Top 10 Technology Trends for Business in 2020

This year a number of emerging trends in technology have had an impact on how people do business. Cloud service and data management providers have been running the show, due to the increased threat to cybersecurity. Advances in production have been made with the introduction of artificial intelligence, and many fields have benefited from automated transactions. Let’s take a look at what different companies have been investing in, and what is currently in store for the future of business. Here are ten technology trends that have been developing in business so far in 2020. 

Alternative Payment Methods

The shift has been mainly from credit or debit card transactions to other forms of online payments. This improves transaction speed, security, and efficiency. Innovations in technology allow payments and money transfers to be made remotely. Apps such as Square and Paypal have been making business owners’ lives easier for a while now.  

Now that businesses tend to have a variety of accounts set up, Open Banking is another example of financial innovation. Advances in artificial intelligence and security mean that business owners can receive an overview of accounts from different banks at the same time. Here are the main types of alternative payment methods trending in 2020. 

Account-Account Transactions

Account-account transactions are becoming more common. Tide is an example of a new app that enables users to make sales directly from a business account. The main purpose being a time-saving device, business accounts will also save companies money by cutting out the middleman. Of course, as with any new payment service, there are predictable security risks such as identity theft.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

Blockchain allows data to be stored across thousands of servers worldwide. It’s made up of a list of interlinked records. Blockchain has exploded with the arrival of cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies are popular because they’re quick and easy, not to mention a more secure way to pay online. Another positive is that they don’t need to be converted into any other currency, if you pay in bitcoin, for example, the payment is received in bitcoin. Blockchain could be great for your small business, as it allows you to store data more securely across multiple locations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already present in more fields than you might think. In manufacturing AI is used to allow learning robots to assist human workers, learning, and evolving as they go. AI also plays a part in customer service for many companies. The technology can interact with customers in place of a real human customer service rep, this way it can save you time finding solutions to problems and addressing complaints. Five9, in partnership with Google Cloud, is an example of how AI technology is integrated with customer service. 

Autonomous Driving

Self-driving cars are being developed, so this could be a trend you’ll see being implemented into many businesses. Tesla has released semi-autonomous cars that rely on the Autopilot system. The latest models offer some automated features already and come with the promise that later it will be possible to upgrade them to full self-driving capabilities in the future. The software itself is set up so that it can be programmed to be updated when the technology is released on the market.

Ford is planning a range of driverless cars for 2021. They plan to employ radar technology, 3D mapping, and camera sensors to produce a car with no need for human intervention. The technology at the moment is based on surround cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and an enhanced processing radar, that boasts that it can detect data even through harsher weather conditions. The technology, therefore, is stated to work better than human senses.

Cybersecurity

The COVID-19 crisis has brought about new IT challenges. The main reason for this is that organizations have needed to adapt quickly to operational and functional challenges. Current security protocols have had to be overlooked, and many may not apply to new systems and tools that have hastily been put in place. This level of uncertainty can be exploited by cyberattackers.

There are plenty of other reasons why security might be at risk. It could be due to accessibility settings, or older software. Without adequate software, your PCs will not be compatible with the latest security updates. Hardware also needs to be regularly updated, as any failure could also increase the risk. If you need anything repaired it’s a good idea to sort it out immediately for the sake of security. Search online for computer and printer repair near me.

Many businesses are now using managed service providers and cloud hosting to secure their data. If your server has reached capacity or you don’t have the technology to securely maintain the data, it’s possible to outsource this to another host. This is known as colocation hosting and several companies offer this service. Check out the best colocation providers at the moment. This will keep your data secure at a remote location. 

Data Turnaround

Even though people are suddenly very aware of the importance of data security and privacy, it’s becoming a trend to allow third parties access to your data to help your business. With advances in fintech particularly it’s actually becoming a trend to make your data more disposable and accessible. It’s been predicted that businesses will use secure technology to make their data available to third parties to complete services or transactions. In the financial sector, the pressure is being applied to allow data to be shared with other providers, for example with Open Banking. The increase in data security enables this.

You also have to think about the data security and privacy issues of your consumers. This is why it’s vital to make sure your website is asking for the appropriate consent around cookies, and why you might want to run a cookie checker to check that you are actually doing this. If you can do that right, you might find that you are going to have a much better chance of managing data properly.

Edge Computing

The “edge” refers to the edge of your network where data is collated, rather than in a centralized data-processing warehouse. This means that large amounts of data are processed near the source where it’s generated. This reduces cost with high internet bandwidth usage and allows applications to respond in record time, even remotely. Because of its close proximity edge computing allows sensitive information to be filtered and is a much cheaper option. Read more about how edge computing has entered the mainstream. 

