2020: Challenging Technology Environment for All Size Businesses

Past experiences can help us see what’s in front of us, but with respect to technology and security, many of the challenges from the past year are still going to be with us in 2020.

Indicators on emerging risks show that although companies know they need to accept the digital future, most are keenly aware that the digital past dictates the challenges for the near future.

Success or Failure?

Why haven’t many businesses succeeded with their digital initiatives?  They quickly learn that funding an investment isn’t the only step.  Once an investment is made, most find that their expectation of the deliverable and ROI doesn’t pan out.  Initial steps usually surface existing gaps in their organization, which impacts the overall initiative. This realization isn’t derived solely by how the “investment” was sold; it is also an indicator of how far behind IT environments are within organizations, and how ill prepared many are for the operational impacts as a result of their investment.

Impact Analysis is Key

One of the major initiatives that many companies have undergone in the digital landscape is a cloud first strategy.  Not all is perfect in the cloud, but it can be liberating from the IT infrastructure perspective.  Less hardware to manage and inherent security are the appeal of a cloud-first solution.  As more and more organizations have begun to adopt the cloud, there has also been a trend of cloud exodus. This is a result of companies not assessing the scope, impacts and risks  and costs of what migrating to the cloud entails.

What Does 2020 Hold?

Although security threats and data privacy will both continue to be major issues for all size organizations in 2020, here are some additional risks that need to be understood as we move in the new horizon:

The Path Forward

Uncertainty persists about a clear path for business strategy. Executives lack confidence in transformational business model changes, even as many are already underway.  To help mitigate risks of missteps, organizations must take a pragmatic approach, organizing business transformation into distinct risk-based projects to diminish the chance of major disruptions.