Top Strategic Technology Trends to Impact Business in 2021

Technology is transforming steadily and rapidly, and going beyond our expectations. It seems exciting when something new penetrates the market, and anything anticipated to penetrate it in the upcoming years. We have already experienced several technological advancements for various commercial purposes. 2021 may bring several innovations and technological enhancements to impact the business scenario.

Recent years have mainly focused on providing a better and improved customer experience by leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and NLP. Although these existing technologies may not be replaced with other innovations, they may be utilized as enhanced versions along with other technologies. 

According to Statista’s research, Information Technology services spending recorded US$804.5 billion in 2008 and is expected to reach US$1033 billion by the end of 2021.

Now, let’s focus on all the technology trends that may occur or be embraced by the business hubs in 2021.

Cloud & SaaS - an Emerging Deal

With the emergence of SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, cloud computing is uplifting and ensuring timely needs. Streamlining content from customer management to accounting to order management, people tend to invest in cloud SaaS solutions.

Instead of maintaining on-premise systems and struggling with the pain of data distribution, business hubs are leveraging subscription model-based solutions. These solutions help enterprises seamlessly and effectively synchronize, manage, distribute, and process the data to drive effective business results.

Statista said IT services spending worldwide was recorded at 992 billion USD by 2020.

AI - a Customer Driving Deal

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is considered a game-changing deal among modern enterprises. AI influences the business world in various ways. Leveraging AI, businesses can unleash their power while managing customers, managing their product or brand, and strengthening their overall business caliber.

In recent years, AI has emerged as a proven profitable tool in managing customers, rendering personalized solutions, and providing worthy customer support with timely efficiency. The most common version of AI that transformed the industry is a self-driven service bot that eliminated human interactions and improved customer service, even in off-hours.

Further, in 2021, AI could emerge as a security defense tool to control system vulnerabilities. Hence, with its increasing adoption in simplifying working strategies, playing tactics, and entire lives, the day is not too far when AI will be adopted as “AI as a Service.”

According to Statista, the AI Software market's revenue was US$10.1.1 million in 201, and is expected to reach a sound market value by 2021.

IoT- a Next-Generation Solution

As you can see, the trend of remotely controlling gadgets and devices rolling out and leveraging the internet has made it possible. IoT is still in its early phase, and by 2021, we could see an immense adoption rate, simplifying how we live and work. Regarding the business part, data is everything, and IoT helps collect and analyze data to fulfill data transformation to reinforce efficiency, improve safety levels, and empower the decision-making process.

IoT is a next-generation business-transforming solution that enables businesses to leverage the facilitation and simplify their business processes. IoT technology helps enterprises collect and predict data to drive effective sales strategies and generate the desired revenue. In 2021 and the upcoming years, IoT will emerge as an effective business technology to predict the data analytics collected by IoT sensors and support future sales strategies. This expanded architecture allows businesses to make productive decisions and bolster their business strategies for 2-3 years. 

Virtual & Augmented Reality - an Emerging Concept

Virtual reality and Augmented reality are technologies that are already trending to satisfy various industrial purposes, from entertainment to education to marine industries. They are leveraged by applying them to real-life situations or environments. People tend to give space to virtual reality, which encourages techno-enthusiasts to do more innovations.

Many industrial examples can be considered if we peek into their vitality and adoption in different industries. For instance, Virtual Reality is being used for training purposes, not just in regular educational hubs, but even in the US Navy, Army, etc., to train the people there. When we talk about the real example of augmented reality, we can see how Pokémon Go has gained popularity in players’ minds. Considering this market and user adoption, AR & VR could be a significant deal by the end of 2021.

Another term, ‘Mixed Reality,’ also started spreading its legs gradually. In this method, both AR and VR are combined to render a mixed experience. Microsoft’s HoloLens is an early example that needs to be considered. 

The global virtual and augmented reality market was recorded at US$ $18.8 billion in 2020, which may leap by the end of 2021. Further, Statista projects that it can increase from 6.2 billion dollars in 2019 to more than 16 billion US dollars by 2022. 

Machine Learning - Empowering Businesses

Machine Learning is another name that deserves a vital place in this list. It is considered a subset of AI and is used for data mining, pattern recognition, and data analytics. Machine learning helps to bolster and strengthen customer dealings, reinforce personalized customer service, and predict future possibilities.

