2013 IT Trends
There are a number of driving factors that will influence 2013 IT trends. These trends include Mobility, Cloud Computing, Disaster Recovery and IT Security. These 2013 IT trends will influence IT budgets and plans, while enabling companies to take advantage of mobile computing, enterprise infrastructure, software as a service (SaaS), social networks and more. Here are some predictions for 2013.
Mobility
A top 2013 IT Trend is Mobility. Mobility and mobile device management go hand in hand. Most IT industry analysts agree market growth of smartphones and tablet computers will outpace PCs in 2013. The IT Industry research firm IDC is now projecting that 172.4 million tablets will ship in 2013. Mary Meeker, former internet analyst turned venture capitalist noted 24% of Black Friday shopping occurred on a smartphone or tablet in 2012. Microsoft also hopes to get a large share of the tablet PC market with its recent release of Microsoft Windows 8 RT Tablet. This trend in mobility will drive the greater need for Mobile Device Management and mobile security as more corporate data will reside on and be accessed by mobile devices than ever before.
Cloud Computing
Another 2013 IT Trend is Cloud Computing. In 2012 many companies turned to the cloud to access enterprise class infrastructure, remote support, online backup and software as a service (SaaS) for critical applications, such as email, sales force automation (SFA) and customer relationship management (CRM). Expect additional growth in cloud adoption from managed security solutions for anti-virus and anti-malware protection, as well as other data protection services. IT research firm Gartner predicts by 2015 ten percent of overall IT security enterprise capabilities will be delivered in the cloud.
IT Security
Companies will continue to face growing IT security threats. Risk of data leaks from malware and other cyber attacks will continue to threaten businesses of all sizes. In addition, expect cybersecurity legislation to be a priority for many governments in 2013. A 2013 IT Trend, changing IT policies will empower users to access social networks for job related activity and/or during business hours on personal or corporate owned devices. These drivers will influence spending on managed security, unified threat management and other IT security technologies and solutions.
Disaster Recovery
During 2012 we saw a growing phenomenon of companies facing business interruption from a variety of natural disasters. Hurricanes, typhoons and superstorms dominated the news. Companies will continue to implement data business continuity and disaster recovery solutions, including local data backup, remote backup and server virtualization to ensure rapid recovery in the event of a disaster.
While there are no crystal balls to predict the future, having a detailed and indepth IT plan for your company can make all the difference to protect your investment in your critical applications and data. Keep these points in mind to ensure a happy and healthy 2013.