Over the past 18 months, organizations have had to adapt to the new normal, one where employees require anywhere-anytime access to mission critical systems and processes; customers are more digitally guided; and business leaders must align technology, policy, and operations to drive agility and revenue. These changes are driving critical investment decisions to support enterprise resiliency, ensure connectivity for employees and customers, and keep critical processes functioning – no matter the circumstances.
IDC defines the Future of Connectedness as enabling the timely movement of data across people, things, applications, and processes, to create seamless digital experiences. The technology path to connectedness requires seamless connectivity across networks, IT systems and the cloud to keep data moving. There is no actual end state to connectedness. It is an evolutionary path that improves agility, increases business flexibility, and allows organizations to adapt to change, as market or business conditions shift.
Top 10 Predictions
Addressing connectivity issues has become a priority as employees, businesses and consumers increasingly look for digital resiliency, where digital experiences are supported by ubiquitous, reliable, and robust connectivity. IDC’s worldwide Future of Connectedness 2022 top 10 predictions are:
Prediction 1: By 2023, mid-sized to large enterprises will transition 50% of IT staff, driving connectedness from tactical legacy network support operations towards strategic business outcomes, technology innovation and service delivery.
Prediction 2: By 2024, 45% of contact centers supporting finance, retail, and hospitality industries adopt Branch of One architectures, enabling efficient and secure enterprise-class work-from-anywhere experiences.
Prediction 3: In 2024, wireless-first becomes mainstream for wide area connectivity, accelerating 65% of enterprise, industrial and public sector organization investments to “untether” their operations.
Prediction 4: By 2025, G2000 organizations are still experiencing two to three systemic service provider network outages per year, showcasing the importance of added investments in connectivity redundancy and service resiliency.
Prediction 5: By 2024, 20% of organizations will use a joint telco/cloud provider sovereign cloud running on local infrastructure, to ensure compliance and limit extraterritorial connectivity, access, and data movement.
Prediction 6: By 2023, 60% of enterprises will implement hybrid, intelligent connectivity that links physical marketplaces to digital storefronts and supply chains to facilitate seamless commerce transactions.
Prediction 7: By 2023, 75% of enterprises will expect sustainability goals to be addressed in RFI responses, demonstrating responsible supply chain principles and secure IT asset disposition capabilities.
Prediction 8: By 2024, 80% of enterprises will need to transform their networks and processes to deliver more personalized and interactive online rich media experiences that meet and satisfy customer expectations.
Prediction 9: By 2025, 60% of mid-sized to large enterprises will adopt network as a service (NaaS) to enable operational agility, service customization and flexible consumption models that support complex network and multi-cloud environments.
Prediction 10: In 2022, more than 30% of organizations will prioritize connectivity resiliency to ensure business continuity, resulting in uninterrupted digital engagement for customers, employees, and partners.
Interested in learning more? Watch our on-demand webinar, IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Future of Connectedness 2022 Predictions.