Facial Recognition Technology

According to a 2018 study, 62% of businesses were already using some sort of biometrics as a security measure. Fingerprint and iris scanners along with voice and facial recognition is becoming more common in a variety of fields and devices.

Face scanners are being used to allow admission to the Tokyo Olympics 2021 for example. So far the general public has been very accepting of facial recognition technology. Seen as it has been so well received, it’s likely to keep trending in a number of areas. This once futuristic seeming security measure has brought peace of mind and trust to a lot of people. 

Natural Language Generation (NLG)

Many citizens have happily brought this into their homes with the likes of Alexa and Amazon Echo. The technology is advancing beyond just being a talking radio, and it’s humanizing effect on data means it can now provide insights into everyday life, not to mention business. The NLG devices can be used to display data and information in real-time and by voice activation control. 

There has been a lot of development in the virtual voice experience technology. It’s now being implemented in customer service and online chats. With the combination of AI technology, the software can almost replace human customer service agents. Many consumers still prefer to speak with a real person however, so it might take some time to gain trust and popularity. 

3D Printing

This is just an example of the advances in design and production technology that has really taken off. 3D printing is not just experimental anymore and used only for prototypes. In fact, it has moved on to high volume production. If your business is looking to invest in this groundbreaking technology you can integrate it into your factory line. Your investment will be compensated fully by increased production speed, efficiency, and accuracy.

The Introduction of 5G

This has been a controversial topic already without a lot of polemic and misunderstanding around 5G technology. Currently, 5G is present in a number of mobile phone networks across the globe. It provides increased speed and high-quality video streaming. It’s possibly the future of connectivity in business because this is the way many companies are going. Virtual conferencing has become the norm, with only technological issues such as a poor connection getting in the way. It also gives businesses the opportunity to save on overheads as employees can all work remotely. 

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on business has made the world see how much we rely on advances in technology. The way in which businesses have had to adapt quickly to the WFH transition has been pretty much successful due to digital resources. Without cloud backup and remote communication devices, it would have been more challenging for everyone to work from home. Changes have certainly been made on how people do daily tasks and this will only lead to interesting developments for the future of business. 

Factors to Consider Before Choosing an MSP For Your Business

Business advancement is never an easy task. Many business owners try to look for ways to keep their businesses running and meeting the current market trends. With outsourced IT services, businesses can modify their cloud services, unified communication systems, enterprise-level cybersecurity solutions, and more. However, some businesses accidentally end up settling for an MSP who lacks vital knowledge on how to deliver clients’ needs. The following are important things to consider when choosing an MSP to ease your business operations.

Experience

An MSP is expected to provide basic services like help desk support, data recovery, 24/7 monitoring, and backup management.  Adding on that, the technician should have skills to manage complicated IT tasks like virtualization and cloud migration.

In this case, you need to consider checking out for a technician with great experience and who has specialized in the fields you want. IT is a diverse field, and you should consider one with specific skills as proof of specialization and professionalism.

Proactive approach

A proactive MSP will have various ranging from basic to complex skills. The technician will help you to avoid basic problems, for example, network downtime or server, to complex issues like cyberattacks. Such a technician can detect problems early enough, looks for solutions, and works to improve the business's IT infrastructure. These skills are vital in making sure that such problems are prevented from reoccurring. Moreover, a proactive MSP can ensure the business obtains new technologies that increase productivity and improve work quality.

Comprehensive cybersecurity and regulatory compliance

Hacking, data breaches among other serious cybercrimes that can damage the reputation of your business. Such attacks are known to compromise companies' operations leading to a reduced profit gain. This calls for improving the company's cybersecurity to avoid cybercriminals from accessing the company's secrets. However, designing a comprehensive cybersecurity solution is never an easy thing. You need to hire an expert with vast IT knowledge.

Service level agreements

A service level agreement is a contract that provides details on what service providers ought to deliver to their customers. As a client, you need to evaluate an MSP's SLA to determine whether the expert has all it takes to meet your needs when issues arise. Check out what the SLA has stated in case your MSP doesn't meet your expectations like the penalties, compensation, and remedies. Therefore, examine the MSP’s warranties and compensation policies before making your choice.

Sustainable pricing model

When a business is operating, you expect a variety of problems cropping up from time to time You are likely to experience issues with your IT systems like network outage, computer crashes, and server failure. Such issues can cost your business if not managed appropriately. You don't need to be hiring an IT technician whenever there are such occurrences as it led to data loss and leakage. Also, it can't be sustainable and is likely to drain your budget the more the issues occur.

You should consider an MSP that offers a range of pricing models enabling you to choose the payment scheme best for you. Therefore, your business will not strain to pay for the services.

