Enterprise IT in 2022: What Will the Next Five Years Bring?

Enterprise IT is one of many departments undergoing a transformation. I’ve seen companies all over the world hiring enterprise IT transformation specialists to lead these changes. So, what will the next five years look like? Where will we see the most change in enterprise IT? Successful enterprise IT transformation is rooted in holistic evolution for entire departments, or even whole organizations. As technology advances, the businesses that depend on it must change as well.

For such a transformation to be successful, business leaders need to take several concentrated steps. The first step is to align your goals. What is your endgame? What do you hope to accomplish? Ask these questions and determine what you want to see happen as a result of your company’s transformation. Without a clear idea of what you want, it’s hard to strategically plan to achieve it.

A transformation shouldn’t be a single isolated process. If it’s important enough to do in the first place, it’s likely going to have serious repercussions for several areas of your organization. When you approach enterprise IT transformation holistically, you map out the likely pain points in your strategy before they become roadblocks.

We’re seeing many more virtual IT technologies making waves in the business world—for good reason. Virtualization adds much-needed layers of security over a business’s chief commodity, data. Data is growing increasingly more valuable as businesses find new ways to collect it, extract pertinent pieces of information, and implement them to create better customer experiences.

Another perk to virtual technology is that it’s more customizable and scalable than other solutions. Essentially, you can tailor your cloud services exactly how you want them and rest easy knowing your data is more secure.

For a holistic evolution to succeed, everyone needs to be on board. This could entail a complete overhaul to a department’s processes for some enterprises. Change is difficult for many people, especially when it comes to their work, but good leaders demonstrate to their teams why these changes are necessary, important, and valuable. Many people were skeptical of cloud technology in its early phases, and there were some valid concerns. However, cloud technology has evolved to the point that it is now a mainstay of the modern tech world. The transition was difficult for some, but now cloud solutions are part of our reality.
Capitalize on the Cloud

Hybrid cloud configurations are becoming increasingly popular—businesses store their most sensitive or proprietary data on-site and use cloud solutions to manage other data needs. This is not only efficient and cost-effective, it also drives innovation. Hybrid cloud systems signal a shift away from massive hardware structures and toward more software-based infrastructures. We’re seeing vastly more “x as a service” business models appearing as technology moves from being hardware-focused to primarily concerned with top-notch, specialized software that can be scaled to any organization’s needs. Having software, data streams, IT, administrative tasks, and other aspects of a business as a service, rather than in-house concerns, enables businesses to be more flexible than ever before—a tremendous asset in the face of a constantly shifting business world.

As more companies embrace virtualization and digital transformation, cloud solutions are no longer a frivolous luxury; they are necessities for any data-driven enterprise. With more complex software, a growing focus on cloud technology, and more virtual technology comes an increased demand for IT professionals who are prepared to handle the inevitable changes facing the entire IT world.
Don’t Push IT Into the Background

With this shift in enterprise IT trends, the way the business world sees IT departments—and the professionals working in them—is changing as well. Enterprise IT professionals are no longer considered solely back-end support; they are key decision-makers and influencers who help drive their companies forward.

Enterprises that want to embrace digital transformation and stay competitive in the long run must involve their IT departments in operational decisions. Without proper planning, a new software rollout can cripple an entire organization, or worse. Clear communication between company leadership and IT is paramount to successful implementation of any new tech or software. Business is so digitally oriented today that companies can no longer afford to put IT on a back burner—they need to lead the charge when it comes to enterprise IT transformation.

I believe we’re going to see exciting things happen in the very near future. As software-as-a-service business models continue to flourish, data-as-a-service gains traction, and more organizations make the shift toward virtual technologies, IT professionals are poised to completely reshape the modern business landscape.