Every year, Forrester analysts make bold claims about things that will somehow leverage markets and businesses in the coming year. These forecasts give a clear idea of what awaits the business environment, and give a head start so that it can capitalize on dynamics, gain a competitive advantage and achieve new success. What awaits business in 2021 and how exactly information technology will affect its revival - in this material.
Forecasts are especially important today, when in the volatile and unpredictable conditions of chaos in 2020, it is so difficult for large companies to see potential changes and stay afloat, not to mention the fact that the client is at the epicenter of all goals and objectives.
This year, when company analysts prepared 30 Forrester forecast reports (requires client access), a clear understanding of the lightning-fast development of technology emerged. 2021 will be the year every company - not just the 15% of firms already digitally savvy - will double their expertise, operations, products, and new ecosystems. This clearly means that the moment must come to invest in some new technology that has not been used before. But as long as the pandemic is still real, and budgets for 2021 are widely analyzed, it is important to thoroughly study and extract all the benefits and value of existing technology and, finally, use up any untapped opportunities.
So, here are just a few of Forrester's predictions for 2021 :
1. IN GENERAL CIO WILL SPEND LESS RUNNING - BUT WILL WILL RELY ON CLOUD PLATFORMS TO INCREASE SPEED AND ADAPTABILITY
Forrester predicts that after years of skyrocketing information technology spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tech investment in the United States will fall 1.5% in 2021, down $ 135 billion from its 2019 peak. At the same time, CIOs will continue to increase their companies' spending on cloud, security and risk, networking and mobility, including struggling firms seeking to leapfrog and gain an advantage out of the pandemic.
2. MARKETING DIRECTORS WILL CONTROL THE FULL LIFE CYCLE OF THE CLIENT
The tough times give reason to wonder if Forrester's 2019/2020 predictions are likely to be true: CMOs will indeed become the driving force behind customer focus in their companies, or cede this role to the Chief Accountant. CMOs will place the customer at the center of all their professional activities: leadership, strategy and operations. As a result, spending on loyalty and customer retention will likely increase by 30%, while spending in other areas will slow.
3. THE DEGREE OF REMOTE WORK WILL INCREASE BY 300% OF THE PRE-PANDEMIC LEVEL
As practice shows, most companies will use a hybrid work model - with fewer people in the office and more remote employees working full time. It is also important that as the majority of business workers realize the effectiveness and continuity of work from home and actively develop the corresponding skills, expectations will rise. People will rightly expect that from now on, work is real from anywhere in the world without being tied to an office - which will invariably lead to major changes in the recruitment policy of each company, and will also give preconditions for an increase in the number of unscrupulous employees.
4. REGULATORY AND LEGAL ACTIVITIES RELATED TO VIOLATION OF EMPLOYEE CONFIDENTIALITY WILL DOUBLE
The pandemic is relentlessly fueling employers' desire to collect, analyze and share employee personal data. The situation is largely ambiguous. While European regulators are already implementing and enforcing privacy rules to protect the personal data of their employees, countries such as Brazil, India and Thailand will soon do the same. In the United States, for example, given corporate practices and policies that often restrict or deny employees the right to privacy, disputes over a person's privacy in the workplace - whether in a company office or at home - will go to the courts.
5. DO NOT TRUST, ALWAYS CHECK: THE ASIAN-PACIFIC REGION FINALLY WILL ADOPT THE ZERO TRUST CONCEPT
The adoption of the Zero Trust security model (editor's note: Zero Trust - an architectural model under the motto "Do not trust, always check", created by Forrester in 2009 to more intelligently and strategically increase the level of security in organizations) in the Asia-Pacific region lags behind the world competitors, but the rapid acceleration of cloud adoption and the explosive growth of teleworking, as well as changing regulatory requirements and consumer behavior, make it ready for change. At least one government in the Asia-Pacific region will adopt the Zero Trust concept as early as 2021.
Serious upheavals in 2020, affecting all countries of the world without exception, have a significant impact on all Forrester forecasts for 2021- and today we know where leaders should focus their attention. “We know that the lessons learned from adaptation, creativity and resilience will continue to benefit companies as they change. We will be able to see these changes and understand what they mean for each company - so that we can choose the most effective way forward, ”says Sharyn Leaver.
Forrester is a US and UK based global analytics firm that provides IT market research and advice on the real and potential impact of technology to both the public and its clients.