How investing in IT can define your company's success in 2021

It’s been said plenty of times before, but let me just say it once more: the COVID-19 pandemic moved our lives from physical to the online space in a way that was never seen before. According to Forbes, “the last 6 months produced more digital transformation than the last decade.” Businesses were forced to adapt to biosafety protocols, new consumer behavior, and a growing remote workforce which went from 14% to 45% in the last 8 months. Different vaccines are in the works, some are supposedly market-ready, but that does not change the fact that the way we live has changed forever and become increasingly digital.

The question remains, will digital transformation and IT innovation remain relevant in 2021? The answer is yes. 47% of Americans remain “very concerned” about their health in relation to COVID-19, this means their behavior will continue to be very online driven as will the ways in which they work, interact, and consume. This means that there is’s still a huge need for improving or implementing virtual customer experiences, eCommerce (if you don’t have it yet this should be a TOP priority), and mobile apps. On the other hand, IT has also proven to help companies improve productivity and increase revenue, two essential goals during this pandemic. 

Bearing this in mind, it’s pretty certain that investing in IT next year is a must for companies of all industries and sizes. Incorporating innovative tools, knowing how to leverage your data, and prioritizing your digital channels will most certainly bring success to your business. An integrated technology strategy can give you a strong competitive advantage by driving internal efficiencies, enhancing productivity, and improving customer engagement, among many others. So, what should your company specifically invest in? Below, I’m suggesting a list of the top technologies for 2021 and their benefits.  

Top Technologies to Invest in Next Year: 

Machine Learning (ML): 

The volume of data companies collect is growing exponentially. With online shopping becoming more prevalent each day, businesses need to find ways to leverage their customer information. This is where Machine Learning, an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that allows systems to automatically learn and improve from experience, can become vital.  These self-learning algorithms can help you find connections and insights provided by your data that humans would be unable to detect. This means that you can find innovative solutions to your company’s problems, understand when and where you should place your resources, and adapt your products/services to your customers’ behavior. These will translate into sales growth, smarter spending, and highly improved decision making.  

Automation: 

Whether it's Robotic Process Automation (RPA), robots, or vehicle automation, the main benefit of investing in these kinds of technologies is making your employees, customers, and even your own life easier. With RPA, which is basically the automation of manual repetitive tasks, you can reduce your employees' unnecessary workload and place them in more complex functions, eliminate human error from these kinds of tasks, as well as execute them faster. Implementing RPA can reduce your operational costs up to 50% and allows employees to make better use of their time, which increases productivity. IDC estimates that by 2022 45% of manual tasks will be automated and that by 2023 75% of organizations will adopt automated operations practices.   

Robots, on the other hand, are being designed to provide new channels of communication and help with the maintenance and upkeep of all kinds of facilities. Other automated devices like drones are being used as well, this time to deliver supplies, monitor different kinds of activities, etc. Finally, vehicle automation is helping reduce traffic, accidents, and increase lane capacity.  

 X as a Service: 

You’ve probably already heard of Software as a Service (SaaS) but there has been a rise in almost anything as a service from Robot as a Service (RaaS) to Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and everything in between. The acronym aaS refers to the delivery of anything as a service, it includes products, tools, and technologies that vendors deliver to users as a service over a network rather than provide locally or on-site within an enterprise. 

You must be wondering why it has become so popular, and there are plenty of reasons for it. XaaS (Anything as a service) allows companies, large and small, to access top technologies without having to place large upfront investments in things like tools, hardware, and specialized talent. This will be key in 2021 where we might be looking at tightened budgets but still need IT implementation. It's also based on the idea of scalable, custom made solutions that can adapt to any kind of company’s specific goals and needs.  

UX/UI: 

User Experience and User Interface e are terms that you’ve probably heard in the past. We mentioned previously that the shift from the physical to the virtual world, at least partially, that COVID brought upon us made companies rethink their digital strategies, and UX/UI design is a huge part of that. UX design refers to the term “user experience design”, while UI stands for “user interface design”. Both elements refer to different aspects of a product/app/website etc. development and design process.  

When a customer navigates through a website or an app the success of their experience relies partly on how well the UX/UI design was executed. This also determines their decision to buy the items you’re selling on the platform and positively or negatively affects client loyalty and satisfaction. Investing in UX/UI design will result in improved sales, higher customer retention, and reduced development costs and time.  

(Actionable) Big Data: 

In a previous article, I explained Big Data, which is generally speaking a large set of data that grows continuously,  and how important it is for us to find ways to manage it, this is where Big Data Technologies come into the picture. These are systems that incorporate data mining, storage, sharing, and visualization allowing for companies to take advantage of the information they collect.  

These already exist and are being implemented by the top companies to obtain insights that improve their decision making, refine their processes, and help them accelerate their innovation cycles. But you can only obtain these benefits by having actionable data, which signifies the missing connection between business prepositions and big data. It allows businesses to focus on data analytics which results in improved organizational activities, and new big data use cases within the company. 

“For everything that changed in 2020, one thing stayed the same: the importance of technology for business success.”

-IT Industry Outlook

Investing in IT is a great strategic move for companies in every industry, but finding the right partner is the key to a successful deployment. Some things you should consider when selecting an appropriate provider are experience, client base, adaptability, and innovation. You can read more here on how to avoid risks when selecting an IT partner. They especially need to understand that implementing a specific technology is not necessarily the objective, using that technology to meet your company’s goals is.  

I’d like to finish this article with a quote from the IT Industry Outlook 2021  that I believe summarizes what IT will represent in 2021 and for the years to come, “for everything that changed in 2020, one thing stayed the same: the importance of technology for business success.” IT and the digital space have constantly changed our lives and businesses for the better, and this year, as chaotic as it has been, was not the exception. Let’s hope that 2021 is kinder to us but that the benefits and growth of IT remain the same!  

My messages are always open if you want to discuss this specific topic or any other. If you’d like us to set up a virtual coffee break send me a message, I'd be more than happy to meet you. For more interesting content head over to our company blog. Wishing you a great holiday season!