LIVING IN THE IT ERA

THE 11 BIGGEST ISSUES IT FACES TODAY 2. Data protection

Each year we talk with tech leaders about the
Forward-thinking organizations are now
biggest problems they’ll face in the near future, and
implementing privacy by design in their products but
we’re starting to see some subtle and not-so-subtle shifts
making sure those efforts meet GDPR standards is
from the worries of 2018.
an ongoing concern. Google, for example, just saw a
Data overload, a major concern 12 months ago, record fine by French regulators over how the
has evolved as new data-hungry tools and AI help make company collects data.
sense of data and drive business decisions. This year
CIOs say they’re more concerned with how to protect “U.S. businesses will need to consider a GDPR-type
that data, as organizations grapple with new privacy policy to protect citizens even before any regulations
regulations. are enacted,” Samuel says. “Ultimately, there must
be international guidelines to ensure customer
As the economy continues to improve, CIOs are less
privacy and protection on a global scale to allow for
hampered in 2019 by tightening budgets. And worries
easier compliance.”
about moving to the cloud are less of an issue, since
many companies have already made the jump.
Jacob Ansari, senior manager of Schellman and Co.,
Executives put more emphasis now on securing their
says IoT security got a lot of attention last year, but it
cloud-based assets across multiple cloud environments.
led to little practical change in the industry.

“The makers of IoT devices still use vulnerable

1. New security threats
software components, poor network and
communication security, and are unable to supply
Headline-grabbing recent events may spark
software updates in the field,” says Ansari. “They’re
surprising new security threats, says Rick Grinnell,
still making essentially all of the mistakes everyone
founder and managing partner of Glasswing
else made in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Oh,
Ventures.
and your voice-activated home device is spying on
you and the company that makes it will give your
“The government shutdown helped contribute to a
data to the wrong person by accident with little
great cyber threat to the U.S. government, critical
oversight or accountability. This also suggests that
infrastructure and other public and private
better data privacy legislation — at least in the U.S.
organizations,” Grinnell says. “With the shutdown,
— is a potentially hot topic for 2019, particularly in
many of the security professionals watching for
light of the events of recent elections. Nobody loved
threats at a national level were not on duty, creating
implementing GDPR in Europe, but its protections
a bigger hole for attackers. Time will tell if a month of
for ordinary people are decent."
lowered defenses will have deeper repercussions in
2019 and beyond.”
3. Skills gap
Tech leaders are also gearing-up for next-
generation, AI-driven cyber attacks.
More than one of our sources mentioned the much-
discussed skills gap in IT, but with a twist — some
“Security professionals must be extra vigilant with
tech leaders now see the problem more self-inflicted
detection and training against these threats,” says
than intractable.
John Samuel, CIO at CGS. “This year, companies
will need to introduce AI-based protection systems to
“If you're only looking at college graduates with
be able to contain any such attacks introduced by
computer science or electrical engineering degrees
this next-gen tech.”
from the top ten universities in the U.S. then yes,
there are hardly any candidates, and most of them
Grinnell says AI wasn’t a factor in the most notable
are going off to the five largest employers,” says Tod
attacks of the last year, but he expects that to
Beardsley, director of research at Rapid7. “But the
change.
potential talent pool is so, so much larger than this,
and companies would do well to explore this space a
“I believe 2019 will bring the first of many AI-driven
little more liberally.”
attacks on U.S. companies, critical infrastructure and
government agencies,” he says. “Let’s hope I’m
Sandra Toms, vice president and curator of the RSA
wrong.”
Conference, says IT departments would help
 themselves by “plugging their skills gap with more
diverse employees, and not just in terms of race and
gender. Most IT hiring groups fail to look at diversity
in life experiences, religion, backgrounds, sexual
orientation, and education. Viewing diversity in a
more holistic manner should open up a broader field
of candidates and lead to higher levels of
productivity."
