Think that business is about to change in 2018? You’d be right, writes Ralph Berndt, director: sales at Syrex
When it is broken down into its blandest, the New Year is just the beginning of another month.
It isn’t a seismic shift in anything other than perception. Unless you’re a business with a vision. Then the start of the next annual cycle is an opportunity to grab hold of new innovations and trends with bold hands and shift profitability and capability into new gears.
For those who want to ensure that they are connected, relevant and secure, there are some significant business trends that should be paid close attention to.
The first of these is security. It is one of the most talked about topics in businesses today and can be about as entertaining as watching a PC reboot after a major patch, but there are some important changes afoot that are set to make it exciting.
The next few months will see next generation firewall solutions take a prominent place on the security stage and they will bring a change in how the organisation approaches its security. Businesses should look closely at how their security is designed and aligned to ensure that they avoid ongoing adaption from a risk perspective.
In South Africa, the business and home markets will find that the fixed line connectivity and ISP services are likely to be far more in line with their requirements. They will be better serviced and more capable. The business benefits include — increased capacity, more room for growth and the ability to expand cloud investment. Which, of course, leads neatly into the next major trend, one that has dominated for the past few years and will remain firmly top of mind in 2018 — cloud.
In South Africa, the move from managing on-premise ICT solutions towards private and public cloud services will continue to see rapid business adoption. From a tentative market dipping its toes in cloud waters while watching and waiting to see what the Jones’ will do, South Africa is becoming bolder and more invested in what cloud has to offer. This is bolstered by fixed line connectivity and ISP service improvements as well as by advancements in the applications that cloud enables.
Applications are becoming increasingly flexible in their scope, tying in with the business need to agilely adapt to market demand. There is also more variety and availability which means that organisations are able to find solutions that are tailored to their specific requirements.
This year should finally see the back of shoehorning the business into the solution now it is all about ensuring that the solution fits the business. 2018 is about adaptability, flexibility and scale, and the ability to take advantage of what this has to offer.