Publication IT Trends Survey 2020 Supply Value

Over the past few weeks, we've unveiled the IT trends of 2020 piece by piece, and now we're publishing the full report! Our annual IT Trends Survey has shown that IT professionals find working safely, regardless of location, extra important in the coming year, which has led to Cyber and data security being the most important IT trend of the coming year! Since 2019, Supply Value has been conducting the IT Trends Survey to support Information Management and Technology professionals in setting the most important priority and the right focus. In this insight, we briefly share our main findings from the IT Trends Survey 2020. In the full report, we take a closer look at all trends, what their practical applicability is in your business, what the focus should be on and how/why this differs. by industry and organization. We conclude the report with recommendations in the field of IT trends, so that the right added value can be obtained for your organization. This report is here free to download.

The difference between the top 3 and the rest of the top 10 IT trends this year is clear: Cyber and data security (1), the Cloud (2) and the Data Domain (3) stand head and shoulders above the rest. Compared to 2019, Cyber and Data Security is taking over the lead from the Data Domain, with IT security being a frequently mentioned business driver. The rise of Cloud to even the top 3 is striking. This shows that organizations – helped and/or forced by COVID-19 measures – are taking a big step towards the Cloud this year.

The top 10 continues with two newcomers to the survey, namely the 'softer' trends IT Development Process (4) and Digital Transformation (5). While the IT Development process is considered especially important within the financial sector, the popularity of Digital Transformation is mainly driven by Industry. 'Harder' trends follow in the list, namely Internet of Things (6) and Artificial Intelligence (7). It is striking that last year Artificial Intelligence still claimed the third position in the list, but that the familiarity of respondents with Artificial Intelligence is lagging behind this year compared to higher scoring trends.

Less priority is given to the trends Blockchain (8), Industry 4.0 (9) and Quantum Computing (10). We see that these valves of the IT trends list are less well known than the trends with a higher score and that they are therefore considered relatively less important.

Priority is Cloud Migration

More than 85% of the respondents give a lot to very much priority to the Cloud and with that this trend ends in second place this year. We cannot call this a big surprise, given the growing popularity in implementing (hybrid) cloud solutions. The Corona measures have put extra pressure on organizations this year to facilitate employees in a safe, location-independent workplace. In general, the adoption of cloud services is still a challenge for organizations. It has major consequences for the organization of information provision, both technically and process-wise.

From a technical perspective, it is important to take into account cyber and data security and the user-friendliness of the software. From a process point of view, processes will have to be examined to determine where the impact of the new cloud solution lies, such as mapping the procurement process and associated implications for a cloud solution. This takes time, because one has to learn to work with the software again. Therefore ensure that the technical side is clear and safe and make the impact of changes transparent, so that the cloud service can be integrated as easily as possible into the existing structure in terms of process.

The Cloud is now a proven technology to work better and more securely (together) and the majority of the respondents indicate that this is the future and may even remain the new reality. Organizations want to set up a modern workplace with cloud solutions, especially now that working from home has become the new standard. However, this Digital Transformation involves more than just technology, but the focus is on people and their change in behaviour, which is also apparent from the Digital Transformation trend.

Digital transformation requires an integrated approach

An important newcomer to the list this year is Digital Transformation. More than 70% of the respondents indicate that they give much to very high priority to this trend in the coming year. The fact that there is a lot of dynamics within the IT playing field and that technologies follow each other at breakneck speed is nothing new. With additional pressure from the COVID-19 crisis, we are seeing organizations massively digitize this year, with many new IT trends being implemented. A successful implementation requires more than just choosing the right technology; when the working methods and processes in the organization and the skills of people who work with the implemented trend are also optimized, IT delivers more business value now and in the future.

An integrated approach is therefore necessary to realize a successful digital transformation. Organizations are balancing between increasingly rapid technological developments and the change capacity of the organisation, chain and its employees. Clear digital leadership is needed to find this balance: visionary, facilitating leaders who know where their organization will be in 5 to 10 years and can translate this into the change agenda for the coming years. Respondents are clear on what these decisions should be based on: the goals and preconditions for the business.

Goals and preconditions leading in IT implementation

Respondents this year mainly guided IT implementation choices by the value they deliver to the business drivers of the organization. In this way, a better bridge is built between business and IT and the coordination between the two ensures a clear goal. So don't base the consideration of experimenting with Conversational AI, for example, on the fact that it is a popular application of AI, but on the expectation that it will increase customer satisfaction.

In the research we see that the most important IT trends provide direct value. The value it delivers ranges from reducing business risks with cyber and data security to anticipating a digitizing and more flexible environment with the cloud. In addition, we see that the value of a trend can only be fully utilized when the basis is in order by means of another trend. For example, the value that AI can potentially deliver can only fully come into its own when there is a mature approach to data. Think of a clearly designed Data Governance, in which people, processes and technologies are well coordinated. Not only does this provide a strong foundation on which other IT trends can build, it also ensures transparency and traceability of data, which are important pillars in winning the trust of customers, employees or other chain partners.

In the full report, we take a closer look at all trends, what their practical applicability is in your business, what the focus should be on and how/why this differs per industry and organization. We conclude the report with recommendations in the field of IT trends, so that the right added value can be obtained for your organization. This report is here free to download.

Would you like to have an in-depth conversation with one of our consultants based on this insight? Please contact Jurriaan Vogel.