2016 IT trends -- Keeping your finger on the pulse of what's next [Q&A]

A new year means a fresh start, and IT professionals will be looking at how the traditional enterprise can re-evaluate and re-discover itself to take on new relevance.

We’ll see recurring themes -- like cloud, 3D printing, data security, and the Internet of Things -- continuing to remain relevant in 2016. At the same time, these things will continue to blur the lines between enterprises and individual computing, shaping them into intertwined eco-systems. New trends will also emerge and shape the way enterprises operate, how they’re managed and where they’re headed. BetaNews talked with Xchanging’s Global Head of Technology and Innovation, Mani Gopalaratnam, about the trends every IT professional should have on their radar for 2016. Here’s what he had to say:

BN: Thanks for talking with us, Mani. Give us an overview of what you see as the defining IT trends for next year, and then we’ll drill down into a few of them more deeply.

MG: My pleasure, Wayne. As we enter 2016, massive adoption of mobile devices through relatively fast networks are redefining end-user engagement and personalization, while wearable technologies are coming of age. Electronic payments are becoming increasingly prevalent, providing a slew of new data and transactional granularity, while automation that enables bridging legacy and modern systems will reach a peak through robotic process automation. These trends, and others, make it mandatory for social, mobile, analytics and cloud to be adopted by enterprises in order to survive in the years ahead.

BN: Thanks, Mani. That’s a lot to take in. With all of that said, is there an umbrella theme you think will emerge in the mind of IT pros?

MG: Forrester said in a recent report titled Lead The Customer-Obsessed Transformation that "…the only way to retain customers and their loyalty is to become customer-obsessed". If I had to boil it down to one umbrella theme, I’d say IT professionals in 2016 will be largely driven by this.

BN: That makes a lot of sense for the primary theme we’ll see next year. On a more granular level, what would you deem the top trend for 2016?

MG: 2016 will be defined by huge investments by organizations looking to fortify their cyber security protocols. Increased dependence on technology requires a different strategy to secure the underlying data. Take for example Gemalto’s twice-yearly Breach Level Index (BLI), which noted that in the first half of 2015 alone, the number of records breached was just under 246 million across nearly 900 disclosed incidents, with so called "mega-breaches" accounting for 82 percent of the records compromised. I’d say the biggest trend is that we’ll see more businesses go on the cyber security offensive. With adaptive and offensive cyber security emerging, a new predictive defense mechanism will exist. The modern security architecture will continuously detect, prevent, analyze and respond to threats. Businesses will live by this.

BN: We agree cyber security will continue to be a topic that’s a mainstay in the media and on IT professionals’ minds. What else will be top of mind?

MG: Here are a few more key trends to watch for:

• The world will become more hyper-connected than ever -- Fueled by the proliferation of billions of devices, hyper-connectivity will generate data about everything: Locations, atmospheric data, speed, health information -- and so on. This will lead to the creation of new products and business models, "Googlism" and "Uber-fication" being two examples.
• Big data will rule -- Big data will no longer be an aspiration. It will be a critical part of any successful enterprise.
• The API economy will lead legacy migration -- The ability for big enterprises to create APIs, as opposed to monolithic applications that enable a mass of developers outside the system to create point applications -- will accelerate. Programmers’ efficiency will be measured by their ability to bring applications to life rather than their coding strength.  The so-called API economy will be the underpinning growth engine for the hyper-connectivity and big data.
• CRM will no longer follow the traditional cycles -- More customer intelligence and personalization that elevate level of services -- from a multi-group segmentation to a segment of one -- will be the way to go for CRM. It will leverage both hyper-connectivity and big data (are you starting to see some recurring themes here yet?).  The digitalization drive requires that businesses know the needs of their users before the customer even knows the need themselves.

BN: All good points, Mani, and trends we would agree will be prominent in 2016 and beyond. Any closing thoughts?

MG: My final thought would be the criticality for businesses to adopt and adapt to a changing IT landscape. Doing business without technology is not an option. As even traditional industries, like insurance, look to modernize legacy systems, it should be known that there is a price to pay for missing the boat on embracing technology. Don’t let your organization be burdened by this. Stay ahead of the changing landscape.

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