7 Ways Managed Services Provider Can Boost Your Business

IT support is essential for every kind of business, whether by hiring an IT employee or outsourcing to IT professionals. Most businesses are, however, too small to afford an IT employee or team.

What then is the alternative?

Using managed services, of course.

There are many reasons why every business, regardless of size, should consider investing in a managed service provider [MSP]. Leveraging the skills and experience of managed services provider has many benefits to your business, as highlighted below

Cost-effective

Maintaining in-house infrastructure and networks can be overwhelming, especially if you are a start-up business with limited resources. Fundamentally, you will be spending on obtaining tools in plenty, which you may not currently need to manage your cloud infrastructure.

However, with a managed service provider, you only pay for what is needed. The professionals are equipped with the necessary tools to set up infrastructure on the cloud and a maintenance team. This way, you spend less on operational costs and overall budget and focus on your business strategy.

Reduced risks

Failing to optimize your business software can bring potentially bring down your company, especially in this age of fast-developing technology.  Out-dated protective procedures and other loopholes can be accessed by anybody, not to mention the government rules that necessitate every business to run the IT sector in specific ways.

Leverage a team of professionals

Cyber threats are rapidly evolving, and it takes time and effort to stay informed on current trends. This calls for resources for your in-house, which can drain a company financially.

Hiring an MSP is more effective as you will have an entire team of adept security professionals, and your team can focus on other aspects of the business. Leveraging a team of professionals guarantees protection at its best. What’s more, it more affordable than hiring an IT employee.

Improved efficiency and scalability

If your company is expecting or experiencing some growth, the efficacy and scalability from an outsourced IT expert can be the way to go. This is because a managed service support model is set to scale with a business effortlessly. This is all thanks to IT support and an IT-friendly environment that adapts to your business growth.

Technology provided

Some MSP companies provide all the technology for your company, such as servers, workstations, and software. You only need to pay for the service. This means that your company does not have to spend any dollar on tech expenditure and allows you to focus that capital on other areas of the business.

Business continuity

Most businesses worry about what would happen to their systems and data in case a disaster strikes. You need not worry about this with MSP by your side.

Managed services providers are professionals and can create an efficient disaster recovery plan guaranteed to keep your business running.

Automated responses

MSP already has plans to handle common issues. They have set solutions for problems you may encounter and can resolve them even before you know they occurred. They keep a keen eye on your systems to eliminate any problem before it grows.

The Value of Managed Services Providers

Managed Service Providers (MSP) are companies that both possess and remotely oversee a technology or service and authorize the use of their technology to businesses through subscriptions or contracts. 

The main type of MSP is Information Technology (IT), an area that most businesses tend to always need assistance with as it changes rapidly.

IT Managed Services

Managed IT Services are the methods of improving or rebuilding business administration processes by an outside entity. 

Over the last decade, managed services have been rapidly growing, mainly in the information technology sector. 

Their role entails managing the core network of companies remotely and carrying out IT maintenance responsibilities 

Growth Of The Managed Services Market

Managed services have grown tremendously, with experts anticipating that the IT managed services sector will grow by an astounding 250 Billion dollars up to 2022. 

With an invariably thriving market for managed services, providers are strongly funding their technology and service businesses to guarantee state-of-the-art technology solutions for their clients.  

Purposes Of Managed IT Services

Managed services are customized according to the type of companies, their size, and the services they offer.

Some services are similar and provide solutions to several vital business obstacles encountered by companies.

Companies who use MSPs see a reduction in hardware costs, growing specialized technologies, reduction in personnel cost, qualified team at their disposal, and round the clock maintenance.

MSP Differences

MSP differences include categories, technologies, scopes, and operation prerequisites, so there will always be alternatives. 

Eventually, selecting a favorable, IT managed services provider is dependent on the varieties of services you expect and the extent of your endeavor.

However, be mindful that there are three common categories of managed services providers: conventional, advanced, and NextGen, based on what degree of service you require.

Traditional Managed Services

The conventional managed services can effortlessly assist with addressing network pauses or setbacks.

The traditional MSP includes incident and problem management, which is the basis for restoring regular service as rapidly as possible. These MSPs, however, lack vital services such as root cause analysis, which is crucial to deduce why the problem occurred initially. 

Another critical area is the comprehensive administration and optimization of a consumer’s established technology infrastructure that allows IT staff to concentrate on crucial strategic sections inside their company.

Also, there is patch management to ensure they are correctly executed without adversely affecting consumers.

Advanced Managed Services

A step above traditional, advanced managed services gives assertive services to perceive difficulties before they arise and protect your system from being destroyed.

