Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2019. Read them in this 11th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed by John Fryer, senior director of industry solutions, Stratus Technologies
In 2019, Tech Teams Will Tackle Practical Challenges to Realize Grand Ambitions
Over the last few years, terms like Artificial Intelligence
(AI), machine learning, and edge computing have proliferated widely as tech
professionals make ambitious predictions about their own future capabilities. While
improved computing capabilities will establish a wide range of new
possibilities, a fair amount of foundational work is still necessary to usher
in this new era of technology.
In 2019, businesses will be held responsible for bringing
the technological future they've promised to fruition. As a result, we will see
the following trends.
Computing Hardware
Will Grow Bigger and Stronger
Contrary to the general trend of shrinking devices, in the
year ahead, edge computing devices will actually grow in size as they grow in
power. To support the increased capacity required for virtualization and
containers to support additional applications, devices will need to increase in
size. This trend will be most noticeable at the far edge, where more intensive
applications will demand additional computing resources.
IT and OT Will Team
Up to Strengthen IoT and IIoT
2019 will bring a
new level of accountability to business teams piloting new tech projects.
Especially when it comes to IoT and IIoT, pilot projects will need to
demonstrate real results.
To reach the full
potential of IoT and IIoT deployments, IT and OT teams will need to work
together. IT and OT teams must both realize that regardless of cost, cloud
enablement is creating significant speed and agility for their businesses.
Companies must establish a unified implementation framework for new
technologies to harness the benefits of cloud and edge computing.
Security Gets Smart (and Simple)
In recent years,
computing teams have raced to adapt edge and cloud technologies without closely
examining the risks of introducing new devices to complex business and
manufacturing networks. Now, across our society, consumers and business leaders
are paying new attention to the importance of protecting their technology.
Modern businesses
face a nearly infinite array of threats. Managing the security of thousands of
networked devices is functionally impossible for a single human being.
Businesses will need to develop AI and machine learning applications to learn
from their massive data outputs and isolate individual threats. While this
seems complex, network protection is in actuality a very data-rich and
therefore practical arena to pioneer and train new AI applications.
Finally, as edge
and cloud devices proliferate and offer more endpoints to business networks,
they will need to be extremely secure. Computing servers and hardware will move
to integrate cybersecurity and anomaly detection features that ensure companies
are well positioned to identify threats and quickly shut them down.
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About the Author
John
Fryer is Senior Director, Industry Solutions at Stratus Technologies where he
is responsible for go-to-market strategies and industry initiatives across all
the company's product lines. He has over 25 years of experience with systems
and software products in a variety of engineering, marketing and executive
roles at successful startups and major companies, including Motorola, Emerson
Network Power and Oracle. His experience includes more than 15 years working
with high-availability solutions for the Enterprise and networking industries.