2024 Enterprise Technology and IT Modernisation Trends

Technology never stands still, but the pace of change is accelerating, presenting both risks and opportunities to enterprises and other organisations with large IT infrastructures. We are also seeing technology trends and their impact increasingly moving beyond traditional IT and into the fields of ethics and societal responsibility.

As we look ahead to 2024, we have assessed some of the main enterprise technology and IT modernisation trends that will impact organisations across all industries.

End User Experience (EUX)

The field of end-user computing and optimising EUX will continue to be a top priority in 2024 as organisations work hard to retain talent while fostering working conditions that facilitate innovation, collaboration, and productivity.

Organisations will look to improve EUX with better insights and analytics, automated processes and systems, and improved communication.

Self-service models of support will also become increasingly important to put control and power into the hands of users rather than users having to wait for a response to their questions or requests. We can use application packaging as an example, as automated tools like Access Capture streamline and simplify the process of requesting a new application and giving users greater control within defined parameters.

Edge Computing

The edge computing market is expected to be worth over USD $155 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 39 percent. This increase in edge computing is being driven by bandwidth and latency problems as well as the impact of network disruptions and privacy concerns.

There are also operational benefits of processing, storing, and analysing data at the edge, particularly given the growth of endpoint devices, from autonomous vehicles to sensors to smartphones.

In 2024 and beyond, we will see more compute and storage resources being moved closer to data sources for processing and analysis, rather than that processing and analysis work taking place centrally.

Business Outcomes Driving IT Spend Decisions

IT spending decisions are often driven by operational and/or technical considerations. However, there is an increasing shift by organisations to link technology spending decisions to specific business outcomes with direct metrics to analyse success.

Examples of those business outcomes include the aforementioned EUX as well as customer acquisition, costs, profitability, and productivity.

Hybrid Cloud

The hybrid or multi-cloud model is the infrastructure of choice for a growing number of businesses. Hybrid clouds are more flexible and offer higher levels of control, while also delivering performance, resilience, and cost benefits.

This trend is set to continue in 2024 along with a growth of cloud portability and interoperability.

We are also likely to see increasing adoption of industry cloud solutions with hybrid cloud and edge computing at their core but built with a specific industry or vertical in mind.

Responsible AI

Any list of technology trends in any industry or vertical will include AI given the rapid growth of AI technologies over the past year, particularly generative AI platforms and LLMs (large language models).

AI technologies have and will continue to impact and transform enterprise IT, including cloud migrations and modernisation initiatives. That said, there is a specific focus area of AI that is likely to be one of the hottest topics in AI throughout 2024 and beyond – responsible AI. In other words, adopting an approach that is not just about finding ways to use AI, but also making sure AI technologies are developed and implemented responsibly and ethically.

Sustainability

Sustainability has been a guaranteed feature of most technology trends lists for a number of years, and 2024 is no different. The same sustainability issues that have existed for a while will continue to be a point of focus, plus there are additional considerations that will become more and more important. Examples include:

• The energy required to power the development and use of new AI technologies.
• The environmental impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
• The growing number of edge devices that exist in our increasingly connected world and how they are impacting the environment over their lifecycle.

Cyber Resilience

Just as sustainability is an evolving consideration in enterprise IT, so is cybersecurity. The issue of cybersecurity and the need to invest in defences and awareness raising has never been more pressing, but more and more organisations are now moving beyond cybersecurity to also consider cyber resilience.

Cybersecurity will always be essential but with cyber resilience, there is an understanding that 100 percent protection is impossible to achieve. Therefore, it’s essential to put in place systems, processes, and protocols to not only prevent cyberattacks from happening, but to also enable the business to continue functioning when they do with as little operational, reputational, or financial impact as possible.

Opportunities and Risks

As highlighted at the start of this blog, the trends listed present both opportunities and risks – opportunities to drive growth and business improvement and risks of going in the wrong direction or being left behind. Staying on top of the latest trends, best practices, innovations, and developments is essential to stay on the right side of the opportunities and risks equation.