6 trends defining the enterprise IT market today

Quantum computing technology is well suited for dealing with optimization, machine learning, and data analytics. “It’s likely to be useful for businesses across a spectrum of activities, from supply chain optimization and vehicle routing to predictive modeling to complex derivative valuation,” Buchholz says. Quantum computers are also likely to transform adopters’ understanding of, and ability to simulate, both chemistry and materials science. “We may soon reach the point at which quantum computers can solve problems that cannot be solved by today’s supercomputers.”

The great cloud slowdown and rethink

For over a decade, IT leaders have invested in various “silver bullets” they hoped would solve all of their pressing problems, says Christian Kelly, managing director at enterprise consulting firm Accenture. “Each time, most IT organizations adopted the new technologies and models at a micro-level, without changing their technology architecture — the way they work or the way they engage with their upstream and downstream business partners.”

Such past experiences have led many CIOs to reconsider their existing cloud investments and to slow down their cloud migrations. “These leaders have reported that the cloud has resulted in them spending more money than they anticipated without seeing the promised ROI,” Kelly says. “This is occurring because these CIOs didn’t make the structural changes needed to unlock the full potential of the technologies they pursued.”

Zero-trust security becomes the norm

IT security is continuing to move toward a zero-trust security model, based on the idea that anything inside or outside an enterprise’s networks should never be implicitly trusted.  

“While zero-trust isn’t a cybersecurity solution in and of itself, implementing a zero-trust architecture should help mitigate and ultimately lower the number of successful cybersecurity attacks on an organization,” says Robert Pingel, operational technology security strategist at industrial automation firm Rockwell Automation.

Maintaining a vigilant zero-trust architecture requires constant adaptation. “The first line of defense lies in regular vulnerability assessments and testing to identify weaknesses and prompt continuous improvement,” Pingel says. Incorporating updated threat intelligence and adapting policies and controls is also important to stay on top of evolving cyber threats.

Multiple vendors are addressing the rapidly growing zero-trust trend. Monitoring and logging technologies play a crucial role, providing real-time visibility into user activity and suspicious behavior. “This allows for prompt investigation and remediation, preventing breaches from escalating,” Pingel says. “Automation streamlines repetitive tasks like access control updates, and anomaly detection, freeing security teams for strategic tasks.” Regular employee training can also foster a culture of security awareness, empowering everyone to identify and report potential threats.

Cyber resilience gains momentum

A growing number of CIOs are doubling down on cyber resilience, says Ron Culler, vice president for cyber development programs at the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). He observes that cyber resilience is focused on keeping an enterprise operational when an attack happens. “Simply, it’s about keeping your company alive.”

Cyber attacks are inevitable, but disasters and accidents can also damage or destroy digital assets and data. “A cyber resilience strategy builds the plan for how you deal with these issues when they occur,” Culler says. As with zero-trust security, numerous vendors are working to supply customers with cyber resilient-oriented tools and services.

Achieving cyber resilience starts with identifying risks. “You need to know what you need to protect and why,” Culler says. “This isn’t just about your IT systems, it includes the business units they support and, ultimately, the company as a whole.”

Culler adds that cyber resilience isn’t the sole responsibility of IT and security leaders. “It requires buy-in and active participation from everyone, from the board to the employee,” he explains. “Once you’ve identified your risks, create your policies and plans, test them, learn from the mistakes, and start again.”

The AI data management challenge

NCC Group’s Fox warns that AI is emerging as a huge data access challenge. “When using AI at the enterprise level, how and where your data is stored, and who has access to it, is crucial,” she says.

Fox notes that some technology providers have already created AI environments that restrict data to their host organizations. But she wonders whether, as datasets grow, organizations will be able to manage permissions on who can access what data. By its very nature, AI is weakly structured, which makes controlling data a challenge.

“Deleting data from an AI model is not like deleting an email or record from a database; it’s far more complex,” Fox says. “It will require new specialist skills to manage AI data models.”