[BizTrends 2016] Top five ICT trends 2016

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The cyber arms race

With most business now being done in the digital world, organisations are facing an ever-growing threat landscape. Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and innovative in their methods of attack and ICT security is struggling to stay ahead in the race. With every security control created, cybercriminals find new channels and pathways to access sensitive and confidential information with an increase, in particular, in social engineering tactics - much like a tug of war.

With an increase in high-profile cyberattacks and hacks such as the one on Ashley Madison, regulations such as the POPI Act and data migration to the cloud, 2016 will see an even greater focus on comprehensive security solutions and services and a greater amount of ICT spend funneled toward cyber security to create advanced cyber defenses.

With a chance of cloud

Cloud has been a buzzword for a while now, but recent advances in technology, fiber roll out and connectivity will see businesses utilizing cloud technology to a greater extent - be it public, private or hybrid cloud. Much has been said on the benefits of cloud adoption such as cost savings, data availability and agility. These benefits will drive the uptake of cloud in business even further.

Faster, faster! - Broadband and fibre roll out

The ANC's Broadband goals for 2016, Cape Town's commitment to becoming a digital capital and The City of Tshwane's Project Isizwe is indicative of a countrywide movement to achieve fast, reliable and affordable internet and Wi-Fi.

This is not only to accelerate business quality and capabilities, but serves to create a society of inclusion regarding education, social development, and economic growth. More roll outs, initiatives, and partnerships will start to take form to achieve greater levels of connectivity.

The modern, mobile workforce

Better internet connection, the proliferation of devices such as tablets and phablets, and an uptake in cloud storage has also ushered in a new way of doing business. Employees can access business systems and data from anywhere - from home, a coffee shop or even while on holiday in a foreign country. Working from home is increasingly becoming an attractive option, especially for new businesses and startups, as it requires less space and infrastructure among other benefits, which offers significant cost savings.

In addition, the industry will increasingly deal with issues such as Bring Your Own Device, Bring Your Own Application and so on. This trend has its own security issues and companies are countering this trend by providing their employees with company-issued devices and spending more time on creating applications employees will find as easy and desirable to use as the ones they already use on a daily basis.

The internet of all things

According to Gartner, there will be 6.4 billion connected things in use in 2016 and so the Internet of Things (IoT) will become more of a reality in 2016, moving beyond even that to the Internet of Everything. Uptake and advances in IoT technology and applications have not been as fast as expected, but will certainly start increasing.

Major industries such as logistics, retail, automotive, etc. will really start to benefit from the development of IoT, with the rise of smart supply chains, smart shelves, smart cars, smart everything. No one can really say where this trend will end, but more and more it will influence how businesses operate and how people live and interact with the world around them.