10 01732 759725 PREDICTIONS What are the key trends shaping technology and the workplace in 2023? We ask the experts The shape of things to come more scrutiny to requests for additional cloud spend. The pace of transformation is likely to be impacted as budget won’t be released without a strong business case and demonstrable ROI. Cloudscaler is a London-based AWS specialist with a track record of delivering secure, enterprise-scale cloud platforms for private and public sector organisations. www.cloudscaler.co.uk HR Talent looking for stability By Mary Alice Vuicic, Chief People Officer at Thomson Reuters In a period of economic unpredictability, talented professionals will flock to healthy, stable businesses with proven models. Talent that in recent years has gravitated towards more speculative technology companies, such as cryptocurrency, will look for stability in sectors that have proved to be resilient in previous economic downturns. As the frenetic pace of hiring subsides, companies will focus on developing and growing their assembled talent via learning and internal mobility. Leaders won’t just lead; they will act as teachers and role model the behaviours needed for employees to advance in their careers. Employers may decide to use budgets not to entice new talent with high remuneration packets but to help support existing staff through the cost of living crisis We will reach a hybrid balance that continues to embrace flexibility but also values the magic of inperson connectivity, with onsite leaders a major office attraction. This will be key to retaining employees who are at the early stages of their careers and will benefit from the knowledge/experience imparted through in-person interactions with senior members of staff. Cloud Demonstrable ROI a prerequisite By Neil Butler, Co-founder and CEO, Cloudscaler Key themes for the cloud industry in 2023 are likely to be continued demand for cloud transformation, a focus on cloud costs (and potentially a reduction in year-onyear cloud spend) and reappraisals of cloud strategy and operating model with an eye on enabling greater pace and progress. To date, few companies have implemented cloud well. In the race to adopt cloud quickly, most have created multiple (often competing) cloud platforms without enforcing cross-platform technology choices and standards, resulting in cloud chaos, an unclear operating model, technology sprawl and duplication of effort as cloud teams solve the same problems with different solutions. Organisations that started their cloud journey 5-10 years ago and have not invested in ongoing maintenance, modernisation and cloud best practices will be feeling the pain of an outdated cloud platform and high levels of technical debt. They are likely to see capacity shortages in their cloud teams throughout 2023, as resources are diverted to upgrade and perform basic maintenance on cloud infrastructure, as opposed to focusing on development and delivery. Despite these failings, most enterprises still believe that shifting their systems to the cloud will reduce long-term spend, modernise ageing infrastructure and enable them to compete with smaller, cloud-native competitors. To mitigate the perception of higher cloud costs, organisations will make greater use of cloud cost optimisation techniques, which can cut year-on-year spend by more than 40%, and will apply Business Transformation It’s all about automation By Greg Jones, Vice President of Business Development, EMEA, at Datto, a Kaseya company n In an uncertain economic climate, organisations are often reluctant to invest in new solutions. This can be an opportunity to make existing processes more efficient with intelligent automation. Staffing issues are forcing businesses to do more with less and building in more automation will ultimately help them to be more profitable and productive. Examples of processes that can be easily automated include labour-intensive and repetitive tasks such as reconciling expenses, diary management, documentation and other administrative tasks. There are opportunities across almost every area of a business. n Digital transformation initiatives will continue in 2023. Harnessing technology to drive the business forward doesn’t have to be about cutting-edge technologies. Tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom can move the needle by improving productivity and streamlining remote working. Consolidated platforms can simplify how email and messages are processed or how users access services and content. Rather than rushing ahead with the latest technology, organisations should focus on the user experience and consider how to make each employee’s working day more productive. n Businesses have continued with hybrid working, but there is still room for improvement, and the next 12 months will be a good opportunity for organisations to move on from basic work-fromhome technology, for example by switching to a new marketing and communications platform or by upgrading their accounting system. It’s time to make improvements that Neil Butler Cloudscaler Greg Jones Datto In a period of economic unpredictability, talented professionals will flock to healthy, stable businesses with proven models
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