Reseller bosses make their tech predictions for 2018
Posted by CRN on January 15, 2018:
After two years of surprises in the form of Brexit, Trump and another UK election, it is likely that 2018 will be a year of consolidation and implementation for the volatile geopolitical landscape of recent years. This year will be the final full 12 months with the UK as a member of the EU, with those negotiations and the final trade deal likely to affect sentiment all year. Then there is the realisation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018, as the preparations of last year are put to the test.
However, there would be great naivety in suggesting this year will be just about swimming in the ripples of recent times. You cannot rule out another UK general election, the escalation of nuclear tensions, and a World Cup to boot (expectations are low for England, so there should not be too much staff absenteeism for games!)
Then there is the next curve of technology - which emerging technology will flourish and which will fall away? For all the talk of artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D printing, how much of the channel is actually making money from those areas? And will that change in 2018?
When previewing a year ahead, there will always be more questions than answers, but despite that unavoidable limitation, we asked various channel players what they expect, starting with what will be the major areas of technology that will come to the fore in 2018.
Ben Boswell, area vice president for Europe at World Wide Technology, said budgets are beginning to move from IT buying centres into cybersecurity.
"Business are required to 'shore up' their Tier 0 applications to ensure they are protected from breach, also to satisfy compliance and regulations, with GDPR growing ever nearer, and to prevent operational impact," said Boswell.
"Multicloud will ultimately win out of necessity for businesses to survive. The demand for rapid execution and delivery will increase, as customers adopting cloud expect payback through datacentre and campus consolidation and technology cessation."