AMS involves enhanced monitoring of possible problems before they propel into major occurrences. Often, equipment is inserted into the network to facilitate the system to monitor status around the clock.

Also, it has service management, which delivers a vigorous reporting, warning, and information outlet to assure a timely view into your covered networks and comprehensive life span monitoring of all occurrences.

How IT Failures Can Impact Your Business

No matter how big or small our business, or what sector we are in, IT is vital to keep us running. When it’s going well, we take it for granted but the second something goes wrong, we realize the impact on our business is enormous. In some cases bringing our whole company to a standstill.

There are lots of ways this can happen. Your server could crash, or you could have a massive power cut. Data storage can malfunction, leaving you with a monumental crisis on your hands. The impact can cost you a fortune, and your business could permanently lose vital data. 

When your IT fails, the stress between it going down and coming back online can make time almost standstill. Even if you were offline for a few hours, it could feel like days. You won’t be able to work on essential tasks, and if you have employees, they will be sitting around struggling to do any work. This isn't easy if you are about to reach the end of a deadline for a client. Stress levels go up along with financial costs, and productivity goes down. 

One of the worst issues is data. If you have an outdated server or an overloaded server, then you could end up with a complete system freeze or even full crash. This could lead to corrupted or lost data which is a disaster. There is a lot of pressure for Healthcare IT providers to keep systems alone because a loss of data in the healthcare sector could be fatal for patients. Additionally, any company that has payment information for clients online would have huge issues in the event of a crashed server. 

There are legal issues too. You could be prosecuted if you lose your client's data. This would add even more costs to the mounting problems that have already come your way.

Avoiding IT failures is something you need to hire a professional for. There are things you can do yourself, especially if you run a small business. Make sure you have a secure cloud-based infrastructure. This will ensure everything is backed up and stored in a safe place. You can access this from anywhere in the world at any time. You should also ensure you are up to date with all cybersecurity systems to avoid failure due to someone hacking your systems or accessing all your data. 

Research all the possible issues that could affect your business and build a solid contingency plan. Prevention is always better - and cheaper than a cure. You need to understand everything that could go wrong, why and how. Once you have that knowledge, you feel a little less lost when things go wrong. If you don’t use an IT management team, get to know someone local and reliable that can get to your business in an emergency. That way, you will limit your staff's downtime and get back up and running as quickly as possible.

4 IT Services Every Business Should Consider

In this day and age, the majority of us are technically sound. Over the past decade, pieces of hardware and the applications they hold have slowly crept into our society. Those that were vehemently against the idea of making everything mechanized are even taking part in the advanced world we’re living in. The 21st Century is well and truly remarkable. 

That said, as a business person or an aspiring entrepreneur, you’re going to want to take full advantage of the digital age. You might be able to get away with making money the old fashioned way, but these days you’ll get to where you want to financially much quicker with the help of technology. There are even firms out there with one purpose: to help you out technologically – and you might want to consider soliciting a few of these! 

So, what’s on offer? What kinds of businesses or freelancers can you acquire that can send your business (or potential business) on an upward trajectory? Well, here are five for you to think about:

Web Designers

All businesses need a website. Sure, not all of them do, but those are dying breeds – they’ll be swallowed before long by companies that are well into the 21st Century. That said, it’s good to have an experienced and accomplished designer backing up your businesses with a gorgeous website. You’ll be able to create a simple one yourselves using modern software, but would you rather get a pro to help or use your own amateurish efforts? Easy answer.

Marketing Agencies

Marketing is what’s going to get people staring at your work. You can have the most attractive and necessary product/service, but if nobody will see it, then there’s no need to even bother creating it. Everyone has a spot of creativity in their arsenal, but it’s not exactly something we can ALL accomplish. That’s why marketing agencies that want to help us are around. They’ll specialize in helping you build your brand and get yourself noticed. Social media, banner ads, SEO, and all kinds of different strategies are part of their collective repertoire. 

Managed Support

You’re not completely invincible, and your computer systems are not exactly the most impenetrable pieces of equipment on the planet. You are susceptible to malicious online attacks whenever a hacker sees fit, unfortunately. That’s why it’s probably wise to get some high-quality i.t. support to supplement your business – especially when the business has grown a little. Managed IT support from an established IT firm will basically mean you’ll have guardian angels watching over you. The payments may be a put-off at the start, but it would be worth it – and, as we mentioned before, the bigger and more valuable you become, the more of a target you become. 

Graphic Designers

As well as web designers, graphic designers would also come in handy. The brand itself, the logo, and everything that needs to be nice on the eyes should be taken into account. Humans are picky and judgmental – if they don’t like what they see initially, then they can be put off for good. Make sure those first impressions are great by using an artist that has honed their craft.