In an uncertain year, organizations are looking for ways to reduce operating costs and streamline processes. Efficiency is in the mind of every business his leader. Introducing automation to reduce manual work remains a top priority in achieving this. And enterprise leaders are looking at new ways to build and maintain software and accelerate their digital transformation. We will also consider continuing to move more workloads from off-premises to the cloud, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) capabilities.
But this year is also the year when business gets back to basics. They reconsider decisions they’ve made in the past and add new talent to deal with the increasing complexity in their field. Here are five predictions to watch in 2023 and what they mean for his CIO and CTO.
AI/ML lags behind ERP integration.
Rather than pursuing overhyped technology solutions, CIOs will focus more on ensuring companies have sufficient data discipline. This includes having appropriate structures and policies in place to manage data. AI/ML technologies have promise, but leaders recognize that strict data discipline is a prerequisite. Without it, you’ll have a hard time identifying what you need to build your algorithm or create a new solution.
Many companies still have data silos in their ERP systems and don’t make data management a top priority. As such, the AI/ML-driven hype will be on the backburner for his 2023. Despite significant investments, these tools have not fully delivered on their promise of delivering business value. Expect more companies to step back and try to solve pressing problems next year.
A new class of enterprise solutions will emerge in the next few years.
Digitization accelerated as more people worked offsite during the pandemic. Automation projects tend to eliminate manual work and focus on automating manual tasks such as keying in timesheets, invoices, purchase orders, etc. Implementing this level of automation will continue as long as the enterprise has manual tasks.
But there is also a growing realization that the backbone ERP systems that support enterprises were built in a different era. They were designed for the way people thought about problems 25-30 years ago. A new breed of enterprise software is emerging that is more suited to modern times, and this requires a whole new level of automation and interoperability. Core enterprise solutions may emerge that are pervasive but do not require daily user engagement.
DevOps lives up to the hype for some companies, but not all.
Integrating development and operations has been a daunting task, as enterprise software tends to be considered obsolete. This is especially true for companies whose software itself has not changed significantly. Many companies say they’re moving to a DevOps approach, but it’s a difficult journey that requires a different mindset.
As such, companies embarking on the journey of transforming their software for a more cloud-native approach will place a greater emphasis on connecting their operations and engineering teams. This is difficult because the engineering domain has two distinct areas that require the participation of highly specialized software engineers.
The flow of “de-PaaS” is born.
Many companies will move away from hyperscale services in 2023. There’s a growing realization that you don’t have to do everything at hyperscale or in the public cloud. Additionally, there are higher costs associated with their use. The more companies that use hyperscale services, the higher the level of abstraction and the higher the hidden “tax” (lower compute utilization) burden. So buying hardware instead makes financial sense in some cases.
There are different levels of hyperscale options, including large companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, as well as smaller vendors offering similar, cheaper hyperscale services. However, enterprises that understand the compute and storage resource consumption needs of their applications may ultimately decide that dynamic scaling is not necessary. They choose to buy their own private data center hardware and use hyperscale services during peak hours only in a hybrid approach.
More CTOs appointed in addition to CIOs
The technology landscape is becoming more complex and moving in only one direction, increasing the demand for people with highly specialized skills. Demand for these workers is growing in both digital-native and non-digital-native companies. In midsize to large companies, the CTO role has a greater impact on how the company operates.
It may seem counterintuitive that the CTO’s influence will increase as new enterprise solutions emerge that require less user engagement. However, the extensive systems humming in the background are complex, and businesses need experts to ensure that these systems are integrated and working correctly to support business objectives.
The technology landscape continues to evolve and become more complex. With insight and guidance from people who have a deep understanding of technology, business his leaders are less likely to pursue their next shiny object. The prevailing trend is to go back to the basics, such as sound data management and right sizing of the technology stack.
The coming months and years will see even more innovation, especially when it comes to enterprise solutions. They are throwing away old ways of solving problems and coming up with new approaches for a new age. Regardless of how these trends play out next year, it’s going to be an exciting time.
Featured image credit: cottonbro studios. pexel; thanks!
