It’s been a long few years, in fact. But we’ve learned a great deal from our most recent challenges. These days, we’re all experts when it comes to changing plans on a dime, adjusting expectations midflight, and recognizing the differences between distraction and more fruitful courses of action.
The thing we know now is that tides will always turn. Always.
So, how do IT and security pros navigate ever-changing seas? How do we set ourselves up for long-term success? Conversely, how do we keep our reflexes fit enough to buck disadvantageous tides when a storm rolls in? We’ve got to be prepared.
At Automox, we thought now was the perfect time to look forward and – based on experience, recent trends, and data – fathom out what’s to come.
We recently corralled our in-house experts and asked each one to peer into their industry telescopes and share what they saw in the near distance.
Here’s what our Automox oracles had to say about the current IT landscape:
Our predictions for 2023’s top IT trends
1. Leaders will win when they trust frontline admins – and automation
We’ve seen an increasing push towards automation over the past few years. Many have touted automation as the provider of vast time savings and efficiency gains for IT organizations that adopt it. In my opinion, they’re correct.
However, only organizations that truly adopt automation will reap the benefits. What does that mean? True automation will require frontline administrators to trust automated actions. And with that, business leaders must fully support administrators. Organizations that fail to approach automation with this philosophy in mind will likely fall behind competitors who do. – Peter Pflaster, Technical Product Marketing Manager
2. Orgs with cloud-based infrastructure will do more with less
With COVID forcing the industry to conform to remote/hybrid work environments, companies rapidly adopted cloud technologies to accommodate the shift. With this seemingly permanent change, adversaries will increasingly target cloud-based infrastructure. Coupled with the hasty nature of many cloud deployments and configurations, overly broad permissions and a lack of proper alerting and monitoring will prove to be advantageous vectors for adversaries to exploit.
The media and experts continue to espouse an impending economic recession, and given the frequency and gravity of layoffs, remaining employees will be asked to do even more with less. Automation within technical roles (IT, security, engineering, etc.) will prove crucial to staying afloat and protecting infrastructure. – Marina Liang, Senior Security Engineer
3. Crypto-collapse may create a perfect storm for cybersecurity woes
The collapse of the cryptocurrency market will have secondary effects on global cybersecurity. Previously, cryptocurrency miners were the fastest group to turn bugs in public-facing services into mass exploitation efforts. A significant amount of that newly surplus knowledge and capacity will be used for more costly and dangerous activities, such as ransomware and business email compromise (BEC).
Additionally, Google Project Zero noted that 50% of zero-day exploits used in the wild in the first half of 2022 were variants of previously patched bugs.* The travails of Microsoft Exchange over the last two years drew broad attention to the issue. More hostile vulnerability research will likely be done along these lines, meaning that repeated, rapid patching will become more critical. – Jason Kikta, CISO
4. Low-code programming power could cause big IT headaches
Technology has worked its way into the DNA of every industry. Regardless of economic ebbs and flows, teams everywhere rely on tech to empower their businesses. I use the word ‘empower’ specifically to call attention to the low-code programming tools often marketed as workflow automation builders in a wide range of software solutions. Today, every business function is empowered to build its own solutions with easy-to-use tools.
IT and security services need to be re-assessed to support this new wave of empowered technology builders. HR, sales, marketing, and operations admins now have access to powers they’ve not actually been properly equipped or trained to wield. – David van Heerden, Manager IT Operations
5. Solid tech stacks will boost digital immunity
A rock-solid tech stack is becoming more and more important to every organization's bottom line, so make sure you have a clear strategy in place when selecting new tools. Prioritize tools with deep automation and vast testing capabilities. Such tools will better protect your org against operational and security risks – and deliver an enhanced customer experience. Investing in and building a digital tech stack that is seamless, secure, and concise will give you a true competitive advantage. – Cesile Johnson, VP of Engineering
6. Elegant UX and product reliability will win in the end
IT professionals continue to hunger for products that “just work.” And products that do so will continue to be exceedingly rare. As a society, we’ve become accustomed to using broken or difficult technology, whether you’re expecting a batch of Tuesday fixes to software defects or realizing for the fourth time in a day that you’re talking into a muted microphone.
We’re delighted, however, when our Airpods just connect and work immediately. Companies that can deliver an elegant, easy, and effective customer experience like that will be rewarded with tremendous success. – Corey Bodzin, Sr. VP of Product
7. Orgs that value their individuals will trigger higher performance
The looming economic recession is going to cause additional strain on the health and well-being of employees in the security and IT fields. As leaders, we can’t ignore these emotions.
The great resignation showed us that people will no longer stay in a company for money alone. Employees need to feel valued and should be able to say, “I feel like I can be myself here.” This attribute alone can go a long way in building a high-performing team during an economic downturn. – Tom Bowyer, Security Manager
8. A multitool with tight integrations will keep your environment shipshape
With the looming threat of recession, IT operations will look into tool consolidation and integrations.
Looking at new trends in the ITOps and Security Operations space, end users or admins prefer to not install and manage multiple agents (clients) on edge devices unless absolutely necessary.
While ITOps tools need to include only some of the functionality, they must have tight integrations with various functional areas in the product area, such as service desk, patching, and EDR/XDR platforms. – Preetham Gurram, Senior Product Manager
9. Be your customer’s first mate through what could be a stormy 2023
Be your end user’s and customer’s partner, not just a ‘vendor’. This adjustment to the relationship will pay dividends. In the challenging global economic environment ahead, the most successful companies will focus on the value of their offerings from their customer’s point of view and provide a consistently high level of service with each interaction.
Product and service offerings should solve problems, both in and outside your org, rather than merely identify them. The companies that continue to grow well in 2023 will be the ones that do this. – Tim Lucas, CEO
Support your crew – and automate
Last year, we put everything in place to rely on simplifying actions through automation. We know the value of our teams, and moving into the new year we can prove to our individual contributors that we appreciate them.
ITOps and SecOps have secured their seats at the table. Businesses need to support teams so everyone can collaborate well, implement trustworthy automated solutions, and keep each other afloat by leveraging user-friendly, elegant, and reliable solutions.
There's still time to make 2023 the year you band together to chart new courses. We’re rooting for you!
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