With rapid advancement in business technology, enterprises globally are gaining competitive edge to keep pace with emerging technologies and latest IT trends.
That is the reason, by 2020, around 61% enterprises will be using gigabit Wi-Fi networking, 57% some form of IT automation, and 48% IoT devices. Further, 39% enterprises are planning to use converged or hyperconverged infrastructure, and 38% expecting to use application-isolating container technology.
Spiceworks, a leading IT company dedicated to IT industry, recently surveyed over 700 business technology buyers across North America and Europe. Aim of the survey was to know about current usage and future adoption plans for artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, advanced security solutions and more.
In the report, titled 2019 State of IT, Spiceworks has revealed that businesses had planned to adopt AI, virtual reality (VR) and 3D printers last year. However, adoption rate of VR and AI technologies hasn’t increased much year over year, especially among small enterprises.
Key findings of the ‘2019 State of IT’ report by Spiceworks:
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Adoption rates of emerging technologies among large enterprises are higher than in small businesses
The report highlights that small organizations aren’t embracing latest technologies as faster as large enterprises, except IT automation and gigabit Wi-Fi networking. In fact, the adoption rates for technologies like AI and edge computing are around ten times higher among large enterprises.
Currently, only 3% small enterprises use AI, compared to 31% large enterprises. Further, by 2020, 65% large enterprises will be using AI, compared to 15% small ones.
This is because large enterprises have more IT budgets and resources, which are likely to increase next year. Access to more resources will help these enterprises to renovate outdated infrastructure and accelerate innovation.
Also, the use cases of emerging technologies are more among large enterprises. For example, they need to connect complex infrastructures, and manage multiple sites.
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25% large enterprises are currently using blockchain technology
Spiceworks found that adoption rate of blockchain technology is low among the enterprises. Overall, only 9% organizations are using it.
The adoption of blockchain technology in 2018 vary according to company size. Only 5% small businesses are currently using it. Large enterprises are ahead of small businesses, with 25% of them already using blockchain-enabled technologies.
With use cases of blockchain increasing in future, like tracking supply chains and securing medical records, its adoption rate among large enterprises will surpass 50% by 2020.
Additionally, the survey also looked at edge computing and serverless computing. The overall adoption of both the technologies stands at 15%. Specifically, around 32% of large enterprises are currently using edge computing, and an additional 33% expected to adopt it by 2020.
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Financial services industry is the earliest adopter of most emerging technologies
There is variation by industry in adoption of emerging technologies. Organizations in financial services industry are ahead of other industries in adoption of IT automation (43%), serverless computing (23%), AI technology (21%), and blockchain (21%).
Also, the blockchain technology is expected to become mainstream in financial services industry, with additional 22% organizations planning to adopt it by 2020.
While education industry is ahead in adoption of 3D printers (37%), healthcare is dominating adoption of several technologies, including IoT (41%), hyperconverged infrastructure (27%), and containers (24%).
IT services industry currently enjoys the highest adoption rate of edge computing (29%). The slow-moving government organizations are adopting emerging technologies at the lowest adoption rates.
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Anti-ransomware tools are the most adopted security solutions
With the increasing adoption of emerging technologies, the tasks of IT teams have also increased. Along with staying updated with technology trends, they have to protect corporate networks and data using latest security solutions, processes, and policies.
The most popular security tools among emerging security technologies are anti-ransomware solutions (43%), employee security training tools (41%), breach detection systems (35%), and hardware-based authentication (35%).
Only a few organizations were found using deception technology and security solutions which uses AI and IoT.
Large enterprises are more concerned about security of infrastructure and data. This is one of the main reason they are expecting to increase their budgets in 2019.
These enterprises are clearly ahead in adoption of deception technology (29%), cloud workload protection (39%), browser isolation (43%), and IoT security solutions (40%).
Further, the large enterprises will increase adoption of IoT security solutions, considering the finding that 86% of these organizations will use IoT by 2020.
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IT automation to have highest impact on businesses
Over 40% of IT decision makers said that IT automation technology will have the highest impact on their business. Whereas, IoT and gigabit Wi-Fi networking are expected to make the biggest mark.
Around 15% of IT decision makers believed VR, blockchain and 3D printing to have the highest impact on their business.
On the other hand, the IT decision makers from large enterprises sold on AI, IoT, containers, and blockchain to have the highest impact.
Suggested reading: CMOs need to evolve their role and become CMO Collaborators to drive business growth, finds Accenture research
Wrapping up:
The report shows that small businesses are adopting emerging technologies at a slower rate than large enterprises. The financial industry is more aware of tech trends and adopting the technologies and security solutions to protect data and reinforce networks.
Blockchain, the hottest technology trend today, has seen adoption among large enterprises and financial services industry. IT pros cite this technology a solid building block, which have the potential to perfectly fit existing IT infrastructure.
Checkout the full 2019 State of IT report here.
Images source: Spiceworks
