Moshe Kranc, chief technology officer at Ness Digital Engineering, worked with his team to identify macro trends and specific technologies that will be game-changers in 2019. Their prediction: Newer technologies like blockchain and machine learning will make inroads, familiar solutions like the cloud and big data will solidify their standing, and cyber threats will continue to bedevil corporations.
Here, Kranc discusses the specific impacts these trends will have on enterprise IT managers.
(Image: Pixabay)
1. 2019 will be a breakthrough year for machine learning
“Machine learning is real,” Kranc says. “A number of things on the hype curve are not yet ready for prime time, but machine learning is, and there are a lot of applications for it. I think we’re just at the beginning of figuring out all the ways to use it, and there’s still a lot of room for improvement in the algorithms themselves.”
Some applications of machine learning, such as chatbots, are already being delivered as off-the-shelf solutions. However, Kranc says that more complicated use cases – such as algorithms that read radiology images or predict which customers are most likely to churn – will require enterprises to seek out scarce talent or work with external partners.
2. Big data becomes just plain data
“If you were holding back on exploring a big data platform, there’s probably a green light now,” Kranc says. “If you’ve been holding off because it’s all so unstable and it’s hard to find people and it doesn’t really work, that’s not true anymore.”
Big data platforms have matured, Kranc explains, with the market winnowing down to a smaller number of more stable solutions. At the same time, young people entering the workforce are bringing knowledge about big data with them to their first jobs. “They come out of school knowing Spark and Spark Streaming,” Kranc says. “You’re going to be able to find the talent now.”
Read the rest of the new tech trends predictions here.