“These systems emphasise agility and speed, giving organisations the ability to quickly and inexpensively test ideas, throw away anything that doesn't work and test out new ones.
“The need to fuse these two modes together to become cross-modal will intensify. Especially as organisations strive to continually optimise the cost of running their systems and incorporate their systems of insight into new business processes and customer interactions.”
De Luca says the companies that will realise the greatest benefits will be those that are able to use agile methodologies in their workforce and offer quick-to-build application programming interfaces (API) of their business services.
“Businesses that also successfully build data lakes across their digital assets and standardise their infrastructure will do well, too,” De Luca adds.
Multi-cloud will enable trans-regional business
According to De Luca, the emerging Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) promises to bring significant benefits to economic trading conditions within Asia-Pacific.
“To realise the full potential of this agreement, investment in technology infrastructure to connect these economies will be critical,” De Luca adds.
“Several companies are already expanding data centre capacity to cater to the growing use of cloud computing.
“They are also investing in improving cross-border, high-speed connectivity. The creation of direct routes between key areas like South East Asia, Australia and the United States of America is well underway.”
For De Luca, this opening up of the market will have an impact on how businesses consume cloud and expand the options that they have today.
With as many as 70 percent of organisations either using or evaluating hybrid clouds nowadays, as well as provisions in the TPP to protect offshore data and avoid electronic duties, creating a multi-cloud across continental borders to allow businesses to expand becomes viable.
Skills shortage will spark a talent pursuit
De Luca believes several factors will impact the technology employment market in 2016, forcing many organisations to look at how they will fill the talent deficit to continue to innovate and remain competitive.
Addressing the IT skills shortage will not just be about pumping out more IT graduates with in-demand skills like data science.
Appealing to the interests of the best young talent while investing in increasing the productivity of existing employees will be critical to bridging the gap over the long run.
“The working practices of ‘Gen Z’ workers are vastly different from those before them,” De Luca adds.
“With this generation expected to work an average of 17 jobs in their lifetime, they will develop a broader variety of skills as well as be exposed to multiple industries during their careers.
“Companies will need to figure out how to tap into this. They are driven more by their contribution to society than the logo of the company they work for.”
De Luca says governments recognise this economic imperative and generational shift by changing the labor market, introducing new tax incentives and passing laws to allow for easier investment, such as through crowdsourcing.
Continual learning is also becoming a focus for governments, with Singapore investing SG$1.2 billion (US$0.9 billion) in technology development to drive improvements within its public sector.