Digital transformation touches almost every organization in multiple ways. Even businesses that have resisted digital transformation are now finding they need to evolve to remain competitive.
As tech has become more affordable — and necessary — in today’s business environment, here are some of the key trends that are evolving in 2022 as organizations continue on their path to digital transformation.
Predictive Analytics
With consumer behavior disrupted and changed during the pandemic, historical data is slightly less useful in predicting future behavior. However, by correlating this data with current economic factors and business environment, businesses are leveraging AI and machine learning to better predict future patterns.
This has become increasingly important amid today’s continued supply chain and inventory management concerns.
Omnichannel Communications
Customers today expect a more seamless experience that spans offline and online. This is evident across retail, Fintech, and nearly every industry. Companies must fully offer omnichannel communications that provide:
- Speed
- Flexibility
- Reliability
- Transparency
- Interaction
We’ve been talking about omnichannel communications for years. Failing to address the customer experience in 2022 puts customers at risk.
Low Code/No Code
As part of digital transformation, organizations are turning to low code and no code software tools to make data more available beyond data scientists. These tools make it easy for non-tech types to create and use data. Low code/no code also reduces development costs, time to market, and complexity.
This allows businesses to launch new dashboards and tools quickly and easily to respond faster to changing business needs.
Hyper Automation
One of the biggest benefits of digital transformation is the adoption of automation to streamline processes and optimize performance.
From marketing automation to robotic process automation (RPA) to real-time business intelligence, organizations are using algorithms to observe and identify new opportunities for automation at scale.
Self-Service Tools
Hyper automation also includes the growing use of self-service tools for employees and customers.
Consumers are looking more frequently to self-serve solutions rather than engaging with customer service reps or Chatbots. More robust on-demand tools and information are required going forward to meet consumer demands.
At the same time, organizations trying to control costs and accommodate remote workers are deploying self-service tools for onboarding and managing employees.
Hybrid and Multi-Cloud
Nearly 90% of all organizations are now using a multi-cloud strategy, combining multiple cloud service providers. 80% are using a hybrid cloud approach combining public and private cloud resources across industries like supply chain and healthcare.
Hybrid clouds offer greater flexibility to move workloads and resources between cloud solutions as needed along with data portability. Multi-cloud solutions help avoid vendor lock while optimizing innovation using best-of-breed services from multiple providers and also increasing business resiliency.
With increasing legislation worldwide focusing on data localization, organizations are also finding the need to store data regionally.
Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency
Industries are embracing blockchain and smart contracts for self-executing and self-enforcing policies governed autonomously. This streamlines complex processes while eliminating the costs of intermediaries and third parties.
With consumers leveraging crypto market apps to purchase things through smart devices, businesses are adopting digital transformation to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.
Managing Increasing Cloud Spending
Digital transformation has also resulted in a significant increase in cloud spending for organizations of all sizes. Companies need to keep a close eye on expenses with a focus on reducing wasted spending without sacrificing productivity or security.
Digital transformation provides significant benefits for organizations but many of them come at a cost. Gartner predicts that IT spending globally will top $4 trillion this year.
The Flexera 2022 State of the Cloud Report list three top priorities for organizations in 2022:
- Optimizing existing cloud use for cost savings
- Continued migration of workloads to the cloud
- Moving from on-premises software to Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings
Public Cloud Services
Another trend in digital transformation is the growing adoption of Microsoft Azure. For the first time, Azure is now the market leader in public cloud services, passing Amazon Web Services (AWS). Other major players continue to be Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), and IBM Cloud.
Data Security
While not a new concern, data security continues to be a major challenge in 2022. With the massive amount of data being collected every day, digital transformation requires an intense focus on data security.
Cyber attacks are also on the rise. After a record-setting year in 2021 for data breaches, double-digit increases in attacks were recorded in Q1 2022.
Digital Transformation in 2022
In 2022, many of these trends are logical continuations of a process underway or overdue. Organizations are increasingly focused on digital transformation, leveraging tech to grow their business, and optimizing performance and cost-containment.
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