Key technology trends to help enterprises in 2021

Recent IDC data shows that actual market performance has been stronger than suggested by survey and market indicators, especially in the US, due largely to cloud and remote work support.

Service provider investments to meet demand for cloud and digital services are stable compared to other sectors and remote work/learning has driven stronger PC volume and a greater focus on security for the year, said Crawford Del Prete, President at IDC.

“Overall information and communications technology (ICT) spending is expected to have a 5 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2024,” he said. “In terms of total IT spending, we are seeing a shallower V-shaped drop this year. Total IT spending will drop to about 1 per cent growth this year, but this is far stronger than the 3 per cent decline that was expected earlier in the year.”

In a recent IDC survey, 42 per cent of technology decision makers indicated that their organisations plan to invest in technology to close the digital transformation gap.

“The pandemic created a business necessity for increasing technology investment and accelerating digital transformation timetables,” said Meredith Whalen, chief research officer at IDC. “What we are learning is that many of these initiatives that started as ways to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 have become permanent roadmap requirements for Future Enterprise success in the digital economy.”

IDC’s outlook for the Future Enterprise identifies three overarching initiatives that links technology investment to digital transformation efforts – creating digital parity across the workforce, designing for new customer demands, and accelerating automation initiatives.

Creating Digital Parity

Before the pandemic, organizations, on average, had only 14 per cent of their employees working from home. That percentage has increased dramatically – to 45 per cent – and many organizations anticipate that work-from-home employees will remain a large proportion of the workforce going forward. Supporting hybrid workforces and ensuring that remote and work-from-home employees have the same sets of connectivity and productivity tools as their in-office counterparts will be essential to long-term success.

• Prediction: By 2023, 75 per cent of the G2000 will commit to providing technical parity to a workforce that is hybrid by design rather than by circumstance, enabling them to work together separately and in real-time.
• Prediction: By 2022, an additional $2 billion will be spent on desktop and workspace as a service by the G2000, as 75 per cent of them incorporate employees’ home network/workspace as part of the extended enterprise environment.

Designing for New Customer Demands

Almost half (47.6 per cent) of all U.S. consumers are “very concerned” about their personal health as it relates to the COVID-19 virus, according to IDC’s recent U.S. consumer survey. This concern for safety has spurred many businesses to create new contactless consumer experiences, including curbside pickup. Enterprises will also invest in design and user interface requirements for contactless process automation with an emphasis on voice-based experiences and self-service options through mobile apps.

• Prediction: By 2023, 75 per cent of grocery ecommerce orders will be picked up curbside or in store, driving a 35 per cent increase in investment in onsite or nearby micro-fulfillment centers.
• Prediction: In 2021, 40 per cent of development activities will reprioritize design and user interface to support contactless process automation.

Accelerating Automation Initiatives

Enterprises will increasingly adopt automated IT operations practices to support the greater scale required for digitally driven enterprises. Robotic process automation (RPA), robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will play a more important role in labor automation while a continued focus on autonomous operations will drive investment in Digital Engineering organizations and digital operations technologies.

• Prediction: By 2022, 45 per cent of repetitive work tasks will be automated and/or augmented by using “digital co-workers,” powered by AI, robotics, and RPA.
• Prediction: By 2023, 75 per cent of Global 2000 IT organizations will adopt automated operations practices to transform their IT workforce to support unprecedented scale.

COVID-19’s Impact on Industries

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unique situations for specific industries, including healthcare, hospitality, retail, and small and medium businesses (SMBs), requiring them to rethink the way they use technology to engage with customers.

• Healthcare: Telemedicine will be a permanent fixture going forward. With nearly a third of consumers interested in having a telemedicine option post-pandemic, healthcare providers are predicted to increase spending by 70 per cent on connected health technologies by 2023.
• Hospitality: Despite being an industry known for people-based services, 85 per cent of hospitality brands will implement self-service technologies by 2021, changing how they engage with guests.
• Restaurants: Restaurants have taken the economic brunt of the pandemic and many have turned to home delivery out of necessity. Post-pandemic, 30 per cent of restaurants using third party delivery platforms will deploy native delivery options to eliminate third-party fees, increasing profit by 25 per cent.
• Retail: Contactless payments have seen increased adoption during the pandemic and will be viewed as a customer experience imperative going forward, causing 85 per cent of retailers to offer at least two contactless payment options by 2023.
• SMBs: At least 30 per cent of SMBs will fail by 2021 leading to a new wave of microbusiness-powered and ecosystem-first disruptors by 2023. These microbusinesses will be single employees that leverage the power of a digital platform to obtain and fulfill work.