4. Multi-cloud security
When exploring new cloud-based services, CIOs
now need to ask about security across multiple
platforms, says Laurent Gil, security product strategy
architect at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
“Traditionally, multi-cloud leads the enterprise to
manage many different, often incompatible and
inconsistent security systems,” Gil says. “We think
that selecting cross-cloud, cloud-agnostic security
platforms is now fundamental in ensuring
consistency, and most importantly completeness of
securing enterprise-wide assets regardless of where
these assets are living.”
5. Innovation and digital transformation
According to Gartner data, about two-thirds of
business leaders think their companies need to
speed up their digital transformation or face losing
ground to competitors.
Most companies will continue on the same path until
they’re forced to do otherwise, says Merrick Olives,
managing partner at cloud consulting firm Candid
Partners.
“Tying IT spend to strategic business capabilities
and answering the question ‘How will this make us
more competitive?’ is essential,” Olives says. “Value
stream-based funding models as opposed to project-
based funding are becoming more and more
effective at tying board-level objectives to budgetary
influences. The cost structures and process
efficiencies of legacy vs. a nimble digital capability
are much different — nimble is less expensive and
much more efficient.”
6. Finding new revenue streams
Ian Murray, vice president of telecom expense
management software firm Tangoe, says that while
the business landscape is ever evolving, the basic
premise of making a profit is the same.
“The process to finding and exploiting revenue
opportunities hasn’t fundamentally changed — find a
problem that we can solve that is common, prevalent
and that people will pay to solve,” Murray says.
What has changed is the emphasis on direct
revenue generation landing in the CIO’s lap, says
Mike Fuhrman, chief product officer of hybrid IT
infrastructure provider Peak 10 + ViaWest.
“Maybe I’m old school, but I don’t think the CIO
should be worried about directly generating
revenue,” Fuhrman says. “I’m starting to see this pop
up more and more among my peers. To stay
relevant as a CIO, many are working to try and
productize themselves. While there are benefits to
thinking that way, I think it can also be a recipe for
defocusing the team and the boardroom. When it
comes to revenue-generating opportunities, the
place the CIO belongs is focusing on those projects
and digitizing the business into an automated
platform at scale. We need to stay focused on
driving costs out of the business and scaling from a
go-to-market perspective. That’s how a CIO should
focus on revenue.”
7. Lack of agility
Organizations that aim to incorporate agile methods
sometimes end up limping along in a sort of hybrid
model that incorporates agile practices but also
more linear “waterfall” methods. In short, the worst of
both worlds.
Tangoe’s Murray lays it out: “Developers are coding
to specific spec sheets with little conceptual
understanding of how this button or feature fits within
the overall user experience. A disciplined approach
is needed to pull this off, where the solution to
specific problems are addressed within a certain
release. Each release is then coordinated for a set of
sprints so that a comprehensive solution that adds to
the UX is achieved with every release and not just a
collection of requested features that may or may not
support one another.”
8. Outsourcing risks
The skills gap will lead many organizations to seek
outside help. But these sometimes-necessary
solutions can lead to concerns with reliability and
security.
“Our main focus is to deliver on the promises we
make to each customer,” says Sanchez. “You build
your reputation and business on this one critical
 thing. In outsourcing your work, the quality of the
deliverable is sometimes at the mercy of the firm you
outsourced to. Given the sensitive nature of the
projects we manage, we utilize strict third-party
vendor assessments to evaluate partners in the
event a project requires us to consider outsourcing
some or all of the required tasks.”
In addition to quality concerns, outsourcing opens up
security threats that are well known. “The specific
threats for CIOs that should be top of mind are the
insider and the contractor,” says French Caldwell,
chief evangelist with MetricStream and a former
White House cybersecurity advisor. “Until we move
away from passwords for credentials, humans will
continue to be the biggest threat.”
9. Business results
Matt Wilson, chief information security advisor at
BTB Security, says there’s a disconnect between
what’s set aside for the IT budget and measurable
results for the business.
“Most organizations haven't taken a hard, brutally
honest, look at their current spend,” Wilson says.
