We all know that in 2012, more companies embraced the cloud to store information, reduce operational costs and deliver enterprise apps. Connected machines created a smarter world while intelligent networks provided the invisible network which more and more connects our professional and personal lives.
This is why, companies began to truly adopt and explore the potential of smart devices, whether corporate-issued tablets or securing personal devices to create a more productive, mobile workforce – and enabling personal work preferences to achieve new business gains. There’s no doubt that these trends will continue in 2013.
The new trends we can expect in this year are:
The Forecast Is Bright for Hybrid Clouds
According to Gartner Research, more than 60 percent of all enterprises will have adopted some form of cloud computing in 2013 – showcasing a significant shift from VPNs to public, private and hybrid clouds.
Distributed data centers and the intelligent wired and mobile networks that connect them now represent a good alternative.
To keep up with the changing demands of today’s enterprise, the ideal platform should be secure, but also easy to use and configure.
In 2013, the ability to switch between public and private clouds will provide an advantage. This will require a bold approach to embracing change and re-engineering networks in support of cloud-based applications.
The Mobile Majority Is Taking Charge
According to Forrester, 66 percent of employees now use two or more mobile devices for work. This is big. As the separation between the work and private lives of employees continues to disapear, enterprises must follow this situation and prioritize this new demand, in order to get efficiency and productivity. What is even more important, information technology departments will play a key role in meeting the new requirements for professional mobility.
What we can expect is that companies will increasingly adopt cloud-based enterprise mobility strategies – creating “personal clouds” where employees can use enterprise applications to do their jobs more effectively. Most probably, these companies will be more proactive in dealing with the division of employees’ personal and professional lives. We can expect be start of using mobile-device management and private application storefronts to create a more secure, mobile work environment.
Networks Will Be Smarter Than You
According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index, an intelligent fabric that connects everything and everyone will render underlying networks invisible to end users, even as overall IP traffic grows at a compound annual growth rate of 29 percent through 2016.
We can expect to see a shift in 2013 to more dynamic networks, pervasive IP connections, and purpose-built networks that serve businesses, consumers and society. Improvements in network reliability, together with intelligent end points, will provide the foundation for connecting smart machines and smarter people. Networks will continue to grow in importance, as well as just how much we rely on them.
Security is the New Arms Race
Security breaches span access, infrastructure and apps across any industry. Security problems can occur on fixed and mobile networks, impacting physical, intellectual and financial capital – and the scope is global. Identity security will be a much more prevalent issue in 2013. Two-factor authentication continues to gain advocates, but more is needed to counteract the increasing amount and intensity of criminal activity pursuing both intellectual property and financial gain. That's why we can expect that in 2013, security will become a mainstream IT must-have. Strong security is not an option anymore – it’s a requirement for all organizations to protect their intellectual and physical capital, customer identities and society at large.
From all above mentioned, we can get to an conclusion: the way enterprises approach these four trends will determine their success in transforming their business operations for greater productivity, innovation and competitive differentiation in 2013.
Source: forbes.com