Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2019.  Read them in this 11th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

Contributed by Fred Voccola, Mike Puglia and Jim Lippie, executives from Kaseya

Azure Growth, Interoperability and Machine Learning Hype

Kaseya is the leading provider of complete IT infrastructure management solutions for managed service providers (MSPs) and internal IT organizations, and its team closely monitors present market trends and forecasts what is coming the future as well.

Here are the 2019 technology predictions from three Kaseya executives: 

Fred Voccola, CEO

Interoperability: The Difference Between Customer-Centric Winners and Market Losers

Interoperability doesn't define the winners. But a lack of interoperability will clearly define who the losers are. Interoperability must be a part of a company's technology DNA, just as a company must pledge to put the customer and customer experience first. Since no one - including Microsoft or Amazon - has everything for everyone, and until there is one button that you press that does everything, one vendor's proprietary technology will have to work with another vendor's proprietary technology. Successful companies are customer-centric companies. Anyone who does not recognize that will continue to lose market share in 2019-2020.

Cost-Conscious SMBs Will Continue Driving Big Technology Growth

The way that the fast-growing SMB market consumes technology is very different compared to how mid-sized and larger enterprises do - and companies that don't have an SMB-centric strategy will lose. SMBs consume technology in a less expensive yet more efficient way. Any software vendor, managed service provider or hardware vendor must have products that are easy to consume and also must be easy to do business with. Also, machine learning will have a more substantial impact on the small-to-midsize-facing MSPs (which often act as a company's complete IT organization) than enterprise-facing MSPs. Machine learning allows SMB-facing MSPs to operate at such an incredibly higher level of efficiency that they are able to offer their managed services at a lower price. These will be the most successful MSPs in 2019.

Mike Puglia, Chief Product Officer

As Compliance Grows, Data Governance Evolves to a Company-Wide Initiative

What we have been doing over the last 18 months when it comes to security simply is not working. The Equifax hack changed everything - basically every U.S. citizen had their data compromised. To combat this type of national-scale hack, we are seeing more worldwide regulations go into effect - GDPR being the big one. But attacks are still happening and we have achieved maybe 20 percent of overall GDPR compliance, at the most. It will be next year that the compliance conversation moves to data governance - a top down initiative that starts at the board level, or business-owner level for SMBs. Businesses benefit from data governance because it ensures data is consistent and trustworthy. As a direct result of backlash from failed security measures from the past 18 months, stringent compliance demands on global businesses will force stricter data governance, starting at the top.

Microsoft Cloud Gains with MSPs

Over the last three years Azure growth among MSPs has skyrocketed, from 47 percent to 67 percent. This will grow even more next year and can be attributed to two major factors: relationships and product familiarity. Some MSPs have been working with Microsoft for 15 years, and have their sales rep on speed dial. Starting over with AWS or Google Cloud Platform is a daunting endeavor. Also Microsoft is making it easy to move on-premises applications to Azure. Microsoft is not just building the infrastructure for MSPs to use, but they are also building the apps and services on top of that, making the transition to the cloud that much easier. Microsoft owns the MSP market and growth will continue in 2019.

Jim Lippie, General Manager of Cloud Computing

New Security Game Plan for SMBs

Data breaches and security threats will not let up in 2019. As SMBs realize even more how vulnerable they truly are, especially given that at practically any point and time their data could be held ransom - effectively putting them out of business, they will finally take security measures to heart. SMBs, like their large enterprise counterparts, will lockdown on a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution to keep protected, and also form new standardized blocking and tackling game plans to keep the business even more safe.

AI and Machine Learning Live up to the Hype

While AI and machine learning have long been in the marketing hype phase, these developing technologies will start to show actual production use case applications in the new year. Any AI or machine learning application that includes large amounts of data for crunching and analysis will undoubtedly enable businesses to slash human work hours and provide a quicker, more accurate read of the data and situation. AI and machine learning will help IT organizations become more proactive and more secure. It will also provide invaluable predictive insights to find out what might go wrong with the business and uncover hidden security vulnerabilities.

About the Authors

Fred Voccola, CEO

 

Prior to joining Kaseya as its CEO, Fred served as President and General Manager of Yodle's Brand Networks Division, providing digital and market automation solutions to small and medium businesses. Yodle successfully was sold to Web.com (NASDAQ: Web).

Mike Puglia, Chief Product Officer

 

Mike Puglia brings over 20 years of technology, strategy, sales and marketing experience to his role as Kaseya's Chief Product Officer. He is responsible for overall product strategy, management and development across Kaseya's solutions. He most recently served as the company's Chief Information Officer.  

Jim Lippie, GM of Cloud Computing

 

Jim Lippie is a seasoned, self-motivated leader with a proven track record and a unique perspective on the channel. Prior to joining Kaseya as its GM of Cloud Computing, he founded the consultancy, Clarity Channel Advisors and helped hundreds MSPs increase sales and profitability.