2020 is upon us and besides just turning the calendar page on another year, we’re entering a whole new decade. The new year promises many technology advances that will continue to impact businesses, both large and small.
Technology drivers like managed IT solutions that take advantage of the power of cloud computing and time-saving automations have already transformed the way that many offices operate, especially small businesses.
As technology gets more advanced, the cost to entry for capabilities like AI-powered chatbots and cybersecurity solutions that utilize machine learning, have gone down significantly, making for a more level playing field for small and medium-sized companies. Those taking full advantage, reap the benefits.
Small businesses that make full use of technology earn 2x as much revenue per employee.
What exciting new technology trends are coming around the corner in 2020?
We’ve taken a look at what experts like Forbes, Gartner, and others are predicting to bring you the top technologies to be ready for in the coming year.
Get Ready for a Technology Boost in 2020
It’s not always easy to keep up with the evolving pace of technology, but those businesses that keep an eye out on the horizon and take the time for thoughtful strategic planning with their IT pro, can gain a serious competitive advantage over those that are dragged into the new tech decade unprepared.
Here are the 2020 trends to review and plan for so you can stay a step ahead of your competition.
Democratization of Expertise
This trend is all about making technology easier, so anyone can accomplish tasks that used to require a high-level of skill and coding experience. A good example of this is Microsoft PowerApps, which was only just released in the fall of 2019.
Typically, if you want to build a custom app for your business, it would mean hiring a team that knows how to write code as well as a team of visual designers for the user interface. Generally, only large enterprises could afford this. But Microsoft has changed all that, democratizing the expertise needed, through their PowerApps tool that allows even novice users to use a guided template-style interface to build custom business apps without writing a single line of code.
Look for more tools like this to come out in 2020 and be ready create more advanced digital solutions than you could previously.
Multiexperience (Mixed Reality)
While AR and VR are still getting off the ground and haven’t fully found a way into offices at large, a hybrid between the two, mixed reality (MR) will most likely be the first way that companies can take advantage of the perception shift of these types of tools.
An example of how MR might be used at large is through a retail experience that allows a virtual representation of a product to be placed over a real physical object. For example, a mannequin could instantly have outfits changed to find the right look (or that mannequin could be a person).
MR is also extremely useful in the architectural, construction, and engineering fields where complex additions to a plan can be overlaid virtually in the real physical environment and tweaked before the first physical part is built.
Hyperautomation
Automating simple activities such as an automated email drip campaign can both free up time from repetitive tasks and improve your company’s lead conversion.
Hyperautomation takes normal automation activities a step farther by including multiple tasks in a single automation and adding AI-based decision trees to initiate the next steps and to optimize the process.
For example, in a normal automated email drip campaign, you might have the automation send customers with a “tax” tag a certain series of emails about the tax services at your accounting firm.
With hyperautomation, the system can be set to analyze responses over time to emails within the drip campaign and automatically adjust to send the best sequence shown to result in a higher conversion rate.
AI Security
Artificial intelligence is already being used in advanced antivirus tools with EDR capabilities to keep up with all the emerging malware threats to company networks. But AI isn’t just for the “good guys.” Hackers are also looking at various ways to use AI in their malware attacks to make them harder to detect.
Recommendations related to AI and security in 2020 include:
- Using AI-powered security tools to enhance your protection
- Anticipating nefarious use of AI by hackers
- Making sure your AI-powered systems are properly safeguarded
Autonomous Things
Autonomous vehicles are in full swing when it comes to testing them for a variety of functions, such as trucking items across country and local deliveries. But they can also be extremely useful for things like moving stock in a warehouse or drones that can take non-guided aerial images of programmed coordinates.
While full use of autonomous cars and trucks may still be a few years off, small autonomous things are much closer and something to consider when looking into how to get items from point A and point B more efficiently.
Get Help Taking Control of Your Technology
Navigating the upcoming technology advances can be tricky, which is why it helps to have an expert navigator by your side. Excedeo can help you take advantage of tech advancements that make the most sense for you and develop a custom plan to implement improvements and secure your technology infrastructure.