decision-making process. With quantum technology’s eventual uptake by the masses, we may see widespread development, adoption, and usefulness of quantum and modern AI throughout 2020. This technology will inevitably be put towards both legitimate and malicious ends.

Deepfakes as a defence

The phenomena of deepfakes has already entered the public consciousness, with Facebook recently announcing its intention to ban the technology. The pernicious use of such videos has also coloured debate in the Western world about its use by political operatives, and organised crime groups have already successfully used deepfakes to impersonate executives to secure the illicit transfer of large sums of cash. Without a doubt, this trend will continue.

Beyond the direct implications of their use itself, deepfakes will serve to further muddy the water surrounding who might have said or done something. Anything captured on video will be called into question as we truly continue our march into a post-truth era. In 2020 and beyond, we can expect to see deepfakes used as a defence against professional or legal repercussions of events purportedly caught on video. The advent of such technology means that ‘seeing something to believe it’ no longer holds weight. 

Eavesdropping on smart speakers will result in a major political scandal

If our smart devices are listening to us to improve the decisioning in the devices’ AI, then a human needs to be listening too. Live microphones have caused enough embarrassment for our political class before such technology was even conceptualised, and we can expect the proliferation of listening ears to cause a corresponding uptake in scandal.

Behind-the-scenes, employees are well-positioned to become whistle-blowers and we are due an explosive political scandal in 2020 to originate from such a source. If it’s any consolation to politicians, they can always resort to the deepfake defence. 

“There’s a new decade on the horizon, and just like the ones before it, it will be shaped by innovation that will positively change the everyday experience of customers and employees. In 2020, technology will become faster and more flexible than ever before.

Since 2008 there has been a 74% rise in remote working in the UK, with more than 1.54 million of us now working away from the office. Remote workers enjoy flexibility, freedom and more streamlined use of working time. No more time wasted on the daily commute.

For businesses, more flexible, more empowered people means increased productivity, efficiency and creativity.

With the expansion of ultrafast broadband across the country, working from home is set to boom. Virgin Media’s ‘Project Lightning’ has already begun expanding gigabit capable technology to homes.

For the first time in the UK, home broadband offering speeds of more than 1Gbps is available to hundreds of thousands of homes in and around Southampton, Manchester and Reading. By 2021, 15 million homes across the UK will have received this Gig1 broadband boost.

Hyperfast speeds mean that home workers can share large files, complete data-rich projects and clearly communicate without delay or the dreaded buffer wheel. With the infrastructure in place, expect to see more remote workers than ever before.

The networks of the 2020s need to be rooted in customer experience. Because no matter what the business, customers expect more than ever. They don’t want their online experience of a company to be hampered by time outs and website crashes. They want to be in and out like the Flash—fast and effortless.

It’ll be vital that businesses use a network with the agility, flexibility and resiliency that won’t let down their customers. SD-WAN is one such technology which can transform legacy infrastructure into a more secure and responsive platform. It can give a business full control of network traffic, allowing near-real-time changes to optimise performance across every aspect of a corporate network.

That means employees can benefit from greater productivity and efficiency, no matter how they work. And it means customers can interact with a business when, where and how they expect.

Whatever 2020 brings, the networks to support growth and change the technology around us are already being put in place. Next time you catch yourself wondering how the 2010s went by so quickly, just think about the innovation and prosperity that lies ahead.”

The pressure is being felt too. In fact, in a recent independent report, commissioned by Future Facilities, it was found that over three quarters (77%) of decision-makers are feeling the strain of a consistent increase in demand. This increase in data center density and workloads, naturally results in more power being needed, which in turn generates more waste heat. Consequently, areas such as cooling and power are now monitored more than ever before to ensure downtimes are avoided. 

Juggling the need to avoid downtime and prevent costs from dramatically increasing has seen data center operators and business decision-makers search for solutions that can help. While adding in extra cooling or power can often feel like the answer, these are expensive solutions that overlook the true state of the data center. 