“There's often too much momentum behind the way
things are currently done, the solutions already
acquired, and the processes built over a decade to
allow for any meaningful change. Instead,
organizations may cobble together partial solutions
that can't ever fully address the root of the IT
challenge — for example, Equifax not patching a
known vulnerability. We live with IT pain. We waste
dollars. We frustrate our talented resources with
solvable problems that are rendered completely
impossible in our companies by momentum. For
2019, we should refuse to be captive to history.”
10. Tools for a digital native workforce
Christian Teismann, SVP of global enterprise
business at Lenovo, argues that a new workforce of
employees who grew up with digital technology
demands new ways of working that will boost the
bottom line.
“Gen Z, for instance, expects control over the types
of technology available to them,” Teismann says.
“They favor the technology they grew up with and
use in other spheres of their lives in the workplace
— as well as a recognition of personal and cultural
elements. Tech-enriched, assistive spaces that are
configurable and flexible will continue to trend.”
11. Rebuilding trust
Isaac Wong, software engineering manager at
Retriever Communications, calls 2018 a “bad year
for IT publicity,” based on a number of well
publicized hacks of large companies and
questionable sharing of customers’ online habits.
“Issues such as privacy, security and device
addiction must be addressed immediately by big and
small players in the industry,” Wong says. “As a
sector we have to be responsible corporate citizens.
We need to show that we care about the people we
claim to be serving and act in their best interest.
People trusted us and we should be very respectful
in honoring that.”
MANAGING PRIVACY IN THE DIGITAL ERA
Sharing has become second nature.
- The more our lives become digital, the more our
personal data travels. We share everything,
through browsing, purchases, social activities
and all the services we subscribe to.
We learnt the hard way we are exposed!
- At a time when privacy is increasingly fleeting,
we want to regain control and we are demanding
new rights to protect ourselves.
-
3 REASONS TO BELIEVE IT
1. Constant Tracking
- Technologies, always more evolved and
invisible, follow us everywhere. Beyond our
digital activities, we track everything including
our bodies’ functions, we know, EVERYTHING
about ourselves and others.
Illustrations:
Between 2000 and 2010, computers’ ability to
recognize people in photos improved by 3 orders
of magnitude.
44% of people are less inclined to shop in a
place they know they are tracked.
With the rise of sensors, biometrics, drones &
more, it’s getting almost impossible to remain off
the grid. Anonymity is becoming elusive. […] As
we move further into the digital age, we’re
starting to both fear and resent technology.
2. The Fear of BIG BROTHER
 - Edward Snowden’s revelations about PRISM
raised the fears of state surveillance. A question
is now on or minds: if tech giants collaborate
with governments, what else are they doing with
our data? With the proliferation of hacking
scandals, fears are getting stronger and
generate tensions around the notion of privacy.
Illustrations:
In the few months following the PRISM scandal,
American cloud companies suffered a los
estimated around 35 billions of dollars on their
sales.
41% of French people declare that on social
networks, nothing can be re-establish their trust
(not privacy policies, nor technical guarantees,
nor reputation, …)
Today, on our market, it’s an asset not to be
America! Clients are mostly interested by the
products, but professionals are more sensitive to
who owns the data, and where.
3. Growing Demands
- Right to transparency, right to oblivion, right to
know and understand privacy policies: we are
getting organized, in order not to lose control
over our private lives. We demand more power,
against governments and tech giants, who are
using us as products, selling our data.
Illustrations:
75% of people think it’s useful to know what
brands make their data.
Smartphone users are ready to pay 5$ on
average for an app that would guarantee their
privacy.
While we’ve concentrated on the growth in size
of our networks, even if it means leaking large
quantities of data, we now favor their quality and
their security.
MANIFESTATIONS ON THE CONSUMER SIDE
Popular Movements
- Because we don’t really know what states and
companies make of our personal data, a
movement of discontent is growing. We are
getting organized and we are claiming our right
to anonymity and privacy.
- E.g., Right to Oblivion in Europe, The “Stop
Watching Us” Petition
Thoughtful Sharing
- If we remain eager to share everything, we seek
to better control the data we let slip into the
digital world. We use simple strategies and new
sharing tools to compose our private and public
information.
