TOP 5 Digital Transformation Trends for 2020

Today’s post is sort of an obligatory one, a new year and decade are rapidly unrolling and to gain some overview where they might take us, we bring you the most impacting digital transformation trends for 2020. Here we are again, discussing what digital transformation might have up in its sleeve. The digital transformation trends of 2020 feature some already familiar technologies such as data analytics, AI and machine learning, multi-cloud and APIs. But there’s also a more general aspect to the trend, that of connecting and personalizing the customer experience, that should always be ongoing in the background. But another year, the same trends? - it’s starting to sound a bit repetitive. However, even if the technologies at the center of those developments might seem the same as the year before, this time, it’s more about the depth of impact and reach. Without further ado, here are the 5 trends that will dominate the digital transformation discussions in the next months.Sounds so very basic, but delivering connected and personalized experience to the customer is actually at the center of digital transformation. Providing a frictionless omnichannel journey that’s accessible anytime from anywhere is what more and more customers have come to expect from their service provider. According to MuleSoft, the average number of applications used in each organization in 900 while only 29% of those apps actually integrate with one another. The challenge here is to face the increasing complexity and plurality of digital channels. But it’s certainly an important tendency to keep an eye on since 69% of the customers agree that disconnected customer service would be a motive enough for them to change their service provider.If your company isn’t ready to unlock the potential of data and invest in analytics in 2020, you might be out of business by 2021. The valuable insights to be harvested from the customer data have outweighed the “following your gut feeling” way of running a business a long time ago. However, unlocking and analyzing the increasing volume, velocity, and variety of data is not an easy task. Gathering mobile data, sensor data, voice data, etc. is not an answer without an insight engine to organize and interpret it. New regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also mean that over-preservation of data might result in data privacy and compliance risk. Meaning that storing data just for the sake of it without planning or management is a bad idea. So, all in all, regardless of the industry, data analytics will be one of the most important focal points of digital transformation in 2020.As discussed in the previous point, the volumes of data are increasing quickly, and in order to make some sense of them, we need machines to help us in that job. The value of AI and machine learning to data analytics can be distilled into three separate value propositions: speed, scale, and convenience. Automating the analysis of data sets will bring significant gains in speed and scale alike. AI and machine learning will permit us to analyze complex data sets in a fraction of the time it used to take just two years ago. The addition of AI and machine learning to analytics tools is also more convenient since they have made the tools more intuitive and reliable. Not surprisingly then, there are studies that anticipate a 95% growth projection in the adoption of AI in the next two years. The most common use cases of AI include machine learning, virtual agents and basic task automation, and in 2020, the number of customer service operations that will use virtual customer assistants will make up 25% of the total.2019 was the year of hybrid multi-cloud. When a multi-cloud strategy refers to the use of multiple public cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, a hybrid cloud refers to a cloud computing environment that combines on-premises, private cloud and public cloud pairings. The clear advantage of a hybrid multi-cloud strategy is the possibility to select different cloud services or features from different providers and use the best-suited environment for each task. Many enterprises turned to hybrid multi-cloud strategy looking for the best approach to manage distributed and heterogeneous data ecosystems while reducing costs and boosting productivity. In 2020, hybrid multi-cloud will become a reality impossible to ignore and companies must make the necessary efforts to overcome the challenges of complexity, managing costs, and managing apps.APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are the cornerstone of today’s cloud-based software and hardware. And even if we call APIs as the building blocks of the digital economy, any digital strategy a company develops should start with the business aspect and customer experience. After that, you’ll have time to figure out what APIs need to be in place. The more sophisticated the API strategy, the greater the business outcome. Off lately, businesses around the world have dipped into APIs to position themselves as strategic partners rather than merely being a solution provider.