As the name suggests, ML is a learning tool that steadily learns from every interaction or activity. It enables businesses to empower customers with effective web search results, real-time advertisements, and more. 

Machine Learning is replacing or reducing the human workforce. By simply deploying machine learning tactics in their working infrastructure, enterprises are triggering operational effectiveness while reducing costs. Machine learning is elevating its market reputation with different industrial necessities, and by next year, it could reserve an adequate market space.

The ML market is expected to grow to $8.81 billion by 2022, which may open several opportunities for working professionals.

Blockchain to Drive Data Security

Blockchain is commonly known as a technology related to cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, but this is just a partial truth. Blockchain is used in various ways to ensure security for different industrial needs. Blockchain technology allows you to add data to a chain, but does not allow you to make any changes to that chain. You cannot make changes in the previous block, but yes, you can always continue adding your valuable data with no concern for data breaches and insecurity.

Most industries have already initiated leveraging Blockchain to ensure and equip data security. Considering the uplifting demand for Blockchain technology, Blockchain is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2018 to an estimated $15.9 billion by 2023. If we talk about the year 2020, worldwide spending on Blockchain solutions was $4.1 billion. And this spending didn’t remain limited to the banking & financial sector, it could also succeed in imbibing the Agriculture and Food market globally.

Robotic Process Automation to Ensure Efficiency

Businesses require automation in their day-to-day operational tasks to drive an effective and efficient approach. In recent years, several organizations have adopted automation practices to simplify their entire business processes while eliminating redundancies and reducing errors that may impact their efficiency level.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been adopted by medium to large organizations. Next year, it could be deployed by small business hubs, too, as everyone wants to simplify their operational performance and drive profitability with maximum potential.

RPA helps brands in several ways: It automates repetitive tasks, decreases the opportunity for errors, reduces human efforts, and saves time, which ultimately impacts your productivity level and keeps your customers happy. 

According to Grand View Research, the robotic process automation market was worth $1.40 billion by 2019, which was further extended to $2.35 billion by 2020 and is expected to raise its CAGR by 40.6% by 2027.

DevOps as a New Working Methodology

DevOps is another technology trend that deserves its place on the list. DevOps helps to increase the profitability of IT hubs and businesses by combining the software development process and IT operations. It supports the agile working methodology and helps IT hubs shorten the development life cycle while ensuring the optimum quality level. 

IMARC said the global DevOps market accounted for US$ $4.1 billion in 2021. Given the need to deploy software that reflects quality and frequency, many enterprises are turning to DevOps; thereby, by the year 2021, an increased trend in adopting DevOps technology could be seen.

Cybersecurity to Rescue Data Vitality

With rising internet adoption and online business transformation, Cybersecurity cannot be avoided. Hackers eternally try to hack or illegally access business data by exerting their optimum level of effort. Although most technology solutions today come with security-embedded algorithms that help secure your crucial data, a single loophole could still mislead or harm the business.

No one would love to compromise their data security. The more you digitally transform your business, the more security measures you need to ensure your data is protected. Cybersecurity helps modern firms secure their data from any data breaches by building security layers around it.

According to CyberCrime Magazine, in 2003, the cybersecurity market was worth $3.5 billion. Further, Cybercrime damage costs are predicted to reach $6 trillion annually by 2021.

Big Data - a Tactic to Deal with Large Databases

Organizations working on a major level or dealing with a huge amount of data need to drive extra mileage to ensure adequate data storage, processing, and analysis. Big data could be a proven deal for business hubs requiring large data solutions in data storage, synchronization, processing, and analysis.

Big data helps and bolsters business hubs with a large customer base. It empowers them to diagnose and predict customer behavior and implement the required tactics to transform the product strategy and uplift organizational efficiency. By 2019, the revenue from Big Data and business analytics remained US$189.1 billion and is expected to grow to its maximum potential.

Big data has started reaping its market value in recent years and is taking a leap year by year. By 2021, almost all enterprises may opt for big data to improve their customer experience and impact their productivity level. 

Bottom Line

With these trending technologies, every business unit scale can emerge as a pro. Several business hubs have already penetrated the market by siphoning these technologies, and some plan to adopt them to accomplish effective business results. A few of the technologies mentioned above are in their early phase. In contrast, others are ready to fully bloom by 2021 to ensure leading businesses toward a successful and efficient path.