Tech themes of 2017: Our PR clients offer their predictions
As a tech PR company, we gain great insights into the diverse world of technology from our clients. From telecoms and big data, to cyber security and ecommerce, our clients are at the forefront of Ireland’s digital economy. However, the components that feed into that economy are rapidly evolving, changing and transforming. At Comit, we spoke to some of our tech PR clients to find out what they think the big topics of discussion will be over the rest of the year.
Comtrade Digital Services: Chat-bot banking
In 2016, Comtrade Digital Services created an automated banking platform for one of the world’s leading messaging apps, Viber. With the tap of a finger, Viber users of participating banks will now be able to instantly send and transfer money.
The solution is going to transform the payments world for retail banks, payment processors and their customers and in 2017, we expect many instant messaging platforms will begin to offer similar services. This marks a whole new era of banking and will lead to a significant proportion of the world’s micro transactions to be carried out over messaging apps in the future.
Data Solutions: Channelling the multi-cloud
With the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) and increasingly ambitious IT projects, enterprises will require multi-cloud solutions to meet their business needs. In 2017, channel partners need to help customers plan, build, secure, manage and access a complex combination of on-premise and public cloud-based infrastructure, applications, and data.
Organisations will favour solutions that enable them to use cloud as and when it suits them, without the fear of being locked into one particular cloud provider or another. Partners who can help deliver this level of flexibility will remain more relevant to their customers than those who tie down their options.
Equinix: The rise of the digital edge
The global shift to a digital economy has disrupted traditional business models and elevated one component of the enterprise network – the digital edge – to new importance in 2017. The digital edge is where users are, where data is produced and where applications are shared. Therefore, by re-architecting IT to the edge of their networks, businesses can engage with customers in real-time, leveraging a combination of social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies. As the significance of IoT increases rapidly and in an age where speed is everything, the digital edge will be vital for businesses wishing to gain competitive advantage in 2017.
EMIT: Businesses get clever
In the last few years, we have seen an explosion of data being produced by businesses. It is only now, however, that many organisations are starting to understand how that data can be used to boost business performance and stay ahead of the competition. With the data at their fingertips, 2017 will see organisations paying more attention to business intelligence with the aim of transforming raw data into meaningful and useful information that can enable informed planning and decision-making.
HBAN: Where’s the smart money going?
It’s always informative to see where the angels are putting their money and nobody knows more about the technology trends that that the smartest cash follows than Halo Business Angel Network. HBAN is responsible for the development of business angel syndicates on the island of Ireland and encouraging matches of angel investors with high potential start-ups. The key trends HBAN foresees for this year include artificial intelligence, fintech, Internet of Things; cyber security, healthtech, agritech and augmented and virtual reality.
PayPal: Rewiring commerce and payments
The payments market continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The entire commerce experience will be rewired over the next three to five years. The role of money is changing as cash continues to be digitised, cheques are disappearing, cards are being transformed and the world of shopping continues to undergo massive change. In 2017, PayPal will continue to be at the forefront of this payments revolution and will enable merchants and consumers to connect wherever, whenever and however they want.
Pure Telecom: More casualties with the rise of video
December 2016 saw the arrival of video streaming service Amazon Prime in Ireland. With the increased availability of great quality streaming services in Ireland – along with their big-budget productions – people’s interest in broadcast TV will decline. We carried out a survey in May 2016 that found that 9% of Irish adults intend to ditch their TV licence in the next five years. A further 37% plan on cancelling their paid TV contracts in the next five years. Based on that research, we predict that 2017 will see the greatest number of Irish adults abandon free-to-air and paid TV than ever before. With that trend, an increasing number of adults will seek high-speed broadband connections, such as Pure Telecom’s 1,000Mbps Lightning Fibre, to ensure they are getting the best service out there.
Ricoh: New ways of working will prevail
In 2017, Ricoh believes that Irish businesses will finally embrace new and changing work styles. The evolving demographic profile of the workforce, the places we work from, the information we are creating and sharing, and the technologies and tools available to us are reshaping how we do our jobs. It’s incumbent on business leaders to recognise this and provide employees with the processes and tools they need so that they can collaborate, share information and ultimately do their jobs better. We believe that the most successful organisations will fully leverage this exciting digital transformation.
Ward Solutions: A struggle to comply
By May 25, 2018, all businesses in the EU must be able to show that they are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As such, next year will see Irish businesses grapple with the nuts and bolts of becoming compliant; overwhelmed by the workload required and seeking assistance from a limited pool of knowledgeable external resources. SaaS vendors, along with SaaS use, will also pose significant challenges to organisations in their attempts to ensure that their supply chain is GDPR-compliant. As a result, security budgets will rise in 2017 as businesses take on the unknown.
