Looking back at 2018, the world of tech has had an exciting and tumultuous year. For one, the evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning reached new heights. This in turn aided the development of self-learning algorithms, autonomous cars, and virtual assistants. Blockchain expanded way beyond the financial industry and created a wealth of future opportunities. It is already setting the stage for other information technology trends to emerge.
We even sent a Tesla in space.
It was not all fun and games, as some events raised valid questions about the future of certain innovations. Gene-edited babies faced a severe public backlash, while the Cambridge Analytica data scandal even brought Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the stand.
Despite the setbacks, the tech field is confidently moving forward at a steady pace.
So what should we expect from 2019?
What do the cold, hard facts and numbers have to say on the matter?
Let’s have a look…
1. Trends in information technology will continue to tease both clients and investors, bringing the global IT industry spending to $5 trillion in 2019.
(Source: CompTIA)
Here is one that can barely count as a surprise. Emerging technologies paint a bright future, but they are still too expensive to develop and introduce for mass use. More investments in the sector should bring us one step closer to that goal, and that’s why 56% of big enterprises expect their budget to grow in the next year.
2. The US still represents the largest portion of the tech market with over 31% share.
(Source: CompTIA)
Global IT spending in the US has already reached $1.6 trillion and accounts for a significant chunk of the US economy. The tech industry has already surpassed retail, transportation, and construction in terms of percentage from GDP.
3. Fastest growing tech markets don’t always need a rich economic environment to bloom. In 2017 Argentina reported an industry growth of 14.2%.
(Source: IDC)
Even though “usual suspects” like Germany (13.1%) and the UK (12%) are still high up on the list, we must note the progress of smaller-scale economies like Argentina and Chile. That fact is partly due to the overall boom of new technologies in the Latin America tech market. Tech adoption is inconsistent across the globe though — China actively invests in robotics, Germany is doing wonders with 3D printing innovations, and India is spending heaps for mobility services.
4. North America and Asia are leading the pack when it comes to IT technology distribution. Both continents account for 33% of tech worldwide.
(Source: Statista)
While the tech industry grows by the year, users across the globe do not enjoy the same access to innovations. African countries are still way behind, enjoying a mere 5% global distribution of tech industry trends.
Progress within Africa doesn’t spread evenly as well. A notable example of that divide is Nigeria. The country’s demographic boom and continuous drop in smartphone prices are expected to help Nigeria host over 50% of the mobile technology users on the continent by 2025.
5. Company size matters! Big enterprises are 10 times more likely to adopt an emerging tech trend, compared to smaller-scale companies.
(Source: Spiceworks)
Bigger companies are undoubtedly holding most the power (and money) when it comes to getting the most from the latest information technology trends. That influence spans across all innovations. Take blockchain for example. Global blockchain adoption from small and mid-sized companies gravitates around 9%, while enterprises with more than 5000 employees are much more receptive with 25%.
6. Speaking of top dogs and their gadgets, 90% of Fortune 500 companies have already moved their systems to the Microsoft Cloud.
(Source: DynaSource)
This process has established Microsoft as one of the cloud’s top players, something that seemed ludicrous just a few years back. An increasing number of companies are attempting to embrace the recent information technology trends in their early stages, and they often pivot from their traditional offerings.
7. What are tech companies planning for 2019? Over 33% intend to introduce new products and services, and 24% prefer to focus on improving existing ones. Only 8% have no foreseeable future plans.
(Source: CompTIA)
The fact that companies are actively employing modern tech in their latest developments is very reassuring for the industry progress. Again, there are certain segregations in that matter. Big companies will push toward releasing new products based on the latest technology, while small tech business will mostly be tweaking their existing offerings.
8. Let’s take a look at the hottest trends in the industry. A survey among international companies reveals 41% of businesses expect IT automation to make the most significant impact in 2019.
(Source: Spiceworks)
Internet of Things (IoT) and ggBit Networking are other hot commodities. They will dominate the tech market for years to come, according to respectively 32% and 30% of respondents. Still, not all upcoming technologies will enjoy such rapid progress — only 12% believe 3D Printing will make a profound impact, compared to the other current IT trends.
9. People and companies will continue to spend a lot on anything fresh the market has to offer. Emerging tech like AR/VR headsets, IoT solutions, robots, and drones will be raking about 23% of the total spending in the industry.
(Source: IDC)
Platform investments will maintain the lead in terms of IT expenditure. A whopping 70% of all spending will be aimed toward taking cloud, mobile, social, and big data analytics to the next level.
10. Make way for artificial intelligence. AI investments have risen by 32% in the last year alone, assisted by the growth in IT spending for deep learning, machine learning, and natural language processing.
(Source: Deloitte)
Humanity has been captivated with the idea of artificial intelligence for a long time. Today this concept seems well within our grasp, and everyone wants in on the deal. Companies are progressively implementing AI-driven processes and are looking to support the technologies behind AI. Deep learning fancied the most support, reporting a 16% rise in outside investments.
11. 30% of big enterprises will use conversational speech tech for customer engagement by 2022.
