CompTIA’s 'IT Industry Outlook 2023' Highlights AI, Metaverse, Cloud Computing
New activities in FinOps will help organizations control their cloud activity and open new pathways for IT professionals.
December 9, 2022
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Customers are changing and they are much more scrutinous about the kind of technology they choose to use. For instance, customers are examining ROI on each potential technology purchase. It’s becoming more and more essential for vendors to make a specific business case for every product or service. Expectations are high. For example, for an MSP offering just basic security “it may no longer cut it as data breach-nervous customers seek an expert with more sophisticated skills.”
To retain workers, businesses must clearly decide the kind of flexibility and culture they want. Will it be remote work, hybrid or something else? That decision will mean worker productivity and performance will need to be measured more acutely. That said, remote work and flex time will not be an all-or-nothing reality for tech companies and channel organizations.
Recruitment and hiring practices are also changing as the demand for workers in data, cybersecurity, cloud, metaverse and other areas grows. Looking for new workers means looking outside the box for candidates, including upskilling existing employees and hiring workers without a four-year college degree.
CompTIA suggests we’ve been living in the metaverse for some time as the metaverse simply represents online life. Viewing the metaverse as a new VR-based phase of the internet might be more accurate.
As organizations build their own metaverse for their customers, less focus will exist on headsets and virtual real estate. Rather, more emphasis will be on building in depth customer relationships and establishing connections between the many digital experiences a customer might choose.
CompTIA says cloud computing has been the trend with the most impact on current IT activities. Cloud platforms are the first choice for IT system and applications. This shift to a cloud-first framework has basically brought an end to the first stage of mass cloud adoption. In that stage, the emphasis was on migrating to individual systems, closing cybersecurity gaps and integrating different cloud and on-prem components.
There’s another stage in the making where adoption will focus on what organizations need to do to tackle the complexity of the multi-cloud environment. A low barrier to entry allows different departments to pursue their own cloud solutions. However, this may cause an IT infrastructure team additional headaches as they will now need to monitor the “big picture” across the organization.
Lastly, CompTIA predicts new activities in FinOps will help organizations control their cloud activity and open new pathways for IT professionals.
The last decade has brought channel organizations a variety of choice of vendors, technologies, partners, business models and more. Having so many options means relying on traditional industry giants is a thing of the past. They can explore new markets and technologies. However, newer SaaS vendors are a little inexperienced when it comes to the indirect model.
Either way, this choice means competition for established organizations, impacting business across the digital economy.
In the year ahead, MSPs will still experiment with automation. However, the promise of automation is tempered by some drawbacks. There are many moving parts. There’s vendor-to-MSP automation (think PRM tools), internal MSP business automation (think PSA, RMM and BDR platforms) and finally MSP-to-customer automation (think CRM tools). Establishing coordination in these areas requires not only the “right automation pieces in each setting, but ones that work together in an integrated fashion.”
Additionally, automation raises some concerns about potential job cuts. And if every MSP is utilizing similar automation, what makes them stand out? It’s something to consider in the upcoming year.
The principles of zero trust serve as a framework for enacting cybersecurity policies and processes. However, how does one measure whether any ground is gained?
Solely measuring progress by determining if a breach has happened is not enough. Even though there are metrics that account for good practices, organizations have had difficulty relating these measurements to tangible actions.
CompTIA says, “determining the risk level of digital activities, assigning a financial impact and building a mitigation plan will provide not only a connection between cybersecurity and corporate health but also a structure for measurement.”
This structure can be used for a range of investments, including determining cyber insurance needs.
Inflation has impacted the entire go-to-market chain, including manufacturers and channel organizations.
For the channel firms that happen to be small businesses, these market forces—uncertainty of pricing and availability of components— greatly affect them. “For these firms of less than $1 million in revenue and 10 or fewer employees, cash flow is often shaky at best.”
This means some organizations will cut back on technology spending, while others will “double down.” Forecasting quarterly sales may be difficult in 2023.
The third generation of the World Wide Web, or Web3, is a decentralized and open web that offers users more ownership for publication and transaction. This differs from Web 2.0 where the new iteration of the internet was based on content created mainly for social media platforms.
CompTIA says, “the noise around Web3 will continue in 2023, but the key area to focus on is the evolution of digital identity.”
As AI advances, concerns arise. Is the technology non-inclusive when it comes to text feature sentiments? AI is trained on datasets with “historical opinions that may now be outdated.” Also, as the quality of AI gets better and better, it provides competition with people already providing content on the internet. This is ironic considering the aims of Web3 are to “empower content creators.” This is something to monitor in the year ahead.
As AI advances, concerns arise. Is the technology non-inclusive when it comes to text feature sentiments? AI is trained on datasets with “historical opinions that may now be outdated.” Also, as the quality of AI gets better and better, it provides competition with people already providing content on the internet. This is ironic considering the aims of Web3 are to “empower content creators.” This is something to monitor in the year ahead.
Whether it’s the metaverse, cloud computing or artificial intelligence, CompTIA’s “IT Industry Outlook 2023” offers a glimpse into society’s interaction with technology. Although technology can’t solve all of society’s ailments, in the right hands it can accelerate solutions for those with a bold vision for their respective industries.
“Technology has a massive direct and indirect impact on economic growth,” according to CompTIA. “Overall GDP grew by 18% between quarter one of 2020 and quarter two of 2022. In contrast, the sub-industry that most closely represents the core tech industry (data processing, internet publishing and other information services) grew by 47%. This growth rate trailed only two sub-industries related to oil and petroleum.”
CompTIA says spending on new technologies—including internet of things (IoT), robotics and mixed reality— is expected to hit $1.36 trillion in 2023. This adds nearly 30% to the expected spending on traditional items.
However, a word of caution. Economic swings such as inflation means actual spending may fluctuate more in 2023 than in previous years.
Either way, technology is changing the landscape more and more rapidly. According to this outlook (see slideshow above), technological change is mostly for the better when it comes to building relationships with customers.
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