International. According to F5, a company that offers app development services, there has been a big change in the trends of IT strategies during the last 8 years. Which today are the convergence of IT/OT, 5G and Zero Trust.
According to F5 eight years ago, the industry was in the early stages of digital transformation and the top strategic trends reported were private cloud (59%), mobile apps (56%) and SaaS (48%). During that time the rise of mobile applications rose, due to the benefits for end users
"Today, mobile apps have transformed front-end experiences for every aspect of our lives, from ordering takeout, signing up for classes and scheduling personal appointments." To this will be added in what F5 has called the "next horizon" the digitization and optimization of the front-end as well as the back-end processes of the business, including finance, manufacturing and all the functions that make an organization work.
IT/OT convergence
As a result, the biggest preference this year (2022) is the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), included in a wide number of devices. It is noteworthy that this trend has accumulated an increase of 82% since 2015.
5G
F5 says that one of the reasons for the enthusiasm of IT/OT convergence is because of the possibilities enabled by 5G, such as high-speed multi-Gpbs, ultra-low latency, and massive network capacity to support large numbers of applications and data on the network. In this sense, a report by Statista indicates that the installed base of 5G IoT endpoints will increase, going from 3.5 million devices in 2020 to 49 million in 2023.
"In a digital business, it is the digital conditions that require a reaction, and organizations are preparing to collect and understand the digital signals that these millions of devices send to generate growth, reduce risk and improve efficiency in the business," the company said.
Zero Trust
For F5 another indication that demarcates that we are in what they have called 'a new era' is the maturity in the interest of cybersecurity. Zero Trust was the leading security trend, but was closely followed by Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
"This speaks to the importance of security for all roles, not just security professionals, and the need to think about security in the context of reducing risk and supporting trust in the organization as a whole."
Strategic IT trends of the last 8 years
#1
2022 IT/OT convergence 40%
2015 Private Cloud 50%
#2
2022 5G 40%
2015 Mobile Applications 50%
#3
2022 Zero Trust 39%
2015 Infrastructure as a Service 45%