 Sharing more to hide more
- Danah Boyd, American researcher on
social networks, explains that teenagers
protect their privacy by sharing just a
tiny bit of information about themselves.
The attention is focused on the few
things they share and the rest if left
alone. Their private life remains private
this way.
 Junk Email Address
- Many email services are only
accessible online in exchange for
personal data: we sometimes give them
false information to avoid being tracked.
At a time we have more and more email
addresses per person (75% of French
people have several), we often use one
for junk emails and sometimes using
one of the many disposable email
services available online.
 Privacy Policies
- Instead of giving up social networks, we
just use them is more clever ways.
Friends’ lists, privacy settings
restrictions: in 2013, 77% of people
changed their privacy settings on
Facebook.
 New Types of Network
- When massive social platforms seem
more and more suspicious, we prefer
using new social networks, which seem
to better protect our privacy.
Alternative Tools
- We are conscious the exploitation of our
personal data is becoming abusing and we want
to act. New solutions and alternatives exist to
avoid tools like Google, to better protect
ourselves.
 Knowing to control better
- Tools that are able to gather information
on the traces we leave behind are
multiplying, allowing us more power on
managing our connections.
 Advertising Blocks
- Targeted advertising get criticized often
about the (lack of) respect of personal
data. A lot of applications, like AdBlock
are now available and widely used
(more than 250M downloads and more
than 20M daily users in April 2014 for
AdBlock Plus), in order to avoid the
 diffusion of pop-up windows, banners
and other invading advertising formats.
 Alternative Browsing
- To avoid using Google, we can turn to
new solutions, DuckDuckGo, IxQuick,
or Qwant are new web browsers which
keep our searches really private.
Digital Invisibility Cloak
- If you are suspicious about technology, you
might just as well seek to disappear entirely. We
can choose extreme but efficient solutions,
which are used more and more, to guarantee
our complete anonymity. This way, we’ll be able
to discuss, exchange and surf the web in a pitch-
black environment.
 All Encrpyted
- Military-graded encryption is becoming
the new norm. thanks to innovative
products and services, we protect our
communication from outsiders’
intrusions more efficiently.
- The Blackphone, Encrypted emails,
Wickr.
 Anonymity’s Glory
- Anonymity, on networks and on various
web platforms we use, is not always
guaranteed. New solutions allow us to
turn this around for good.
- Safer connections, obscure
transactions.
IF THERE IS A GROWING AWARENESS, THERE’S
ALSO A TRUE PARADOX:
39% of people found it was useful to share personal
information with a brand.
61% of internet users would trade privacy for truly
personalized offers.
IMPACT ON RELATIONSHIPS WITH CONSUMERS
IN THE AGE OF «BIG DATA», RELEVANCE AND
MODERATION ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS.
Today, if companies focus only on volume and
the accumulation of data, it is necessary that they
change their approach. To (re)establish a lasting
relationship of trust with consumers, brands need to
become clever with their personal data collection.
#1 PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY
- Brands need to be clear and explain what they make
of personal data – this can be a way to allow them to
rebuild a relationship of mutual trust with their
consumers. From the first contact, it is crucial to
explain and justify each question, each request of
information.
 GOOGLE
- Google produced a video to clearly
explain the processes that would permit
them to share personal information with
governments. The brand attempts to re-
establish trust with its users, giving
details about the process and the
different barriers they try to put to avoid
revealing information. An interesting
first initiative from the tech giant.
 APPLE
- The brand published its first «
Transparency Report » in November
2013. Like Google, they detail and
explain how they came to share data
with governments. They also try to
reassure consumers, telling their model
is not based on the collection of data
and it will never be.
#2 INSISTING ON SECURITY
- At a time when most brands are developing
connected objects, thinking about the internet
security is more than crucial: 84% of French people
see them as a progress and 60% want to use them
for their personal security*. Thus, reassuring people
about privacy and security will be the key to
nurturing a new relationship with the ever more
connected consumers.
