New Technology in 2020 That Will Benefit Your Business

The new decade ahead holds much promise for technology for various aspects of day-to-day living. This is especially true for organizations looking to grow, simplify processes, and tighten security. Technology promises to make doing business easier than ever before in 2020. Taking into account the challenges facing business leaders and the constantly changing environment in which today’s businesses operate, our experts have put together a quick look at the latest cutting-edge technology that could benefit your company in the year ahead.App-Based Products RisingApp-based products are going to be big! This is especially true for data storage, access, and security. Today’s digital environment requires access to social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) to reach customers, provide access for remote workers, and allow for secure storage of our most important data. We know there is also a shift toward virtual reality, quantum computing, and distributed ledger coming that will further transform the way businesses operate and provide services and goods to customers on a customized basis.This is where app-based products are taking over and there is a trend showing that people are adopting such technologies at an ever-increasing exponential rate. A piece on Mobile App Daily shows that while it took about 12 years for 50 million users to begin using mobile phones, Facebook only took four years to achieve the same milestone while Pokémon Go took a mere 19 days to reach 50 million users.Consider JumpCloud which offers Directory-as-a-service. Modern internet technology incorporates local hardware and software combined with cloud resources. Managing all of your IT systems such as non-domain-bound services, your legacy infrastructure, Wi-Fi, and the cloud in one place is possible with services such as JumpCloud. This can make it simple for businesses like yours to manage all of your IT in one place.Distributed CloudCloud storage and cloud computing are already in use in a variety of industries. Watch for continued growth in businesses turning to the cloud for storage and security solutions in 2020. The distributed cloud will allow companies to achieve their data needs and services in a distributed format.The distributed cloud is the use of an application for cloud computing technologies. This newer technology allows data and applications from multiple geographic locations to interconnect data. For example, if your company has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, and New York and all are on various cloud services, the distributed cloud will allow all to interact and connect seamlessly. Additionally, distributed cloud speeds enable improved response times to improve communications and the sharing of data.In 2020, it’s expected that “75 percent of the enterprise-generated data will be processed regardless of the centralized data center,” according to the Mobile App Daily blog mentioned above.Traditionally larger firms logged into an on-site server. This meant all digital data was stored within the physical space of your organization. Servers took up space, required maintenance, and required additional room for growth as more servers were added. This is now an antiquated way of handling data and it’s not really cost-effective either.With Jump Cloud, your business employees access a variety of platforms from Adobe to email easily with a single secure password. This means employees can quickly and simply access everything they use company-wide using one secure password rather than logging into each application separately.There is also greater resilience in cloud-based security solutions. In the past, to get all of the credentials set up and access information, you had to log into a server at the corporate headquarters, for example. Now, you can still maintain that security anywhere in the world because it’s provided by the cloud 24 hours a day, seven days a week without having to use a virtual private network (VPN). You can easily work remotely from anywhere with ongoing, real-time security that’s always on.Cyber Resilience ImprovementsIn 2020, companies are going to have to increase their cyber resilience. Technological advances will be able to help businesses do just that in 2020. The statistics are clear that small to medium businesses (SMBs) now account for nearly half of all breaches and data loss. This means SMBs must consider ways to make their data safer. Companies such as Mimecast that offer fully-targeted threat protection for email security are already well-positioned in the marketplace to offer higher levels of cyber resilience.Again, a traditional means of cybersecurity was that employees would log into a computer using a server in their local environment. Now we are using cloud-based security solutions to be able to provide that higher level of cyber resilience for the end-user even though they are saving and accessing their data remotely.As previously mentioned, Mimecast has email security programs that will scan emails coming into your business for threats before they even reach your employees. This reduces the odds of a cyberattack greatly as employees clicking on malicious links and attachments is one of the most common methods of entry for cybercriminals. Additionally, it can store email securely and even offers security compliance for a variety of industries through using an “integrated, multitenant, cloud-based platform.”Employee Training for the 2020sMoving forward in 2020, we are also going to see much more focus and attention on training our end users. End users (i.e. employees) will undergo security awareness training and mock phishing attempts in an effort to help our clients identify any suspicious behavior. Such technology training for your employees is necessary as the 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon shows 43 percent of breaches involved small business victims.Continuous technology training for your employees makes them more effective and efficient. Training improves productivity and shows employees they are valued. Studies show employees that are exposed to ongoing training feel empowered and are more likely to stay with a company, reducing employee turnover. Furthermore, when employees are trained, they offer your company a higher degree of cybersecurity, reducing the odds of a breach.Dark Web MonitoringThe IT and cybersecurity experts at ORAM Corporate Advisors are also expecting businesses to advance cyber protections by implementing an automated dark web monitoring system. We have already started doing so for many of our clients. This enables businesses to become hyper-aware of compromised passwords.Through leveraging the technology behind Dark Web ID, businesses can focus on the cybersecurity threats specific to them, their employees, and their business. Dark web monitoring continuously monitors the digital criminal underground of the dark web to determine if your credentials (either personal or business) have been compromised. This allows you to take quick action to change your credentials before a cybersecurity crisis occurs if they have been exposed. What this means is faultless business continuity and avoidance of the expense of recovery from a breach.Going 5GAll four major U.S. carriers now offer some form of 5G wireless according to a recent online article by PC Magazine, “What is 5g?” Fifth-generation (5G) cellular wireless is expected to provide increased data transmission speeds, improved coverage, and better reliability. This means you can share information at break-neck speeds never experienced before (we’re talking sharing information in real-time) and coverage in even the most remote areas. Furthermore, 5G promises better reliability for fewer dropped calls and the ability to connect even more devices (think smart devices here).It’s expected that in 2020, 5G networks, which have been reliant on 4G coverage to launch, will become standalone” or “SA” and no longer require 4G coverage to function. All carriers are currently working on improvements in the U.S. to make 5G a reality faster for everyone. The faster speeds are being achieved by carriers which are turning to newer, higher frequencies known as millimeter-wave, those below or above 6GHz.Along with 5G comes 5G apps. According to the aforementioned PC Magazine piece, that means we can expect to see 5G apps start cropping up in 2021 or 2022 that are completely incompatible with older technology so everyone will be forced to make upgrades to their mobile devices and apps.So what kind of apps could help businesses? Imagine businesses like Netflix downloading movies almost instantaneously or a gaming company offering a streaming service for purveyors of its latest offerings. The potential for medical uses is off the hook. Imagine hospitals offering stroke rehab through virtual reality (VR) or monitoring the healing process using smart bandages monitored through 5G mobile devices. Businesses can connect significantly more AI and wireless devices than ever before with 5G. Consider the implications of 5G phones that are meant to be used with VR headsets. Engineers and scientists can craft new machinery or upgraded medications using their 5G mobile devices and VR.