Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2025. Read them in this 17th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Chrystal Taylor, Evangelist at SolarWinds
This past year, IT professionals saw a wave of transformative developments in technology across industries. AI advancements in particular drive innovation in automation, decision making, and cybersecurity. Simultaneously, enterprises are advancing their efforts to diversify and modernize their infrastructure, embracing hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to meet demands for agility and scalability. With another year come and gone; this is not only a time to reflect, but also a time to look ahead and to create resolutions for the new year. Heading into 2025, here are five trends IT teams should anticipate.
The state of IT tool diversity
In 2025, we will see an even greater push toward diversified IT infrastructure. It’s no longer about being all on-prem, all-cloud, or all-SaaS-companies are finding a need to balance across these platforms to drive efficiency and better manage costs. We’ve had enough time with these technologies to know what works where, and we’re getting smarter about budgeting for them.
Emerging AI traction in IT
AI and machine learning are becoming essential tools in IT, helping teams connect the dots between systems and data. Whether it’s automating correlation, supporting root cause analysis, or spotting seasonal anomalies, AI is taking on the heavy lifting that used to be manual. It’s not perfect, but it’s making a big difference in how quickly and effectively we can solve problems.
We’re also seeing AI integrate more deeply into tools like monitoring, observability, and incident response systems. For example, it can incorporate data from observability solutions into tickets and generate clear, concise summaries for technicians, saving them the time of sifting through raw data. Generative AI is also helping draft responses and even forecast capacity needs, like predicting when storage will run low, which keeps everything running smoothly.
Of course, with all this excitement, there’s still a learning curve. Like any new tech-think back to assembly lines-it’s about adapting and evolving your skillset. The people who take the time to understand AI and figure out how to work with it will be the ones who thrive. Prompt engineering is already becoming a hot skill, and as AI keeps evolving, we’ll need to keep improving how we manage data and handle new regulations.
AI isn’t taking over jobs-it’s changing them. And for those willing to embrace the change, the opportunities in 2025 are endless.
Tools that may fall out of favor
Traditional monitoring tools just don’t cut it anymore. The shift to observability is well underway, and we’re also seeing a big decline in homegrown apps. Open-source tooling is so robust and readily available now that spending the time and resources to build and maintain your own solution rarely makes sense. Add in the growing expectation for IT pros to take on more roles, and it’s clear that the tools we use need to help teams be more efficient, bridge gaps and support upskilling.
Pain points that need to be addressed
One pain point that’s really come into focus is the need for AI regulation at the organizational level. AI adoption is happening everywhere-not just in tech roles-and companies need clear guidance to protect both their teams and their security posture. Another ongoing challenge is supporting employees with the time and resources they need for continuing education. If we’re asking people to take on more, we need to equip them to handle it.
Major shifts in IT practices
If they’re not already on board, companies need to prepare for generative AI becoming a core part of everyday practices. Whether it’s for marketing, coding, or something else entirely, everyone’s looking for ways to use these tools to take some weight off their teams. It’s not a question of ‘if’ anymore-it’s ‘how soon.’
Between technological advancements and a changing regulatory landscape, IT observability will be even more valuable to companies. Furthermore, having employees with the proper skillset to understand and manage these changes will have a direct impact on an organization’s successful integration of tools leveraging AI, cloud, and additional capabilities.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chrystal Taylor, Technical Evangelist
After nearly a decade of working with clients in different industries and environments of all sizes, Chrystal joined SolarWinds to share her experience and offer help on a larger stage. A THWACK MVP since 2011, she understands the power of community and SolarWinds commitment to its users. She leverages her years of experience optimizing systems, customizing deployments, troubleshooting, and providing augmentation support in SolarWinds software as a subject matter expert to assist the larger SolarWinds THWACK community. Her passions include gaming, reading, and spending time with family.