Increase capacity, and capital expenditure 

This is a worry for both the operations and business teams. As found in the research, the average cost of downtime is £122,000. That’s a large sum of money, and can quickly multiply if a business suffers multiple outages across a year. This figure doesn’t even begin to cover the loss of loyal customers and damaged reputations. It’s no wonder then that businesses are so keen to avoid outages. We need to find solutions that lower the risk of downtime, but also operations terms to increase the capacity of the data centre; and all in a way that is both cost-effective and quick to deploy. 

So how are businesses currently coping? Well, as found in the research the three main areas that businesses focus on are power, cooling and networking solutions. In fact, 45% of all businesses admitted they are focused on investing in these specific areas in order to increase capacity while maintaining or decreasing the risk of an outage. The result is though, that with all the extra cooling and power installed businesses are operating their data center far below its optimised level. The net result is that data center capacity is being left on the table, at exactly the time when it is most valuable. In fact, as an industry average, businesses are over-provisioning to the tune of 36%! This is not just wasting power and capacity but also hitting the bottom line of businesses too. 

Digital twin on the rise

With a lack of knowledge on how data centers are performing, businesses are blind to simple, cost-effective alternatives. A key solution to this challenge is to effectively utilise any stranded capacity without having to spend on additional infrastructure. Enter the digital twin. A Digital Twin is a 3-dimensional physics based computer model that replicates the precise behavior and performance of the real data center. The Digital Twin can be used to predict the response of the real data center to any change, but in a risk free virtual environment. By quickly trying out different setups and layouts, businesses can make small adjustments that have a huge impact on the thermal efficiency of a data center. Once a setup has been found that achieves the desired results, it can then be implemented in the physical data center itself, all safe in the knowledge that it has already been rigorously tested. This process saves money both in designing and operating a data center. 

As well as helping to reclaim stranded capacity, digital twins have also proven very effective in reducing downtimes. In fact, the research found that three times as many businesses that have used a digital twin did not see an outage in a 12 month period, than those that did not have a digital twin. With its ability to save time and reduce outages, it is no surprise that over two thirds (67%) of businesses expect to have a digital twin in place within the next 12 months. 

Demand for data center infrastructure is not going to slow down or go away. The growth of over-the-top (OTT) services like Disney Plus, as well as increased AI applications, means that data center capacity and density is going to be pushed to even greater limits. However, the good news is that there is a proven solution that is ready to help. Already delivering benefits for data center businesses, the digital twin has become a key tool across the industry in 2020. 

Companies will move toward creating high performance development teams

In this new world order, where every company is a technology company, the role of the developer is appropriately changing for the better. These digital artisans are no longer order takers expected to bend to the will of the business. More and more—thanks in part to leaders who understand the immense value they bring to the business—developers are empowered to innovate on existing core systems, as well as deliver and support new means of digital engagement with customers.

But to do so, they require a milieu only afforded through Agile and DevOps, namely an open and collaborative culture, inspiring and challenging projects, modern methods of working, and tools and processes that continuously improve their abilities. As agents of innovation, they must be coached like high-performance athletes based on KPIs of velocity, quality and efficiency to ensure their ongoing success.

Enterprises will place a greater focus on automated testing (and it’s a long time coming)

Enterprises are continuing to lose vital mainframe development and operations skills. Automating processes like testing helps to mitigate the effects of that lost knowledge.

However, unit and functional testing in the mainframe environment have traditionally been manual and time consuming for experienced developers and prohibitively difficult for inexperienced developers to the degree that they skip it all together.

According to an independent study commissioned by Compuware, the vast majority of IT leaders believe that test automation is the single most important factor in accelerating innovation, but less than 10 percent of organisations automate tests on mainframe code. Arcane manual testing practices are creating a bottleneck that hinders the delivery of innovation and prevents organisations from meeting their business goals. 

The good news is modern mainframe testing tools enable developers to automatically trigger tests, identify mainframe code quality trends, share test assets, create repeatable tests and enforce testing policies. Empowered with these capabilities, developers can confidently make changes to existing code knowing they can test the changes incrementally and immediately fix any problems that arise so they can deliver updates faster.

Development organisations will experiment with coupling test automation with a “shift-left” approach

Businesses expect to achieve significant benefits by not only automating more testing on the mainframe, but also doing it at every stage of the development process.

To that end, as companies ramp up automation, they are also experimenting with coupling test automation with a “shift-left” approach—where developers write unit tests at the same time as they write source code. This enables teams to focus on quality as soon as a project is kicked off instead of waiting for defects to be surfaced later in the app dev lifecycle—defects that could disrupt operations, introduce security risks, hinder customer experiences or impact business revenues.

While a shift-left approach can help reduce the number of bugs that make their way into production, it can put more pressure on developers. That’s why it’s imperative developers have access to tools that enable them to automate the creation and execution of unit, functional, integration and regression testing on the mainframe, while empowering even novice developers to validate COBOL and Pl/1 code changes with the same speed and confidence as they can with other code.

Automation coupled with a shift-left approach improves the quality, velocity and efficiency of mainframe software development and delivery.

Enterprises will continuously measure to improve software delivery quality, velocity and efficiency

Today, 57% of firms run more than half their mission-critical applications on the mainframe, and 72% of organisations say their customer-facing applications are completely or very reliant on mainframe processing, according to a 2018 Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Compuware.

As organisations work to create high performance development teams to support accelerated mainframe application development and delivery, they need a way to continuously measure and improve mainframe DevOps processes and development outcomes. A program of KPIs is necessary for accomplishing this.

Measures such as mean time to resolution (MTTR), code coverage and number of defects trapped in test vs. production can provide a picture of developer efficiency and quality metrics. Machine learning can be leveraged to continually monitor and analyse behavior patterns enabling teams to continuously improve on essential measures. Enterprises that strategically leverage their data to tackle development and delivery constraints will see significant improvements at the individual, team and organisational levels.  

Looking ahead

In 2020 it’s not enough for enterprises to adopt Agile and DevOps. They must recognise that their development teams hold the key to customer satisfaction. As such developers must be treated like high-performance athletes and given challenging projects that are meaningful, modern methods of working, and tools and processes that continuously improve their abilities. Their behaviors must also be continuously measured so their performance will consistently improve, benefitting them as well as the business.  To improve software delivery quality, velocity and efficiency, mainframe organisations must adopt more automation, especially automated testing, and test earlier and often in the DevOps lifecycle. And, they must take a granular look at their software delivery process to uncover bottlenecks and resolve friction points so ideas that matter can be turned into customer deliverables that make a difference—continuously.

Commentary from three of WWT’s key subject matter experts, covering topics including:

• The rise of the ‘Chief Trust Officer’
• A win-win ecosystem for banks and tech companies
• Enterprises hold the key to 5G's potential 

The march towards a cashless society will continue apace in 2020. As countless new tech-driven financial services develop, consumer financial data will grow exponentially, making it more difficult to identify suspicious activity.

Data breaches have long displaced the classic “bank robbery” as the biggest security threat to the banking industry. In 2020, we can expect financial institutions to begin establishing adaptive security systems to manage the ever-evolving threat of cyber crime.

Banks and fintechs alike will begin adopting artificial intelligence as a means of protecting both their assets and consumers. Due to the quantity and the breadth of data circulated throughout the banking industry, the use of AI is now a necessity to provide an additional level of security by detecting suspicious patterns and automatically taking steps. 

Insider threats, unusual network activity, or changes to a business’s data will be analysed in real-time and prevented. Technology like this will allow banking security to be more agile, more capable of managing larger volumes of data and free leaders to focus on broader projects which drive business value. 

