Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022.  Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

Three things to watch

By Daniel Jones, Technical Content Writer at Runecast

Predicting the future is hard, just take a look at Nostrodamus' record if you don't believe us. It gets even harder when years like 2020 and 2021 arrive and rip apart all the previous trends and patterns. Who among us had ‘toilet paper and hand sanitiser shortage' down as likely occurrences? But hopefully the strangeness of these years will soon leave us and we will get to work with a whole new kind of futuristic strangeness. To that end, and with 2022 just around the corner, we've put our heads together at Runecast to see what we think will be on the horizon.

Blockchain

No, we don't just mean Bitcoin, although that's an example that everyone's heard of. Blockchain is the system that underpins coins like Bitcoin, the maths that makes it all function. A blockchain is a public ledger, a place where transactions are entered and verified and an immutable record is held by its users. Ultimately, Bitcoin and blockchain set out to replace banks and banking as we know it. Whether that will ever fully come true is hard to say, but we think blockchain and the use of blockchain is going to grow.

We've recently seen large companies investing in their own blockchain infrastructure and the Venezuelan government accept Bitcoin payments for passports. Did you hear that the new Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, has asked to take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin? Or Cade Cunningham, the NBA's number 1 draft pick, getting his signing bonus in Bitcoin?

All this is to say that blockchain isn't just something for the outliers and outsiders anymore, it's becoming more and more mainstream. How exactly that will be implemented remains to be seen.

The downside of Bitcoin and several other coins is the amount of electrical energy that's consumed in mining and the detrimental effect that has on the environment. Ethereum is switching to proof of stake, rather than proof of work soon, which is hoping to alleviate some of this issue. Once these coins can be produced without damaging the environment we expect to see their use become more widespread.

Cloud Security + Red teams

It shouldn't come as a surprise that we at Runecast would talk about Cloud computing and security. "The cloud" isn't going away and with new terms like CNAPP being introduced by Gartner, cloud security is an even hotter topic than usual.

But we think that testing that security is going to grow. Investing in security is pointless after all, if the security doesn't work. This is where Red Teams come in. Specialist security professionals who exist to poke and prod at your environments and highlight any weaknesses. As uncomfortable as it is to have a check up from your doctor, you feel better when you walk out with a clean bill of health, or a plan of action to tackle any issues he finds. Red Teams can work the same way and test the health and security of your cloud infrastructure. Some organisations will go further and test not just the cloud infrastructure, but physical security and social engineering vulnerabilities as well. Pen testing, social engineering, red teams, white hats... get used to seeing more of these people popping up, and get used to looking at new people in your office building with even more suspicion. And as the demand for teams like this grows, the demand for tools and platforms which can support testing and securing diverse IT infrastructures will increase too. Tools which automate the simple and mundane tasks and provide proactive discovery of vulnerabilities. You know, tools like Runecast.

The rise of remote work

For a vast majority of people, remote work was a new idea during the pandemic. Then, very suddenly, it was a necessity for many who had previously worked in an office all their working life.

The story is different all around the world and can depend on a multitude of factors, but we think it's safe to say remote work is here to stay. With the advance of certain technologies, like 5G and Starlink, places that were impossible to work remotely from may now have that option.

We think it will expand to more job opportunities, not just the traditional software development space. Some of the more optimistic of us thought this might lead to a drop in city population and prices, and we have seen some commercial landlords lowering rents to encourage people back in to city centres, but it will take more than just a few people moving out to the countryside before there's a noticeable equalisation of house prices.

Whatever the future brings for you and those you love, we hope that it's bright. There's little that is certain these days, so we hope you enjoy the festive season and get a chance to celebrate making it through some of the strangest times in recent memory.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Jones is the Technical Content Writer at Runecast. Daniel has 10 years experience working IT Operations and Infrastructure/Network admin before transitioning to Process Improvement and documentation. Working and writing for Runecast means he can combine his interest in cutting-edge tech with his love of the written word.

When Daniel is not working he can be found writing stories and songs, chasing around after his family and pining for the seaside.