Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023.  Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

Five Predictions on How Technology will Help Companies Overcome Economic Uncertainty

By Daniel Thomasson, VP of Engineering and R&D, Keysight Technologies

With all the economic and supply chain volatility of 2022, the cloud became more than a place to migrate and store data; it became a vital component to a company’s plan to navigate economic uncertainty. But the cloud is just a part of a broader story of how companies have started to embrace advanced technology to prepare for economic uncertainty. Here are a couple technology trends we expect to see in 2023 as companies plan to prepare for the unexpected, including bolstering cloud security, increased automation, digital twin deployment and more.

 Cloud Cover to Soften Recession Concerns

• The concern over a recession in 2023 will drive more enterprises to shift data intensive tasks to the cloud to reduce infrastructure and operational costs while also improving cybersecurity. Moving applications to the cloud will also help organizations deliver greater data-driven customer experiences. For example, advanced simulation and test data management capabilities such as real-time feature extraction and encryption will enable use of a secure cloud-based data mesh that will accelerate and deepen customer insights through new algorithms operating on a richer data set. In the year ahead, expect the cloud to be a surprising boon for companies as they navigate economic uncertainty.  

Encryption Advances Bolstering Cloud & Network Security   

• Organizations have historically been hesitant to adopt network and cloud-based software and services due to security concerns. Expect these to be addressed in 2023 through robust encryption capabilities and greater access control of measurement parameters and data, providing users with unparalleled assurance of data integrity from probe to cloud-and back. As a result, we expect more cloud and network security investments to help enterprises protect the ever-expanding threat surface in the year ahead.

Digital Twin Deployments to Increase Despite Economic Woes 

• With R&D efficiency a priority in 2023, expect to see increased use of digital twins for system design and testing. This approach enables faster design cycles, more efficient co-design of hardware and software, a more robust product, and reduced costs while also delivering benefits in improved manufacturability and serviceability. In the coming year, anticipate a shift to connected platforms in which complete products are designed and tested via a digital twin.  

Automation: A Lifebelt in a Downturn 

• In today’s uncertain climate, technology which reduces the need for human labor such as automation and robotics are in particularly high demand. Expect heightened investment in tools that automate repetitive simulation and measurement tasks, ensure the validity of results by catching and fixing errors, and improve measurement quality by eliminating human induced variability. Through these and other automation capabilities, employees will be freed to act on the new insights gleaned and focus on other, more strategic initiatives. 

Cost of Exploding Data Volumes Driven Down by AI and ML 

• Automation and AI/ML techniques will emerge to reduce costs associated with managing today’s increasing volumes of measurement data. These technologies will reduce the need for manual analysis of data sets, extract critical metadata, and will also separate measurement errors from true device-under-test failures, which will speed insight and reduce wasted effort. 

Conclusion

Businesses are looking to mitigate damage with the upward inflation trends and concerns of a recession. Greater focus on these technologies will help businesses who do not want to be left behind with labor shortages, supply-chain disruptions and record inflation knocking on their door. 

##

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Thomasson is VP of Engineering and R&D at Keysight Technologies (KEYS). Daniel leads Keysight Laboratories, a global R&D and engineering organization that helps companies drive profitable growth by inventing, developing and delivering cutting edge technology including data analytics, machine learning, AI, and cloud and desktop software platforms.  He has a PhD and MS in EE from Penn State University.