Commvault has released its vision of the trends that 2018 will bring to the IT sector, a year that will be key in matters such as regulatory compliance, with the entry into force of the GDPR. These are Commvault's conclusions:Machine learning and data analytics: 2018 will be the year that most IT staff will conclude that solving business problems through machine learning and data analytics is the best way to tackle the most challenging business situations. Organizations will stop talking about machine learning and finally start using it, making it a much more mainstream technology. A key factor will be regulation and the realization that it is necessary to manage and leverage unstructured data, which makes up 80% of the information in companies.
GDPR and its consequences: The myth that GDPR will be like Y2K will be debunked. Before the year is out, we will see one or more high-profile companies experience a security breach and fail to comply with the regulation, thus exposing themselves to hefty fines. Furthermore, and precisely because of the GDPR coming into effect, requesting the right to be forgotten will become fashionable. It is quite possible that activist movements and demonstrations will even emerge to demand this right.
Ransomware and cyberattacks: Ransomware will continue to evolve, becoming smarter and more targeted at production systems. The ransom amounts demanded by cybercriminals to ransom data will increase, becoming the ultimate goal of their attacks. Furthermore, the cyber arms race will continue as more and more security solution providers turn to AI to make defenses more effective.
Boost for data science: Due to the entry into force of GDPR, as well as the growing wave of cyberattacks, 2018 will see how organizations will begin to accelerate the development of data management and data science skills to support their digital transformation and growth strategies.
Trust as a brand image: Companies will begin investing in trust as a key area of brand image. In a society where lies are increasingly commonplace, brands that transcend skepticism and distrust of governments and fake news will retain and gain more customers if they can link this value to their digital transformation programs.
