As we wrap up 2021, we reflect on all the things we’ve learned and look forward to all the things to come. In our industry it’s often said that every company is a software company and today every sector has a tech disruptor. This year, the shift to online tech disruptors was accelerated by the pandemic. You could see this everywhere, from payment systems to food ordering, online recruiting, digitisation of the legal industry, ride sharing, tele-health consulting and real estate, simply every industry.
Companies are becoming increasingly tech savvy, driving expectations of technology suppliers such as Area9 much higher. As we adapt to meet our clients’ needs in the coming year, you’ll see Area9 embracing these disruptive technologies by building new skills and strong relationships with technology partnerships such as those we recently announced with Nintex and AWS.
Our goal is to leverage this disruption to support our clients so they can adapt and thrive. So, what were the top business technology trends to come out of 2021?
Hybrid Work is Here to Stay
Although lockdowns are slowly phasing out, hybrid work isn’t going anywhere. In fact, in a worldwide report by Statistica, 73% of employees say they want remote work options to stay and 66% of leaders say their company is considering redesigning the office for hybrid work. On top of helping your business adapt quickly when the unexpected happens, hybrid work options can also help attract quality staff and improve employee satisfaction. Choosing the right technology to allow your staff to work securely, productively and collaboratively from anywhere is key for a successful transition to hybrid work.
Digital Collaboration is Key
With hybrid work now the norm, your business needs the right tools in place to make collaboration easy and efficient, no matter where your employees are working. Harnessing the power of apps such as Slack, Trello, Asana and Google Hangouts, is an effective way to make communication and file sharing easy from anywhere.
Security is Everyone's Concern
Did you know there’s a ransomware attack on businesses every 11 seconds? To address the ever-increasing threat of cybercrime, many new solutions for self-defence and threat detection emerged in 2021. Key areas of growth included monitoring and compliance from companies such as TrendMicro, Crowdstrike and Kaseya. For example, best practice tools designed to show employees how easily they can be exploited started to emerge as an additional layer of defence. As the criminals get smarter, so does the cyber security technology and strategies.
With cyber crime on the rise, it’s critical to protect your business from the devastating consequences of a breach. And one level of protection is not enough. Taking a multi-layered security approach across your entire IT environment is important if you want to lock the door to cyber attackers and make sure they don’t find any gaps in your defence. Our experts have helped businesses across a range of industries level-up their security to keep up with modern security threats.
The Essential Eight is More Important than Ever
The Essential Eight is a set of control strategies designed to help prevent cyber breaches, limit their damage and allow businesses to recover if they occur. With cyber attacks on the rise and breaches costing the Australian economy up to $1 billion annually, this list of mitigation strategies is more important than ever before.
Efficient Workflows Matter
Is your business facing productivity and work quality issues? In many cases, these issues stem from inefficient workflows. Over time this can cause significant business disruptions, costing you time, money and valuable team members who leave out of frustration. Setting up better processes for your team can help boost productivity, work quality and staff morale—ultimately setting your business up for success. Read our article about creating better workflows to learn more.
Are you set up to thrive today and into 2022? If you’ve got questions about establishing a productive and secure hybrid working environment, boosting digital collaboration or creating efficient workflows, feel free to get in touch with our friendly team. We look forward to sharing the ride with you in 2022.