2. A win-win ecosystem for banks and tech companies 

Tech companies will continue to push into financial services in 2020. Although a number of big tech companies have recently announced their intentions to move into the financial sector with the introduction of various fintech products, banks must actively remind themselves to not misconstrue this move as a threat to their business.

These moves represent the beginning of a customer service shift which will change financial services from siloed organisations (where money is stored) towards a larger ecosystem of data and enhanced end user experiences.

Tech companies are ultimately data companies, and working alongside banks promises will give them access to a huge source of data. Banks will set up the financial back-end of tech companies’ services (such as Apple Card and Facebook Libra), fulfilling the traditional functions.

But it's not just tech companies who stand to benefit from this ecosystem. Banks will also benefit by recognising the skills that tech companies have with integration, gaining access to customer data, in turn becoming empowered to deliver stronger, more innovative customer experiences. These customer benefits could include quicker AI-enabled banking or tailored product offers based on past transactions.

There is plenty of excitement around the rollout of 5G. But despite the promise of supporting more devices, at lower latency and higher speeds, enterprises still have a long way to go before they are able to deliver useful 5G solutions. Operators are important to the UK rollout of 5G, but enterprises will likely be the key drivers of innovative solutions for consumers.

Businesses which have a direct relationship with their customers will understand the kinds of experiences consumers want 5G to deliver and will fear being left behind by competitors. This will drive new innovations and business models which add real value, from augmented reality for retail shopping to 360 degree 1st view experience for live sports. 5G is simply a new platform on which innovation will take place. 

Secondly, the rollout of 5G will be accompanied by specific deployments of mobile edge computing to start addressing particular use cases. We are unlikely to see public edge cloud computing in 2020, but even at this early stage of 5G deployment, there will be a recognition that some processing is better managed at the network edge. 

2. Balancing personalisation with data privacy

Hyper-personalisation of customer experiences will be on every company’s agenda, but this will contrast with a greater consumer focus on data privacy. A more digitally fluid 2020 landscape will mean more opportunities to engage a business’s audience with omnichannel experiences, for example, advertising on Spotify, through video games, or in specific regions of a city. 

Going beyond mobile and desktop into a digitally fluid landscape requires enterprises to reduce data silos and gather targeting information from a wider variety of sources and platforms. This will lead to more conflict between wanting a personalised experience, and strong data protection. While this promises greater engagement and closer bonds to customers than ever before, it will also invite more questions on data privacy and the way private institutions protect and store data. GDPR regulations will continue to be talked about prominently, and scrutiny of tech companies is likely to increase.

Having AI systems which can be clearly and ethically justified will be essential to building and maintaining public trust. We may even see some companies opening up the workings of their AI systems to demonstrate how they make decisions in more detail. 

Top Trends Driving Technology Innovation Investments in 2020 Revealed by Virtusa

Financial Services, Insurance, and Life Sciences Leading in Innovation to Start the New Decade

Virtusa Corporation has published the findings of detailed research that identifies trends that will drive emerging technology investments in 2020. The third annual Virtusa xLabs’ Trend Almanac details the top ten technology trends that will strategically align with business and technology investments.

The major trends, which Virtusa identified in collaboration with technology and business leaders, focus on the Financial Services, Insurance, and Life Sciences industries. Aligning investments to the most influential technology trends will help businesses to stay competitive and drive growth in 2020 and throughout the new decade. 

The full report identifies three overriding themes:

●       The democratisation of emerging tech, reducing the investment, and skill needed to develop and capitalise on tech across infrastructure, applications, and data.

●       The need for transparency, ethical practice, and good governance to balance the manic rush to explore and exploit "The New."

●       A change in how companies manage tech-enabled innovation programs, ensuring that tech is seen as a means to drive better commercial outcomes, rather than being an end in itself.

