A study by GSMA Intelligence expects Asia Pacific’s use of mobile technology to generate $1.7 trillion of economic value by 2020 through improvements in productivity and efficiency. That draws a clear link between the synergy of mobile technology and business performance. How can businesses leverage the power of IT to get the best from employees and grow the organisation?
Rapid advancements in technology have not only resulted in the transformation of digitally inclined employees, but also the rise to the complexity of the roles held by IT professionals. It is perhaps unsurprising as the infrastructure of an enterprise’s information technology system is vital to driving efficiency and a key to compete effectivity in the modern business world.
As 2017 kicks off, here are the four main areas that will likely come into focus.
Automating, not just securing IoT.
Prediction #1: Increasing adoption of security process automation by IT professionals to combat the threats that IoT brings
Asia’s businesses can no longer shy away from recognising the role that Internet of Things (IoT) plays in powering their digital transformation strategies. The number of connected things poised to increase to 8.6 billion by 2020, creating a US$583 billion market opportunity in the region. However, the immense opportunity also signifies significant challenge for IT professionals to connect a broad range of devices to its existing network infrastructure without escalating the costs of IT operation.
As devices become increasingly interconnected, it is critical for businesses to identify, connect and protect all unknown mobile and IoT devices at the edge. A recent study by security experts revealed that mobile devices in the workplace are most vulnerable to attacks. Hackers are able to retrieve sensitive enterprise data without anyone else’s knowledge.
Enterprise mobility also brings about increased exposure to threats such as malware infection. More than 50 percent of the organisations across Asia have taken days, months and even years to spot for such indicators of compromise and breaches.
In order to improve detection time and limit damages in earlier stages, security infrastructure is required to work together to identify and analyse issues, and take a step further by enforcing policies for devices automatically.
Predicting network behaviour
Prediction #2: Growing demand for more granular information and greater visibility of the devices on the network, leading to a review of protocols and software tools required to build IoT-ready networks
While automated security solutions are crucial to enable networks to detect devices that have been compromised, there is a need for such tools to work hand-in-hand with mechanisms that predict when an attack is likely to occur.
2016 has been rife with stories of attacks on connected devices, including the attack on Dyn, the Domain Name System (DNS). The series of denial of service (DDoS) attack started in the Eastern United States, then to other parts of the country, as well as some areas in Europe and Asia. The attack has affected companies including Twitter and Paypal.
If IT had been able to detect misbehaviour in view of attacks that slipped through the protection perimeter – leveraging on a capability called breach detection – perhaps the problem would have been mitigated before it ever got so far.
In view of the shift towards a predictive network management, having specific visibility into the network is of paramount importance.
Analytics and Indoor Location Services
Prediction #3: Increasing use of analytics by enterprises to determine the best way to utilise the information they have gathered through location services
The analytics market in the Asia Pacific region is expected to be worth $4.7 billion by 2022 as businesses are acknowledging the importance of harnessing smart analytics to stay ahead of competitors.
Over the past few years, we have seen an accelerating adoption of location-based services by enterprises in Asia. The region is set to overtake the world as the fastest-growing indoor location market due to its burgeoning population, expansion of technological capabilities, and increasing affluent and growing middle class. In addition, enterprises in the region have also moved beyond simple location apps to the use of analytics to improve customer experiences, and allocate manpower efficiently which ultimately drives revenues and increase operational efficiencies.
Through location services, enterprises will be provided with real-time visibility into the status of its assets and retrieve common insights and trends of the environment. These are not limited to analysing traffic patterns such as how people travel through a building and where people congregate most. This insight could also inspire the best physical layout of that building, placement of signage and staffing, or where wireless upgrades need to take place.
Third-Party Apps into the Network to Deliver Mobile-First, IoT-Ready Networks
Prediction #4: 2017 will be the year of collaboration. There will be a move towards integrating third-party applications into networks which will result in, the emergence of more open, software-based network platforms.
The rise of mobile technologies has enabled workplace flexibility, a perk important enough to be deemed by millennials as one of the top five priorities when considering a job offer. This is especially important for enterprises because 60% of the world's millennials is expected to be living in Asia Pacific by 2020 – digital natives who were born into a world that doesn’t know what it means to be disconnected. With the number of IoT devices looming large on the horizon, enterprises need to ensure that they are prepared in handling huge scalability in its network space.
For these reasons, we will see a move towards the integration of third-party applications into enterprises’ network, giving rise to more open, software-based network platforms that allow broad base of developers and partners to collaborate and enhance end-users’ experiences. Such platforms are able to unify disparate computing infrastructure into one seamless network access solution and allow businesses to adapt quickly to changes in the IT environment.
Steve Wood, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company