Changes in enterprise technology lie at the root of major shifts in the economy and in the ways that companies do business, across nearly every industry. In addition, customers are pulling companies toward this technology-driven edge, since many now prefer using digital platforms to deal with real people. To help companies begin to understand which technology trends will matter most to the future of enterprises, Bain analyzed more than 1,000 technology-related initiatives, including new implementations, due diligences, and investments, from client engagements with many of the world’s largest and most dynamic enterprises.
Our research identified six rising trends that promise to change the way enterprises will work. We deliberately looked past trends that are already well established (for example, cloud computing and APIs) and we avoided trends that could take more than a decade to take shape (such as quantum computing). We’ve focused instead on the trends that are reshaping the way we think about enterprise technology now, and which are likely to have a material impact on the way that enterprises operate and serve their customers in the next few years.
Five trends reshaping enterprise technology
We explored the trends from an enterprise perspective, seeking to understand those that will matter most to the ability to deliver differentiated propositions, operate in new ways, build resilience, and create efficiencies.
- Interaction explosion
Businesses and consumers will rely on a wider range of devices to communicate and get things done. Many companies have bet their future on a “mobile-first” mode of interacting with customers and partners, but few are prepared for the next wave of evolution, in which being good at mobile will no longer be enough. Businesses will increasingly need to adopt an agent-to-agent strategy, or perhaps an omnimodel strategy that performs well whether an interaction starts with a person or from an autonomous device.
One of the most important aspects of this trend will be the ability of machines to interact with one another—and not just in the preprogrammed ways that we’ve become accustomed to, but in more contextual and creative ways, making decisions in real-time based on many parameters.
- Connected intelligence
Artificial intelligence agents will be embedded in every customer episode and business process, connecting information, both structured and unstructured, about customers and events, all to better personalize services or optimize the use of enterprise resources. These hyper-personalized experiences will reflect the capability not just to understand a customer based on who they are, but also to serve them better by understanding the context of the moment: where they are, how they feel, and what they’re trying to accomplish. Intelligent agents will also be used across complex enterprise manufacturing, supply, and distribution chains.
- Distributed meaning
If the first wave of analytics was all about developing the capabilities to draw valuable insights from enterprise data, the next wave will be about enabling access to more data beyond company walls, powered by a layer of intelligence that facilitates end-to-end transactions and informs companies what data is available, how it’s being used, and what it can tell you about customers or suppliers.
The exponential rise in the use of digital assets, whose ownership is secured through decentralized, cryptographic algorithms such as blockchain, will rapidly move key systems of record outside the enterprise’s proprietary control. This trend and its various uses such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and cryptocurrencies are increasingly referred to as web3. The Middle East region is also taking key steps on this front: Dubai defined its Metaverse Strategy in July 2022, aiming to position Dubai as a leading pioneer in Web3.
At the same time, the emergence of open data ecosystems, some driven by a consumer- and data-rights initiatives, will externalize core enterprise data and make combining external and internal data sources not only easier but mandatory. These initiatives include platforms for open banking, digital wallets/identity, a virtual world, and standards for interoperable health records. In the Middle East, the adoption of these emerging technologies is at an initial stage, with more effort needed to devise a clear roadmap.
- Limitless modularity
Organizations will move beyond their current methods of software development, and increasingly they will compose apps from readily available software components. This open-source code will become available as cloud-native components, designed around industry standards for data and available through standard interfaces. Cloud hyperscalers, i.e., AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google’s GCP, are accelerating this standardization by providing access to a nearly limitless supply of standard functions and components for enterprise applications.
The impact of modularity and the use of open-source, and low-code platforms in the Cloud ecosystem in the middle east will be significant. In Saudi Arabia alone, according to a 2022 report from IDC, Cloud revenues are poised to double by 2026, reaching $1.2 billion (from about $650 million in 2022), with Oracle, SAP, and Alibaba (in partnership with STC) as key players in the kingdom. Google and Huawei are planning the launch of data centers in the Kingdom.
As developers can now integrate and operate each component independently from each other, enterprise applications are becoming truly modular. This decoupling at the enterprise scale is breaking the nexus of lengthy regression testing cycles and unleashing the ability of the enterprise to change multiple technology elements in parallel. As these components run in “serverless” environments, in which software is no longer tied to specific technology infrastructure, they can scale massively and seamlessly.
- Cybersecurity arms race
When considering cyberattacks, one thing is certain: Companies will be attacked more often and in ways, they never thought possible. Given the ever-increasing innovation and virulence of attacks, organizations cannot achieve the necessary robustness and resilience just by using tools to protect against known and specific attack vectors. The more sustainable approach requires rethinking the zones of protection and the behaviors of key actors within. Human reactions, such as following a malicious link, remain the keys to most breaches.
The war against cybercrime will be played at multiple levels and through a portfolio of tools, approaches, and skilled resources. A security-conscious culture and secure access service edge (SASE), a cloud-based technology based on digital identity, will combine increasingly sophisticated controls to protect data traffic at the point of entry and beyond the boundaries of the enterprise. User access will become dynamic, altering identification methods and access rights to keep service levels and risks in balance. Zero-trust architectures, where every person, device, piece of code, or transaction is assumed to be a bad actor until authorized, will become standard. Artificial intelligence will play a larger role in recognizing abnormal patterns of behavior among users, data, and code, flagging those, and determining the best resolution course of action.
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Together with the continued scaling of established trends such as cloud, microservices, and APIs, these five trends will have profound effects on what enterprises can do with technology and what technology will do to enterprises. These trends will force enterprises to open up to more possibilities available at a faster pace.
Enterprise technology will move from closed, centralized platforms to more open, federated, and streaming ecosystems of services. The key battlegrounds will shift from core product and enterprise resources management systems to customer-centric digital experience and intelligent engagement ecosystems.
Pascal Gautheron is APAC Head of Enterprise Technology Practice, Bain & Company, and co-author Brahim Laaidi is Partner, Bain & Company.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and may not reflect the editorial policy or an official position held by TRENDS.