Year after year, advancements in technology change the landscape of business. We decided to break down some technology trends we believe will dominate 2018.
6 Technology Trends we Expect to see in the New Year
1. Proactive Cybersecurity
As more small and medium-sized businesses realize they’re not impervious to being hacked, they’ll invest in proactive cybersecurity measures, as well as a crisis management plan.
Data protection is vital not only for the financial well-being of your company, but for the relationships you’ve built with your customers. If your business hasn’t developed a cybersecurity system yet, now is the time.
2. Smarter Offices
The Internet of Things (IoT) encompasses products like smartphones, smart watches and voice-enabled personal assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri.
These smart products are becoming smarter, and eventually, your business may use them to automate all sorts of tasks ranging from managing inventory to data-based decision making.
3. More Businesses Embracing the Cloud
An increasing number of businesses have been embracing cloud-based storage solutions for years now, and that’s going to continue in 2018.
If your business isn’t ready to fully convert to the cloud, you can have a hybrid storage method, with some data stored physically and the rest in the cloud.
4. Immersive Experiential Learning
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) programs are poised to change the way businesses train employees, from using “See What I See” glasses to custom-developed, hands-on training programs. This could potentially lead to a huge increase in productivity.
The hardware and software necessary to implement AR and VR into a business used to be sketchy and difficult to use, not to mention expensive. However, since it’s becoming more and more accessible, it’s definitely going to be one of the top technology trends in 2018.
5. Cryptocurrency
Ever since the incredible boom of Bitcoin, alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ripple and Ethereum have been hitting the mainstream as well. Some praise the potential of cryptocurrency to make its investors rich, others criticize it because its prices are contingent on nothing besides how many other people are buying it.
Whatever your opinion, the crypto craze isn’t just going to vanish in 2018.
6. Mobile Device Management
Many businesses now allow the use of both employee-owned and company-owned devices in the workplace. This has boosted productivity, but also created a rift in how businesses are able to monitor and secure employee-owned devices that store sensitive company data.
Mobile device management software regulates applications and permissions across employee-owned phones, laptops and tablets in order to safeguard the business’ networks and data.
Does your business plan to capitalize on any of these 2018 technology trends?
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