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By Jonathan Biakoussala, Senior Account Executive, The Dynaste Comms Firm
The past two years have proved that flexibility and adaptability are essential to businesses’ survival. Many industry trends continue to emerge from the pandemic and force companies to make bold changes. Currently, digital transformation has a significant impact on organisations, with recent forecasts announcing that the market may see a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 19.1% by 2026.
“Data is the backbone of digital transformation. As organisations manage larger and larger data sets, the chances of security breaches and losses increase. However, digital transformation will continue as the benefits outweigh the risks,” says Business Analyst at LAWtrust, Riaan de Villiers.
According to a survey conducted by the Finances Online Reviews for Business Research Centre, 27% of companies felt that implementing digital transformation initiatives is a matter of survival across industries.
Here are five emerging tech trends businesses should expect in 2022:
Cybersecurity
The pandemic has been a boon for cybercriminals. The rapid adoption of technology in every area of our lives has made us vulnerable on more than one front: phishers, hackers, scammers, and extortionists are all lurking about, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Ransomware attacks are the number one threat for many organisations. According to PwC, 61% of tech executives predict an increase in these attacks in 2022. As a reminder, the number of ransomware attempts stacked up to 500 million by November 2021. As a result, cybersecurity is now critical.
Companies who invest in cybersecurity tools and strategies will not only save money that can be utilised for other business projects, but they will also avoid paying out large sums of money in retaliation after an assault.
Digital Signing
Modern businesses are embracing new technology systems that allow them to decentralise operations. Digital signatures are essential to that work-from-anywhere toolbox. According to DocuSign’s 2021 research, 95% of organisations currently use or plan to adopt digital signatures. Two-thirds have adopted this technology during the pandemic.
In addition, Market Watch estimates that the global Digital Signature Market size will grow from US1.1-billion dollars in 2019 to US7.99-billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 28.9% in the forecast period, clearly showing that this trend is here to stay.
With digital signatures becoming commonplace, organisations should extend their usability to gain a competitive advantage. For example, adding more tools to your signature stack will provide a better customer and staff experience. Use integrations to fill in agreement details automatically rather than electronic signatures. To avoid redundancy, use templates instead of generating contracts from scratch.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is becoming a critical part of many organisations’ operations, increasing the demand for expertise. 2022 could be an important year for AI as companies rely on it to handle data; many experts predict profits, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency gains.
Beyond operations, AI will also prove essential in the fight against cybercrime thanks to its ability to detect patterns and predict behaviours.
Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT is another developing trend that businesses should watch. With so many companies adjusting to working remotely, having internet connectivity is becoming increasingly important. It could improve customer service. As the number of devices connected to corporate networks grows, the need to carefully manage identities will grow.
Trust and identities
Cybersecurity is an important issue, and top management is becoming more sensitive to the rise of cybercrime. Therefore, mitigating risk must be a top priority for board members. To protect organisations, innovative new approaches to identity management such as the zero-trust model and identity first will probably gain much attention during 2022.
“As more and more enterprises see digital transformation as a critical component to increase competitiveness, cybersecurity remains a concern. Businesses should adapt to these emerging technological trends while taking safety measures. This is the right time to focus on cybersecurity and make it part of your corporate culture,” concludes de Villiers.
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