2021 IT Trends to Apply to Your Business
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in enhancing staff mobility and changing 2021 IT trends. Employees can now work from home, and anywhere else they have access to a laptop and internet connection. Besides, they no longer have to work on an employer-approved laptop. While this is an advantage to the employee, it raises the question of IT security for businesses. It’s become a concern among identity management services, and the focus is on ensuring access to data by approved users. Device security is crucial to ensure corporate data remains secure and segregated. This also extends to document security, where a security expert applies specialized policies that dictate who can open a document. The security type and level used also determine what the recipient can do with the document.
Email security is also another area of concern for businesses. Organizations need to watch and analyze what is coming into and leaving their communication systems against data-loss prevention policies. With this in mind, businesses need to keep up with the changing cybersecurity landscape to protect their data. Here are the latest 2021 IT trends to look out for and apply for business security and growth.
Adoption of Big Tech and AI
The business world is now highly connected, and technology is crucial for daily business operations. As broadband internet expands its territories to remote places, this is the year for businesses to embrace big data and artificial intelligence.
The mass increase in the use of smartphones will see businesses drift towards mass personalization. This will only be possible through AI to help companies to uncover individual-level information. It will also enable real-time communication with prospects. AI will complement big tech by filling the gaps in the data it collects to tailor the customer experience.
Human Resource Technology
As companies transit to remote work, one area that will adopt technology in its fullness is human resources. HR teams have to adapt to managing remote teams, which means a bigger role for tech stack. For these departments, technology has become more than just a record system. It’s now a system of engagement, and the tools are designed to serve the whole organization.
As such, it is necessary to move to a more dedicated platform to modernize the HR department. In the future, it will be easier to manage remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote onboarding will benefit from a more centralized HR platform since it could be months before it becomes safe to go back to the office.
Influencer Marketing
Promotional and branded content has become popular on social media platforms. The highest-paid athletes in the world are making more money online than they do in the field. This is all thanks to influencer marketing.
The technique relies on using big and famous names to sell something. The ads appear on users’ screens with a lot of ease and subtlety than traditional advertising. Instead of hiring a celebrity to appear in your ad, they only need to post your product’s benefits online.
This form of advertising comes with several benefits for a business if used correctly. The best part is that the experience you deliver to your customers is personalized. While your target audience may not have a choice about what ads pop up on their TV screens, they can choose what to follow on social media. When an ad comes from a personality they like, they develop trust for the brand.
The Proliferation of 5G
The fifth-generation cellular capability boasts relatively faster data transmission speeds than the popular 4G. According to Huawei, 5G will deliver better speeds than 4G Lite with no data transfer delay. This is a significant step towards developing the Internet of Things (IoT). 5G is more suited to support the influx of connected devices. However, this technology is still in its early stages.
Enhanced Security Against Cybersecurity
Hackers consider email inboxes the weakest point of entry into an organization’s database. They use them as a vector for
- Malware infection
- Business compromise scams
- Ransomware attacks
As technology continues to advance, businesses will experience an increase in these kinds of attacks. Unfortunately, approximately 60% of small businesses don’t consider themselves as potential targets for attack. Some factors that will make the environment conducive for phishing attacks are artificial intelligence and automation. They will take advantage of these technologies to spear phishing, allowing them to work faster and send out cyberattacks in large numbers.
On the flip side, the automation of phishing attacks makes them easy to spot. With the proper knowledge, tools, and expertise, you can easily protect your business and employees against this cyber threat.
Software Unification
Businesses are embracing more and more business tech stacks for communication, management, and customer experience. Examples include Slack for team collaboration, Outlook to send documents, and Salesforce for customer management.
Unfortunately, connecting one software to work efficiently with another is never easy. The good news is that there is an ongoing development of integration platforms. They will make it easy to connect any software to another. These connections will finally link multiple platforms, enhancing seamless communication.
More Surveillance Against Social Media Threats
Social media has become an excellent marketing tool for business and is no longer a preserve for individual use. Unfortunately, business accounts on social media are at significant risk of cyberattack. Hackers are extending their tactics to social media to reach businesses.
The growing trend can be traced to two factors: insufficient authentication and little verification. Companies don’t invest heavily in securing their business accounts, probably because they don’t understand the risk of attack they face. As employees work remotely, they should be reminded to stay vigilant when signing up for online events, posting, or communicating on behalf of the business.
Learn More About Using 2021 IT Trends for Your Business
If you want to set your business apart, you need to be on the know-how of technological advancements that are trending in 2021. There’s so much you can do to add a technical flair to how your business operates. From enhancing your cybersecurity approach, embracing 5G, influencer marketing, to the adoption of AI, the opportunities are endless. Please contact us today for more information.
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