What The IT Evolution in 2019 Means for 2020
2019 was a roller coaster year for IT broadly with a number of implications for ITAM and SAM. As technology continues to evolve and digital transformations lead the charge toward better service for customers of all types, across all regions, we expect even greater change to take place throughout 2020. Before we get there though, let’s pause to look back at a few of the more interesting trends in 2019 and their lessons learned.
The Changing Face of Technology Use and ROI
“We are very aware of the challenges and opportunities that face organizations as they attempt to understand and manage the growing volume of increasingly diverse technology,” wrote Victoria Barber, Technology Guardian at Snow Software in her blog post, The Rise of the Digital Native and Implications for IT Organizations. As Snow investigated further earlier this year, it became apparent the human element behind technology and its use is and will continue to be, critical to an organization’s long-term success. What do users (including both your customers and your employees) want? How do they think it can be changed or improved? This will be the key to innovation and growth.
Alongside revelations in technology use came a push for smarter measurement. SAP introduced its Digital Access Adoption Program in 2019 and Myrja Schumacher, SAP Product Manager at Snow wrote about the ERP giant’s attempt to price their software based on value in her blog post, What You Need to Know About SAP’s Digital Access Model. Measuring your document consumption has changed and more is in store for next year.
Java, one of the most popular programming languages in the world and historically free to all under an open-source model is also experimenting with changes of its own. The free use first came into question when Oracle acquired Sun, the makers of Java, and this year, Oracle did in fact announce changes to the licensing model. In her post, Can Java Still be Free After January 2019, Sarah Rabett, Snow Product Manager, outlines what you need to understand to remain secure and compliant while using it.
GDPR and Ongoing Cybersecurity Concerns
The data protection and privacy legislation, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) celebrated one year in 2019. Snow research on the topic found most people still have mixed feelings about the effectiveness of the sweeping regulation despite a dramatic rise in data breach notifications and new standoffs among tech giants and regulators. In her post, One Year In, Workers Set Relationship Status with GDPR to Complicated, Julie Neumann, Snow Software Director of Global Brand & Communications looked at progress made to-date and the fact that 74 percent of workers said the tech industry needs more regulation.
When considering the future of GDPR, the next natural thought is of course cybersecurity. Most agree this is another area that has a great need for improvement — cybercriminals are relentless in their pursuit of your data and the ramifications of falling victim to a breach are extremely costly — however, determining just how to do that is much easier said than done. In his post, 3 Essential Building Blocks of an Effective Cybersecurity Program, Alastair Pooley, Snow CIO explains the key steps organizations should take to get ahead of rising cyberattacks, including inventory visibility, timely patch management and ongoing user education. The need for stronger cybersecurity isn’t going away anytime soon and with regulations like GDPR in full force, the risks for failure are high.
With all of this change underway in IT, the one thing we can say for sure is 2020 won’t be boring.