 ENCRYPTION RACE AT YAHOO
- After PRISM, Yahoo decided to encrypt
everything. After making all connections
HTTPS, the company has encrypted
the totality of email accounts data since
January 2014 and the data from its data
centers since March 2014. At the
beginning of April, the Chief of Security
also announced the intention to encrypt
the whole Yahoo platform. They are
pushing security in their development,
to re-establish trust from users.
#3 GIVE UP CONTROL
- To reassure consumers, brands have to transfer the
control of the relationship from their hands to the
consumers’. Allowing them to know what data they
own, who uses it and what they do with it, will be an
efficient means to avoid a doubt crisis towards
brands.
 «MYDATA» PROJECT
 - From CRM, are we going towards
VRM ? The consumer will soon be able
to manage his relationships toward
brands, rather than the contrary. In the
UK, the « MYDATA » project is going in
this direction. With the support of the
government and many brands (HSBC,
MasterCard, Google, T-Mobile,…), the
program would allow consumers to
keep a perfect track of what data is
known by which brand. They could then
control and keep a trace of what brands
know about them.
 FACEBOOK REINVENTS ITS
CONNECTIONS
- During the F8 conference, Facebook
announced two major changes to come
regarding the management of personal
data. Users will be able to precisely
select which data they are willing to
share and an anonymous FB login will
be created to register on apps. The
company is now clearly aware of the
real need of reassuring the public and is
looking for efficient answers, to
preserve its hegemonic position on the
web.
#4 BRING ADDED VALUE
- When brands ask for personal data, consumers
expect them to use it in the most clever way
possible, to receive relevant offers, with a real
added-value. Brands have the capacity to be of a
better service to their consumers and to respond to
their needs, in a more than ever personalized way.
 BURBERRY « CUSTOMER 360 »
- Pioneer of the luxury digital store,
Burberry also developed an interesting
customer experience. They offer their
consumers the possibility to create a
profile where they can define their
preferences and their fashion phobias,
as well as tracking their trials and
purchases. Consulting their profiles,
sales persons can advise them. A
personal shopper who knows you better
than anyone, at the moment you enter
the door: this is a real extraordinary
shopping experience.
10 EMERGING TRENDS IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY FOR 2020
Technology is an ever-changing playing field
and those wanting to remain at the helm of innovation
have to adapt. The consumer journey is charting a new
course and customers and companies alike are
embracing emerging technologies. As the IT industry
trends such as cloud computing and SaaS become more
pervasive, the world will look to brands who can deliver
with accuracy and real-time efficiency.
To help meet the demands of a technology-
enabled consumer base, businesses and solution
providers must also turn toward the latest trends and
possibilities provided by emerging innovations to realize
their full potential. But, where to begin? These are the
emerging trends businesses need to keep their eyes on
in 2020.
AI
Artificial intelligence holds significant potential
for businesses. While we have yet to achieve the full
spectrum of capabilities frequently at the center of
futuristic cinema, AI is poised as a tool of choice for
businesses and solution providers. As is often seen with
social media, AI, combined with machine learning, can
be a powerful combination. Businesses can use AI to
achieve cost-saving benefits, streamline workflows,
enable more efficient communications, improve
customer satisfaction, and provide insight into
purchasing behavior.
Additionally, machine learning can analyze large
datasets and provide scaled insight. We are currently
just scratching the surface of how machine learning and
artificial intelligence can work together to enable
businesses. (Think of IT-industry giants such as Google
and Amazon.) Current applications provide huge growth
potential for solution providers who can fully understand
the capabilities of AI and tailor solutions to meet
business demands. Businesses can also employ AI to
identify new product and service opportunities.
Blockchain
Past discussions of blockchain are often hinged
on cryptocurrency, but the real power lies in the
immutability and transparency of a blockchain. Due to
the fixed and highly visible nature of blockchains, this
trend has been widely accepted to have financial
applications, and often informs discussions of bitcoin.
However, the business benefits are much more far
reaching.
 The blockchain is an information system that
holds promise for supply chain management, enabling
transparency into the origin and journey of materials
from origin to product. Blockchain technology will also
allow for better record management, providing a
snapshot of any record from its origination. This could be
used to verify orders, purchases, returns, receipt of
product, you name it.
