Where is enterprise technology headed in 2023? Which directions will attract the most human and budgetary resources? To be more prepared for next year, we have outlined the most important technology trends in 2023, following the analysis of the most relevant existing reports and studies.
This year, as a first for many IT departments, security, agility, and business performance became higher priorities than cost reduction. To achieve these goals, IT teams focused their efforts on improving security, increasing network efficiency, adopting multi-Cloud, supporting the hybrid way of working, but also automating routine activities. Most likely, a good part of these requirements remains valid per next year, regardless of the company’s size and the industry in which it operates.
Here are the top tech trends in 2023:
1 – Integrated security approaches will gain ground
Cyber-attacks have become part of everyday reality. In 2022, compromised credentials were responsible for nearly half of attacks, and configuration errors for more than 20% of breaches. Therefore, in 2023, IT departments will need to pay more attention to protecting digital identities and privileged accounts.
The preferred technology will remain multi-factor authentication, but complementary solutions such as Privileged Access Management or Identity Risk Management will also become increasingly popular. On the other hand, with nearly three-quarters (73%) of companies experiencing at least one configuration error in their security applications, solutions such as Breach and Attack Simulation – which automate configuration testing and deliver remediation recommendations – are becoming necessary.
To achieve the desired level of security, however, specialists recommend an integrated approach to security at the entire organization’s level. XDR platforms (Extended Detection and Response), such as Cisco SecureX – ensure extended visibility and control over the network, applications, Cloud services, and user terminals. Additionally, they present the advantage of integrating with a wide range of security solutions, both Cisco and other vendors, such as Falcon Insight, Tufin Orchestration Suite, or Palo Alto xSoar.
2 – More and more companies will migrate to Software-Defined architectures
In 2023, the rate of adoption of Software-Defined Network (SDN) solutions will remain high, at over 20%. In fact, almost half (48%) of the IT managers who participated in the “2023 Global Networking Trend Reports” study included SDN technology on their “Wish list”.
An important factor supporting the growth of SDN adoption is the expansion of Cloud services usage, with CloudOps and NetOps teams benefiting from a common solution that allows them to collaborate effectively. One such example is Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI), the SDN solution recommended and implemented by Datanet Systems, which consistently has one of the best scores in the industry.
More information about the benefits achieved by Datanet customers following the implementation of Cisco ACI solutions can be read here.
The cloud is also a catalyst for Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) solutions, whose adoption rate will exceed 30% in 2023. If a few years ago, the driver of SD-WAN adoption was reduced bandwidth costs of bandwidth and operational expenses, next year more and more companies will opt for this technology to benefit from the security and redundant ways for routing broadband traffic, essential in ensuring the quality of Cloud services.
For more details about the benefits of SD-WAN solutions, we recommend the IDC study on the benefits reported by users.
3 – Hybrid Cloud and Multi-Cloud are becoming the new norm
The Cloud cannot be missing from the list of the most important technological trends in 2023 because this year the services delivered from the Cloud have come to represent almost a third of the organizations’ IT spending. In 2023, companies’ investments in Cloud services will increase by more than 20%, according to Gartner, higher than IT budgets will.
The main consumption pattern will remain, as in 2022, the hybrid Cloud, with 82% of companies using this type of architecture, and the multi-Cloud, with 92% of organizations using services from at least two providers. Next year, the main reasons why companies opt for the hybrid will be the opportunity to benefit from rapid and scalable development (42%), but also to accelerate the development of new products and/or services (40%). Multi-Cloud, in turn, will be used mainly by companies to improve their security (43%), to achieve a higher level of scalability (42%), and the best cost/performance ratio (41 %).
However, the multi-Cloud approach will also generate specific challenges, the most important being the need to coordinate CloudOps and NetOps teams to ensure security throughout the organization (45%).
4 – Companies will have to better adapt to the hybrid way of working
In 2022, 82% of employees said they were satisfied with being able to work remotely. The upcoming year will not bring major changes in this respect, but organizations will have to pay more attention to employee grievances, such as those related to working remotely for a long time, as they will have difficulties in relation to the company (57 %) and their colleagues (59%). Or in terms of technical issues – 95% of employees claim symptoms of “Video meeting fatigue”, while 60% of them consider connectivity problems as a limitation of their professional career.
In 2023, the employee satisfaction index will become essential in staff retention, requiring a better organizational culture in the field of collaboration, but also better-performing technologies. They are real requirements for which concrete solutions already exist. For example, Cisco Webex’s Collaborate Insights functionality provides detailed information at the end-user level, while Team Insights provides insight into how teams collaborate, data that managers can use to make real-time improvements.
More details about the features and benefits of the Cisco Webex suite can be found here.
5 – Automation will be a key criterion for the IT department
Automation is a common denominator of all these technology trends in 2023 and a key choice criterion for IT departments. For example, an increasingly important competitive advantage of security solutions will be the automatic detection of indicators of compromise (IoC) functionalities. With IT departments – already undersized – dealing with dozens of alerts every day, any help is welcome, even more so if the identification of a potential risk factor is followed by the application of blocking and/or remedial measures. For this reason, security solutions that offer advanced automated testing options, simulations, or response workflows, will be preferred in 2023.
Automation is one of the reasons why Software-Defined solutions will be so popular next year as well. SDN solutions can automatically detect and identify any new equipment introduced into the network and apply its default configuration, eliminating the need for an IT employee to go onsite and manually enter settings. In turn, SD-WAN solutions automatically identify and route application traffic over available connections, prioritizing meeting their performance requirements.
Also, the collaboration solutions integrate smart automation features, such as those that automatically remove background noise, perform real-time translations and subtitles, send notifications, and more.
Regardless of how “hot” these technological trends are in 2023, companies will carry out digitization projects strictly in the areas where they find available resources. The lack of internal skills represents an important limiting element, given the chronic shortage of qualified personnel in the IT market. A challenge that Datanet can help you overcome, as one of the main system integrators in the Romanian system, with an extensive portfolio of solutions, a team with certified multivendor skills, and various active projects.
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References:
– Data Breach Investigations Report
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