Welcome to the future, part deux!
This week, we’re going to review the top 3 B2B tech trends of 2020.
Pro tip: my email subscribers get additional insights and tips that go beyond this blog post — subscribe HERE to join them!
More data, more problems
The phrase ‘data is the new oil’ has been tossed around for years, and companies have responded by gathering ALL the data they can. In 2020, it is clear that companies must address data governance concerns. With the exponential growth in unstructured data and the rise of privacy regulations (like GDPR and CCPA), companies are turning to consulting firms to help them build data governance rules which can address consumer and regulatory privacy concerns. Businesses also need to hire more data analysts at all levels to decide whether all of this data they have collected is useful or not.
Companies working on this: Big consulting firms (McKinsey, Deloitte, BCG); Tech-focused consulting firms (IBM, Dell/EMC); Large cloud computing providers (Amazon, Microsoft, Google); Splunk
Cybersecurity is critical to business survival
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will need to be used more in 2020 to help with improving cybersecurity at many companies, as they don’t have nearly enough human professionals experienced in this area. And it continues to be a huge issue: in 2019, at least 5.3 billion records, including credit card numbers, home addresses, and phone numbers were exposed through data breaches. Companies will not only need to focus on identifying tools & policies to support increased cybersecurity, but also invest more in better training for employees to avoid simple issues (like password leaks and not removing unencrypted hard drives from the premise).
Companies working on this: IBM; FireEye; Cisco; Fortinet; Splunk; Microsoft; Sophos; Broadcom
Adjusting for ‘Digital First’
Companies continue to struggle in how to make their companies ‘digital first’ as millennials and Gen Z begin to dominate the workforce and the broader consumer ecosystem. These 2 groups have grown up with the expectation that any question or service they require can be researched or booked online, using Google, Quora or the plethora of appointment scheduling tools. They continue to expect this digital-first experience in the workplace as well, whether they are interacting with internal service providers like IT or HR, or with their teams/managers/directors. Chatbots have been one tool that companies employ to engage with customers externally, but translating that service internally has had challenges.
Companies working on this: ServiceNow; Adobe; Casper; Warby Parker; Deloitte;
