Analysis

From bots to breaches: what's next for connected tech in 2019?

10th December 2018
Anna Flockett
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This year, we have witnessed yet another surge in technological developments. From giant leaps in robotics as showcased by the rise in automated warehouses, to further business applications of machine learning and IoT – such as Microsoft Azure’s enhanced capabilities to run industrial IoT workloads and training machine learning models – 2018 has been a year of great technological advances. So, with the New Year fast upon us, is 2019 set to be just as bright?

We’ve asked technology experts what next year will hold for connected technology. From IoT becoming more engrained into the running of our everyday lives, to machine learning managing cloud environments, here’s what our experts predict for the year ahead:  

Machine learning will manage your cloud for you
Stephen Long, OBE MD (Enterprise), KCOM:

“There’s a huge swing in the cloud market towards tools that allow you to effectively monitor and govern your cloud environment. Machine learning algorithms will soon be predicting the behaviour of your environment. Rather than waiting for a server to fail, companies will have trend analysis built in to create a profile of the behaviour of their solutions to see what’s going wrong. It will be able to predict peaks in usage, performance degradation, and see failures coming up. As a result, 2019 will see the industry moving towards self-healing cloud.”

AI will enable predictability
Alex Sakaguchi at Veritas:

As we move into 2019, organisations will deploy more technology that enables predictive insights into IT infrastructure. Right now, most IT managers are taking a rear view mirror approach when reacting to unplanned downtime caused by interruptions related to software or hardware error, component failure or something even more catastrophic in the data centre. Incorporating predictive technologies will enable proactive monitoring for downtime and faults so IT managers can take preventative action before a disruption ever occurs. Being more prescriptive can lead to fewer disruptions and less downtime in operations.

“More frequently, AI is enabling predictability and will play a key role in data protection in 2019 and in the future. As businesses are continuing to adopt more complex IT environments, such as hyperconverged infrastructures and other modern workloads, data protection will also need to adapt. AI consistently learns from the system as these dynamic IT environments adapt and change.”

Big software bot-related data breaches are on the horizon
Paul Trulove, CPO at SailPoint:

“In 2019, we’ll see the first big software bot-related data breach. Organisations are already looking to bots to carry out workplace tasks like booking employee travel and chatting with customers. With the efficiency and automation these technologies offer, we’ll see organizations using bots to access even more critical data in the coming year. One of the areas that bots will be used more and more is in data extraction and reporting, where bots will take over a human’s task of logging into Salesforce or SAP to generate a report, often containing sensitive data, and email it off to the requester. These bots, which are often left unprotected, can be easily compromised by hackers when they’re not governed or managed in the same way as their human counterparts. Once a hacker is able to infiltrate an organisation through spoofing a bot identity, they’ll have unchecked access to critical systems and data, giving them the ability to do untold damage. And because these bots are largely unmonitored, who knows how long an attack like this will last without detection and remediation?”

IoT will become more engrained into the running of everything
Martin Hodgson, Head of UK & Ireland at Paessler

“Over the past year, we’ve seen more of our critical infrastructures focusing their efforts on implementing IoT projects.As we enter 2019 the number of connected devices will only increase as more organisations begin to realise the benefits of IoT technologies. Consequently, next year will see the birth of a smarter IoT – whereby fully connected businesses will begin to pull data for more predictive use.

“Imagine a world in which electricity providers can predict, and prevent potential outages, or healthcare institutions can predict, and stop, machines from failing. Industries that are proactive in connecting more of their devices will benefit from increased insights into their critical infrastructures’ performance. The benefits really are a no brainer. With the ability to implement predictive maintenance solutions, improve production on the factory floor and reduce downtime, in sometimes life-threatening situations – we can see why IoT will become further engrained over the coming year.”

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