2020 has been a year of turbulent changes and yet a scene of powerful transformation. The extreme events of the Coronavirus pandemic will no doubt shape the way companies operate for many years to come. Adapting and speeding up digital solutions as a replacement for the traditional way of operating has moved up from the bottom of the meeting agenda and exceeded all expectations. In light of this, businesses urgently need to adjust their continuity plans to face the challenges brought on by unforeseen events like Covid-19. According to the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), more than four in ten UK businesses (42%) saw a fall in turnover over the last 12 months, with a slightly higher proportion of small businesses (43%) seeing a decline compared with medium ones (41%).

As such, does the question still remain about how to address the ever-changing landscape after a year that’s altered our lives for good or have we managed to gain a clearer understanding of our priorities? Should business leaders listen to their fundamental survival instincts to determine the future trends that will influence the upcoming years’ workflow and set the tone for next generations? Will our hunger for normalcy be finally met with satisfaction? What if “business as usual” is forever an alien concept? And, how will all of this be reflected in the IT trends of 2021?

Our surrounding environment is far more fluid than ever and the rise of remote working has certainly blurred the line between work and personal life. However, despite all this, enterprises are now looking into a prosperous future built on simplicity and a digital-first approach – coronavirus has heightened demand. The IT tech-scape and digital technologies have become crucial for businesses across all industries, along with employees having the digital savvy to meet the IT skills shortage.

To navigate through the whirlwind affair that was 2020, TWC IT Solutions has looked into and examined the top emerging 2021 IT trends that will dominate the digital agenda for recovery for this year and beyond.

The top IT trends of 2021 according to two industry experts

One of the most reliable sources when looking to understand market vibes is by asking industry professionals. So that’s what we did – we asked two IT experts to share their insights and predictions with us. Here is what they said:

IT expert #1: Mark Hill, CIO at Tenth Revolution Group

Mark Hill,

CIO at Tenth Revolution Group

Other than work from home, in what single way did COVID-19 change IT forever?

“Though digital transformation has been on the up for a while, I think COVID may have been the final nail in the coffin for the physical document and analogue-led processes.

Whilst within our business we’ve been fortunate to be a few steps ahead in digitalising our business processes, a lot of companies haven’t been so lucky. Many have had their hand forced, and have had to take their documents and operations online much more quickly than they were expecting to.

Having documents online has been essential for organisations to share information and simply function as workforces have dispersed. How many employees have printed things out while they’ve been working from home? When your workers are mostly remote, access to physical documents is limited, and the need for hard copies disappears with no one to pass them along to. Gradually the last hold-outs to pen and paper are being converted.”

What made this single change so momentous?

“Print and paper have endured across almost all industries and geographies, in most cases, far longer than necessary. Despite increasing digitisation, people have clung on to the perceived safety and reassurance of the physical document for more generations than I care to count.

But COVID and home working may finally have quashed paper’s enduring legacy. In the current circumstances, the idea of ‘digital everything’ has prevailed as the only way forward for modern businesses and institutions.”

How might this change or evolve over time?

“The realisation that physical documentation isn’t the be-all and end-all is creating a push to move away from paper-based processing. This movement will scale faster than we ever could’ve predicted pre-COVID, and in part will fuel the next wave of the digital revolution in a multitude of ways, including the democratisation of platforms like mobile and web apps, RPA, and CRM and ERP platforms.

Now that organisations have seen the impact of dragging their heels on digitalisation, we’ll see businesses who might have believed they were too small or not the right type of company to implement tools like CRM, or offer customers a mobile app, utilising these technologies to their benefit.”

IT expert #2: Malte Scholz, CEO & Co-Founder of Airfocus

Malte Scholz,

CEO and Co-Founder of Airfocus

“Some of the major IT trends in 2021 will be the combination of technology and other industries. For instance, using technology for ensuring sustainability. Also, cybersecurity will continue to be one of the top priorities for IT leaders. As most businesses move online, the need for strong protection will only increase. 

I believe that the major trend in IT will be the fusion of technology and different businesses. Technology has great power and we already see how influential it can be in fighting for causes or assisting in different types of democratic processes. I believe that the role of tech will become crucial even in the industries that don’t necessarily depend on it at the moment. 

We will probably invest in the IT department as well as marketing. On one hand, a skilled IT department allows us to have a high quality product, whereas the marketing section ensures a lot of people hear about it.”

Regardless of the business trends of 2021 shared by IT professionals, there have been other critical factors on the horizon, though somewhat underestimated, that are here to stay for the long run: