Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2025.  Read them in this 17th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

By John Hernandez, President, and General Manager, Quest Software

As we look ahead to 2025, the evolution of the IT landscape will be driven by several key trends. Everything from the inevitability of outages to the "retirement crisis" in IT will impact organizational operations. As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, these trends will determine how organizations adapt, innovate and remain protected and resilient.

Here are the top five key trends that Quest Software is anticipating for 2025:

1. Strategic approaches will become a greater priority to prevent risks and threats. The IT "retirement crisis" will impact every organization in 2025, as people with crucial Microsoft platform skills, such as Active Directory, become increasingly scarce. More organizations will prioritize a strategic approach to better protect their systems and mitigate the risks of identity compromise. We are already seeing growing interest in strategies such as Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) and expect that investment in this area will only increase in the coming years.


2. Comprehensive approaches will be adopted to resolve identity security threats. The industry will recognize an Entra ID adoption ceiling in 2025, due to the persistent need for legacy systems and the management of existing effective policies that will require "pockets" of Active Directory (AD) usage. In this hybrid environment, where Active Directory and Entra ID coexist, organizations will need to adopt a comprehensive approach to address identity security threats. As the complexity of managing identities in such diverse environments increases, implementing advanced solutions like Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) will become essential for maintaining a robust security posture and ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.


3. Risk management will become a strategic priority. This year's CrowdStrike outage has made organizations realize that outages are inevitable - and seeking an elusive strategy to protect against outages is not a practical solution. Instead, companies will increasingly focus on risk management as it will ensure business continuity and resilience in the face of unforeseen disruptions, ultimately improving overall security.


4. Copilot will lead generative AI adoption and security innovation. Copilot will be one of the most innovative products released by Microsoft. Leveraging Copilot across multiple data sources within Microsoft 365 will drive greater adoption of generative AI in organizations from the ground up. Copilot for Security will also become a critical tool by integrating with a broad range of ISV-security plugins. This ecosystem of ISV-plugins will provide specialized tools, enabling Copilot to deliver enhanced, multi-layered threat detection. It will empower organizations to tackle complex security challenges more cohesively and proactively, while alleviating concerns about the secure application of AI across both internal and third-party solutions.


5. IT will brace for nation-state cyberattacks and global outages in 2025. IT will have to manage an increasingly uncertain world in 2025. Nation-state-driven cyberattacks will become more frequent and sophisticated, targeting businesses and critical infrastructure. These attacks, combined with inevitable widespread outages affecting major service providers and platforms will extend beyond companies and governments, making the impact more personal to consumer lives. IT will be under pressure to strike a balance to fortify their systems from being caught in the crossfire of larger global cyber conflicts and outages while also focusing on the basics-like assessing and securing the configurations of their identity systems. Preparing for complex, high-level attacks is essential, but so is ensuring that fundamental defenses, such as "locking the doors," are not overlooked. This dual focus will be crucial in building a cohesive strategy to mitigate evolving cyber threats.
   

Businesses must prioritize proactive security and risk mitigation efforts more, than ever before. As outages become unavoidable, it is crucial for organizations to focus on risk management and adopt identity protection strategies like ITDR. By embracing these approaches, organizations will not only protect their operations but also pave the way to long-term success in the ever evolving IT landscape.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Hernandez, President, and General Manager, Quest Software

John is Quest's President and General Manager of Platform Management and joined the company in December 2022. His extensive experience driving growth in enterprise cloud and application software companies will be key to leading the business' transformation to SaaS and expansion into security. Having started his career in product management before evolving to business development, engineering leadership, and general management, John has a well-rounded understanding of what it takes to drive technology and business outcomes.

Previously, John served as Executive Vice President and GM of Genesys Multicloud, where he managed the $1B premise, cloud, and hybrid platform business. He led the teams that accelerated growth in key IT markets by rearchitecting the platform and launching new industry offers with Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. He also held senior leadership roles as CEO of Selligent, COO of Salesforce's Service Cloud, and Vice President and GM of the Contact Center business unit within Cisco's Collaboration division.

Outside of work, John likes to spend time with his family snow skiing, wakeboarding, and watching sports. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Marketing from Santa Clara University. For more about John, visit his LinkedIn profile.