“The Virtusa xLabs’ Trend Almanac exposes the new business imperatives that business and technology leaders need to invest in to remain competitive,” said Senthil Ravindran, EVP and global head of cloud transformation and digital innovation, Virtusa.  “Digital transformation demands a new way of thinking and getting a jump start on the trends that will impact customers tomorrow. This Trend Almanac will be a key resource in helping businesses do just that.”

The top ten trends include:

Open Banking Goes Global: Open Banking is starting to become a global movement. To date, actual regulations and market changes have only occurred in Europe, even though, as a topic it has been on everybody's tongue. But the move by Australian regulators to implement substantial regulatory reforms this year, giving consumers greater control of their data, signals the paradigm shift to the API economy is well underway. We explore this trend and classify the current approaches to Open Banking across the world.

No Child's Play in the Sandbox. A new breed of regulatory sandbox is making waves. Thematic regulatory sandboxes are credited with taking a more focused approach to sandbox design, where the policy objectives, as well as the problems tackled by the sandbox, are clearly defined. This appeals to regulators as much as fintechs and big firms, who are looking to build engagement and accelerate promising innovations to markets in a controlled and safe environment.

Value Over Volume in Healthcare. Healthcare systems around the world are sinking under the weight of escalating costs. However, there are positive signs that a transition is underway from the reigning fee-for-service delivery model, which has contributed to the cost overhang in many countries, towards the value-based care model. Regulatory and technology forces are key factors that are driving this shift. In 2020, we believe this pivot to value-based care will gain further momentum.

Shop Now, Pay Later. Point of sale finance is getting red hot. In recent years, digital startup lenders have carved up the segment, leveraging the latest tech to introduce instalment loans to the millennial market, but also thinking outside the box by devising new business models. Consumers are on board, as are retailers. Meanwhile, banks have mostly been onlookers, having decided not to develop their own customer-facing solutions. In 2020, we think banks will get into the game.

The End of All Disease? CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a breakthrough technology lauded for its extraordinary precision and ease of use. Since Doudna and Charpentier’s landmark paper was published in 2012, there has been a flurry of research activity and much progress as well as media interest in the field. CRISPR is now poised to move into the next phase in the journey from lab to market.

From Factory to App: Automobiles Take a New Route. Consumer adoption of “mobility as a service” (MaaS) is challenging the auto manufacturers' traditional approach to "mobility as an asset." Tech-enabled innovations, such as ride-sharing, last-mile micro-mobility solutions, and the rise of autonomous cars as a utility, are driving the growing popularity of MaaS offerings. In 2020, auto manufacturers will join this trend by creating new propositions around MaaS.

Ready, Set, Quantum! After decades in the wilderness, quantum computing is finally hitting its stride. Instead of being held back by hardware hurdles, in a surprising twist, enterprises have been powering ahead with innovations on “near- term” quantum machines. No longer is this esoteric field the domain of researchers alone, it is now being addressed by a broader set of players, helped along by greater access to tools and collaborations.

Corporate Innovation Hubs Grow Up. The reputation of corporate innovation hubs has taken a hit in recent years, causing businesses to rethink their operating model. This year, there will be a greater focus on empowering a network of affiliate labs in a federated model, which will enable labs to pursue innovation rather than incremental optimisations. With this model, there will be greater alignment between the business unit’s objectives, its funding, and the activities of the innovation program.

Self-Aware Infrastructure. In a digital world run by infrastructure, machine learning is weakening the dependence of human supervision. Progressively, smart infrastructure will be able to self-govern, self- optimise, and self-heal, resulting in highly optimised, fault-tolerant infrastructure. As cloud service providers continue to expand their footprint in the infrastructure market, we will see the first signs of self-aware infrastructure in 2020.

In 2020, we believe there will be more efficient algorithms to automate Machine Learning (AutoML). This will spur the adoption of AutoML at the enterprise level, helping non-tech firms access the capabilities to build ML applications quickly. This democratisation of machine learning will also make AI experts and data scientists more productive and advance the field of AI to new frontiers.