It’s difficult to synthesize 2020 in words. It was a challenging time for all of us, and our businesses and workplaces were no exception. Much has changed, and we expect more will continue to change in the year ahead. In this post, we share our predictions for the state of IT within small- and medium-sized businesses in 2021. These trends range from a continued emphasis on digital transformation to greater cloud adoption to investment in managed security services to keep your operations up and running. 

In knowing what to expect (or not expect), we can best prepare, together, for a secure year ahead. Many of these recommendations will require a significant investment in time from your technology staff as well as commitment from your leadership team. Which makes now is the time to begin charting a post-pandemic future. We wish you all continued health, growth, security, and success in the year ahead.

A Drive Toward Digital Transformation

The pandemic ushered in a swift shift to remote work from virtual and home offices. This led many businesses to embrace new collaboration and communication platforms and virtual desktops. In terms of security, it also led to investments in firewalls, networking monitoring tools, and other measures to safeguard your data and remote workforce. 

Customer preferences also changed. Not only did the pandemic change how and where we work, but it led many organizations to completely rethink their products, services, and lines of business. Many leaders were quick to introduce or enhance their digital offerings or create contactless customer service options. There has long been a trend toward digital transformation among business leaders, and the pandemic accelerated this. In fact, many sources think that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation by a global average of about six years! Statista predicts that spending on digital transformation will nearly double between now and 2023.  

As we head into a new year, digital transformation shows little to no sign of slowing. Many businesses found their footing early on. The consulting firm McKinsey looked at incumbents who were “winning the digital transformation battle” and found several shared traits, including digital speed and resources, a readiness to reinvent, an all-in commitment from leaders, data-driven decisions, and a focus on the customer. 

At retailer Levi Strauss, for example, the pandemic threw the company’s years-out digital initiatives into warp speed. The company invested in AI and predictive analytics before the pandemic and leveraged this to serve the rise in e-commerce among consumers. The company decided to fulfill online orders not just from fulfilment centers but its stores; it launched curbside pickup at 80 percent of it’s retail locations. 

Digital transformation is no longer a lofty or long-term goal. In 2021, it will become an immediate necessity that is required to remain competitive. 

Work-From-Anywhere Initiatives

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about the world's greatest work-from-home experiment. At its height, nearly half of the U.S. workforce was working from home. And this experiment might become a bit more permanent as businesses look to change their policies in the year ahead, and beyond. 

A survey from Gartner suggests that more than 80% of company leaders working in HR, legal and compliance, finance, and real estate intend to permit remote working for at least some of the time once people begin to return to the office. Microsoft, for example, is one of the latest big companies to announce a hybrid policy that will allow a permanent work-from-home policy for more employees.

We expect to see more companies, of all sizes and industries, adopt similar hybrid working practices in 2021 that will enable employees to work from anywhere. The result of the biggest work-from-home experiment is that firms are discovering firsthand the newfound flexibility and productivity of remote work for their future operations and growth. The investments you’ve made to date will be critical. So too will be a continued focus on platforms for secure collaboration and communication for remote work and customer support.

Up, up, and not away! A Secure Shift to the Cloud

With the rise in remote work, it's no surprise that more companies are moving operations to the cloud. Cloud-based applications make it easier to work in a more agile, flexible way, and to foster collaboration across distributed teams. This is already the case for many of you: The 2020 IDG Cloud Computing Survey finds that more than 80% of enterprises have at least one application or segment of computing infrastructure in the cloud today. And nearly a third of IT budgets are expected to be dedicated to the cloud next year. 

Hybrid cloud strategies are helping many firms find the right balance to meet the customer where they are while ensuring security and privacy.  One example is Honeywell, which built its Forge IoT platform on an open source and hybrid cloud to more seamlessly integrate its industrial data with traditional cloud data centers, applications, and workloads. 

According to the IDG survey, many businesses will prioritize cloud services for three application areas: disaster recovery, identity management, and content delivery. Survey respondents report that the most valuable benefit of cloud or hybrid cloud solutions is greater platform and service flexibility. And the most common obstacle? Data privacy and security challenges. Nearly half of respondents cited this as the greatest challenge to cloud adoption. 

The Rise of the Cyber Threat (It’s Not the Title of a Movie Sequel)

Which brings us to the most unfortunate 2021 trend on our list: the rise of cyber threats. The pandemic has spurred digital transformation and work-from-anywhere initiatives that could revolutionize your business and lead to growth and greater profitability. But one challenge is less forward-looking and more foreboding: the increasing threat of cyberattacks against your business. One site reports that a whopping 80% of businesses have seen an increase in cyberattacks amidst the pandemic. Forbes reports a 238% rise in attacks on banks, and a 600% increase in attacks on cloud servers, from January to April 2020 alone.

These attacks range from ransomware and phishing scams to business email compromise and malware. The cyber threat landscape continues to evolve. Attacks grow in sophistication and frequency and new threats emerge, every day. 

Moving into 2021, SMBs will need to put cybersecurity front and center to avoid falling victim to these potentially devastating attacks. Cyberattacks can halt your operations, damage your reputation, and they’re immensely costly. 

Invest in Managed Services (Because Couldn’t We All Use a Trusted Sidekick?)

Related to the rise in cyber threats is an expected trend toward managed security services. Coupled with increasing IT needs and limited resources, more companies are looking to outsource their IT management in a cost-efficient way in 2021 and beyond.

Partnering with an expert managed security services provider will ensure that your company stays productive and secure, without the need for a robust internal IT team. We anticipate a rise in these partnerships, especially as it relates to cybersecurity, scenario planning, and disaster recovery. After a tough 2020, businesses seek partnerships and plans to remain resilient amidst myriad disaster scenarios, including another pandemic.   

Selecting the right managed services partner is critical. In a previous post, we shared seven questions to ask of your provider before you commit to a partnership, including:

1. What services are covered?

2. Do you have a helpdesk?

3. What happens if my infrastructure goes down?

4. How will you help support the growth of our business?

5. What’s your team like?

6. What’s your policy on transparency?

7. What makes you different from other MSPs?

At N8 Solutions, we can help you execute your digital transformation initiatives, configure the best-in-class collaboration platforms and cloud-based solutions for a remote workforce, and implement a robust cybersecurity strategy to protect your business and ensure a speedy recovery in the event of an incident.

What other trends do you anticipate in technology or at your business? At N8 Solutions, our goal is simple – to make you happy. That’s why we focus on people first, technology second. We take the time to truly understand your business and unique needs to deliver the right solution for you.

We’re nearly through an unprecedented 2020; let’s tackle 2021 together. We provide the technical expertise so that you can deliver upon your business vision.  Get in touch for a free consultation.