Another cryptocurrency utilizing blockchain
technology is Ethereum. This cryptocurrency uses smart
contracts to ensure delivery of conditions. Smart
contracts release data when both participants have met
the criteria of an agreement. Smart contracts offer
endless capabilities for ensuring agreements are carried
out and therefor can help position you as a trusted
brand.
Cybersecurity as Critical Business Function
Cybersecurity will no longer operate as an
addendum in the world of information technology. As
companies leverage emerging trends and move more
toward cloud computing, cybersecurity will become a
critical business functionality and will be an integral
business process.
Data protections and PII are real-world concerns
that are steadily creeping to the forefront as media
coverage of data breaches affect our trust in brands.
Making information security an operational necessity will
position a business as a trusted entity and ensure
smooth delivery of products and services.
Drones
Drones are helping to transform certain verticals,
giving an edge over competitors and offering a
technologically powered physical connection between
businesses and end users. The remote capabilities of
drones coupled with AI applications are transforming
business in the industrial, public safety, construction, and
insurance sectors, just to name a few.
As the drone industry continues to mature, more
and more applications are coming to light and
businesses are embracing the possibilities. Gartner
predicts that drone shipments will increase 50 percent in
2020. Drones offer a unique opportunity to identify
actionable tasks with much less leg work. Businesses
and solution providers can offer enhanced support and
real-time services. As best practices are developed and
proper protocols put in place, drones offer real-potential
for businesses.
Edge Computing
Edge computing is a decentralized model which
places computing nodes closer to the source of
interaction. Gartner defines edge computing as a model
where “information processing and content collection
and delivery are placed closer to the sources,
repositories and consumers of this information.” This
model optimizes technological interactions and reduces
latency at the point of origin to enable more effective and
real-time data consumption. Edge computing is quickly
becoming the most efficient path for localized
interactions.
IoT
As the world becomes more and more digitized,
informed business is the key to success and internet of
things provides greater clarity into consumer behavior.
The Internet of Things is increasingly offering business
opportunities in the form of data collection and analysis.
In fact, IoT is the most widely adopted technology in
CompTIA’s emerging tech track.
Unlike traditional data collection methods of the
past, the Internet of Things is a conglomeration of
devices that interact, providing substantially greater
insight into how products and services are being applied
for everyday tasks. As more devices become IoT
enabled, businesses will be able to design products with
a greater understanding of pain points.
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing offers unique opportunities
for predictive analysis that extend beyond the capacity of
conventional computing. Quantum computers leverage
the principles of superposition and entanglement to
process information on an exponential scale. While
Google came on the scene in 2017 with a promise of the
largest quantum computer, IBM has actually made it
possible for businesses to leverage this technology.
Quantum computing offers businesses a
powerful tool for predictive analytics and big data
analysis. As we encounter new problems, quantum
computing will help predict viable solutions, though it
may not be on the radar for many solution providers or
channel partners just yet.
Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality
 When we think of virtual reality and augmented
reality technologies (now referred to as XR), we often
drift to possibilities in gaming. While those should not be
overlooked, there is real potential for businesses and
solution providers as well.

XR helps provide context to possibility.

Consumers and businesses may know that they need a
solution but have difficulty visualizing how a product or
service will enable a particular outcome. Businesses can
use XR to enhance their offerings and inform effective
decision making.

3D Printing
The business applications for 3D printing are
endless. The ability to customize a product according to
personalized specifications will allow businesses to
provide nearly limitless possibilities. In recent years,
providing this kind of customization required either
significant reprogramming or manual intervention. With
3D printing, personalization is now one more task that
can be automated. 3D printing also enables the use of
various materials that offer cost-saving and
environmentally sustainable benefits.

5G
The speeds accomplished with 5G greatly
outpace those seen with previous networks. 5G offers
the supporting foundation that businesses can leverage
to embrace emerging technologies. When
unencumbered by latency issues, businesses can
provide greater capabilities and service. Reaching
consumer bases via mobile devices and smartphones
will soar to new heights as the IT infrastructure for 5G
expands and becomes more pervasive.