Three business technology trends that will jumpstart the decade

MANILA, Philippines — While we can expect familiar technologies such as Cloud, AI, AR, IoT, or blockchain to roll out in the business industry in the near future, 2020 seems to be preparing to introduce a fresh new set of uses for pre-existing digital transformation tools. As the limelight continues to shine on the aforementioned breakthroughs of the 2010s, emerging digital tools in their infancy are yet to reach full potential as the new decade begins. 2020 is all about democratizing these existing tech solutions, which are set to shake and shape the business industry for the decade from here on.

Technology trends come and go, but here are the top three trends that are expected to provide long-term impacts and change the game for the business industry.

• Augmented analytics

Though data analytics has been abuzz in the business sector for quite some time, 2020 is expecting to see a significant development that will result in the rise of augmented analytics. Augmented analytics is largely seen to be a dominant driver of new purchases of analytics and business intelligence this year.

It is an enhanced method of analyzing data, utilizing machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to scan massive amounts of data, and then finding and collating the most significant or relevant insights.

This tool accomplishes the task far more quickly than when manually done, augmenting business intelligence by expediting the processes of data science as most experts know it. With the exponential increase of data, business organizations – especially large data-driven ones – are pushed to rely on augmented analytics to handle the everyday influx of data to optimize business decision-making.

• Blockchain beyond cryptocurrency

Like data analytics, we’ve also been introduced to blockchain technology a few years ago. Market intelligence provider IDC defines blockchain as “a digital, distributed ledger of transaction or records.”

While it is the technology behind cryptocurrency, blockchain offers so much more than this digital medium of exchange. Blockchain has the potential to reshape industries with clear transparency to any transaction across all business networks, potentially generating seamless interactions at a reduced operational time.

Though it remains to be undervalued in the business industry today, experts see 2020 to be the year for blockchain technology to begin to shine, as its use is expected to go above and beyond what the industry knows it for.

• Artificial Intelligence as a service

Deemed one of the most transformative technological breakthroughs of our time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it is commonly implemented today, is geared towards streamlining business operations through customer service and data analytics. Global experts agree that AI-as-a-service is set to take off this year as it will become more and more a necessity for enterprises.

The window of solutions that AI can offer will expand in 2020, focusing more on management solutions as bots are predicted to be developed further to the extent of the ability to negotiate contracts and restructure bill payments. It is expected to present a wider scope of business solutions, offered by a longer list of service providers. As the AI ecosystem begins to grow further, the technology is anticipated to have significant improvements in the coming years, which will encourage more enterprises across all industries to adopt such solutions.

The world of tech is a complex one and we are yet to welcome a wider array of offerings as the new decade progresses. This is just a small fraction of tech trends that the business community can expect to arise in the coming years. Considering the many benefits of technology, it is in the best interest of business owners to not only familiarize themselves with such trends, but also prepare for adoption while updating current technologies used.

It is absolutely necessary to continually assess the necessities and priorities of a business in terms of operational efficiency, workplace productivity, and data-driven decision-making. As these blindingly shiny tech trends emerge, remember to focus on the core business and consider whether or not these will spark substantial, long-term impact.

Valmonte is the director for marketing and Digital Innovation at IPC. IPC is an ePLDT subsidiary and the first cloud services provider in the country.