(Source: IDC)
We already got acquainted with Siri and formed a bond with Alexa. The latest technology trends in information technology bring exciting changes in the way businesses build relationships with their customers. Chatbots and voice-operated tech will actively feature in the short-term plans of companies, while AI-enabled user interfaces and process automation will rule the game by 2025.
12. Growth forecasts look optimistic for device sales as well. 2018 reported a 3.6% rise in tech device trades and 2019 analysis predicts another 2.4% hike.
(Source: Gartner)
The latest Gartner Symposium in Orlando gathered some of the most prominent industry leaders in one place. According to their forecast, the new trends in IT technology will bring up to $709 billion from device sales and another $439 billion in enterprise software deals alone.
13. Tech employment in the US plays a significant role in the country’s economic growth. The IT industry will be ensuring jobs for over 11.6 million people by the end of the year.
(Source: CompTIA)
The CompTIA research outlines the impact of the technology sector for the US economy. The numbers are even more impressive, considering self-employed workers were not a part of the survey. In the course of the last eight years, the pool of global technical talent expanded with more than 387,000 software developers and 190,000 IT support specialists.
14. Why are companies looking to hire? Top reasons include company expansion (58%) and the need for a particular set of skills (52%).
(Source: CompTIA)
The labor market in the US is getting tighter, and 2019 will be no different. Emerging tech will increase the need for experts in AI, IoT, AR/VR, Blockchain, so the job market will inevitably undergo some transformations as a result. Industry giants will show no remorse when stealing the best talent to handle their top technologies, which will result in over 43% of IT companies having to look for replacements.
15. Companies reveal that the largest portion of their IT budgets in 2019 will be focused on replacing outdated infrastructure (64%) and meeting deadlines on IT projects (56%).
(Source: Spiceworks)
Technological operations are getting more demanding by the day. Companies have no choice but to allocate enough money and workforce for technological advancements. While businesses will continue to be influenced by macroeconomic factors like taxes and regulations (GDPR immediately comes to mind), most of their efforts will be focused on upgrading existing infrastructure.
16. Where is technology headed? Emerging tech now represents 17% of the global IT market.
(Source: Statista)
According to a 2018 worldwide survey, emerging technology is slowly but surely expanding its influence on the IT market. Trends that have been around for years — VR, AR, AI, IoT, Blockchain, etc. — make up a very compelling case for tech companies to keep investing in the future.
17. Tech CEOs share their concerns about future technology inventions. 41% are most concerned with terrorism, and 36% feel uneasy about economic overregulation.
(Source: PwC)
The survey compared the most urgent concerns of Tech CEOs and directors from other industries. While terrorism remains a top issue for everyone, the research unveils that other problems are not distributed so evenly. For example, a big concern (35%) for tech directors is the protectionist policies some countries employ. Global CEOs, on the other hand, put this way back on the list, with only 29% worried about such state of the economy.
18. Information technology trends will inevitably rely on the security tech market. Investments in security reached $75.5 billion in 2016, $92.1 billion in 2018, and are expected to hit $133.7 in 2022.
(Source: Deloitte)
Digital evolution comes with a lot of perks, but we have also to consider the hidden dangers. Cyber attacks are one of the most pressing concerns for tech businesses and their clients alike. Tackling this growth inhibitor will include advanced solutions and heavy measures. On the bright side, companies look ready to pay for quality.
19. Cybersecurity strongly affects all trends in information technology. In 2018, over 18% of companies had halted AI initiatives due to online safety risks, and 22% decided not to start any new projects at all.
(Source: Deloitte)
The risks are real. Cybersecurity statistics reveal some alarming trends and businesses have every right to be concerned. The fear of not meeting client expectations hinders an increasing number of tech companies from expressing their true potential. This creates an opportunity for large cloud providers and security vendors to step in and “lighten the load,” introducing new technologies for advanced online safety.
20. Technology is booming, but not all investors are happy. Facebook became Investor Enemy #1 in 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica scandal resulted in a massive 19% share drop in a single day.
(Source: Profit Confidential)
Just because the industry is gradually increasing in value, doesn’t necessarily mean everybody is making a profit out of it. On the contrary, even the Big Five in the tech business are not 100% fail-safe. Facebook investors felt that particularly hard in March 2018. As the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal erupted, their stocks plummeted in a matter of hours. That fateful day cost shareholders a staggering $120 billion.
21. Despite all the risks and threats, recent technology innovations will continue to be a hot topic in the business world. By 2020, over 61% of organizations plan to use ggBit wi-fi networking actively, and 48% intend to adopt IoT technologies.
(Source: Spiceworks)
The future is now, and tech companies are ready to ride the wave of digital evolution in search of competitive advantage. Process automation and optimization, emerging tech development, and a skilled workforce will be the cornerstones of any successful trend adoption.
IT INDUSTRY TRENDS – KEY TAKEAWAYS
– We can, in all fairness, predict a bright future to the current information technology trends like AI, IoT, VR, and blockchain. They are expected to completely revolutionalize whole sectors of the economy like healthcare, military, construction, etc.
– Tech automation will result in the loss of many manual jobs but will open vast opportunities for employment in other markets.
– Protecting the clients and fighting against regulations will be top priorities for companies in the tech niche.