

These are the IT trends of 2021
Few sectors are as dynamic and changeable as IT. What is hip, revolutionary, and advanced today may be obsolete in a few months. Especially in the (for all the wrong reasons) historic and sensational 2020, many organizations are turning their digital transformation engine into turbo gear. But what does this mean for the near future? We show you by looking ahead at the 7 most important IT trends of 2021.
#1 The Internet of Behaviours
Today, data is the linchpin in a large part of business processes. Data provides insight and therefore plays an increasingly important role in making strategic decisions. In 2021, this data-driven method will also be applied to change human behaviour. This is also known as the internet of behaviours.
In our current information society, data is not only the new gold but also the lubricant on which organizational processes run. These are both commercial and non-commercial processes. Most organizations are now primarily guided by hard data when making strategic decisions.
That data-driven approach will take on a new dimension in 2021 in the form of an ICT trend known as the Internet of Behaviours. IoB is about changing behaviour by making even better and more precise use of data. Think, for example, of telematics for cars that monitor the driving behaviour of drivers (sudden braking, steering behaviour in sharp bends) to make cars safer and more manoeuvrable. Or wearables, such as smartwatches, that monitor your vital health values at any time. Think of heart rate, blood sugar, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and more.
IoB consults and combines data from a wide and diverse spectrum of data sources: commercial customer data, citizen information collected within the public domain, social media and registered travel movements are all data reservoirs that feed the Internet of Behaviours.
#2 Digital and personalized ‘total experiences’ become the norm
A second IT trend that is visible now, and which will only gain momentum in 2021 and beyond, is the importance of total digital experiences. Whether it concerns customer experiences or the well-being of employees; uniformity and consistent quality across all communication and marketing channels (omnichannel) and digital experience platforms (DXPs) are becoming the standard, according to multichannel platform Emerce and many other trend followers.
Examples of the practical application of this second IT trend are:
- A digital configurator that helps customers choose the desired product both online and in the physical store. This is especially important for items with a high degree of personalization (furniture, phone cases, wallpaper) which are often available in various designs and colours.
- Especially with complex purchases or things with a spatial dimension (houses, cars), techniques such as virtual reality, chatbots, and speech assistants provide additional experience and depth.
- For expensive and complex products (cars, e-bikes), customers can make the purchase on the spot and with an advisor, but you also offer them the option of ordering spare parts online. You can also make concrete recommendations to the customer digitally, for example via newsletters or informative videos and articles, about the lifespan and specifications of those parts.
#3 Agile working becomes the norm
As digital innovations take place at an ever-faster pace, agile development is increasingly becoming the norm. Agile working in short sprints makes it possible to quickly bring the first version of a product to the market. This MVP, which only has the necessary functionalities of the end product, provides both the developer and end-users with insight into the functionality of a delivered application within a few days or weeks.
Based on interim feedback, you can work quickly and specifically on concrete improvements. In line with the growing need for agile working, the further growth of development methods such as low-code and no-code is also one of the most important IT trends for 2021. These ways of development offer, certainly in combination with targeted training or further education, plenty of opportunities for ‘citizen developers’. These are people without a formal IT background who are good at and have a passion for developing cool applications.
#4 Design thinking
The rise of design thinking is also one of the ICT trends that will take centre stage in 2021. Design thinking means that as a producer or designer you look at a design assignment from different angles and come up with creative solutions. So you don’t just look at the technology, but also the needs, wishes, and problems of the user.
The design thinking process consists of five steps.
- Empathy: you empathize with the customer through interviews, observation, and data analysis.
- By using different perspectives and exploring different angles, you define the core of the solution and the associated design for your new product.
- You come up with creative solutions that help the end-user.
- You make the best ideas visible and tangible in prototypes.
- You test the prototypes for feasibility, functionality, and ease of use.
Design thinking cannot be separated from adjacent IT trends such as working in mixed tech and innovation teams. This means that the teams involved in developing a product consist of people from different professional backgrounds. By combining insights from different fields, you ultimately arrive at a better total solution.
#5 Hyper-automation
Hyper-automation is also one of the most powerful ICT trends of 2021. The idea: everything you can automate, you should also automate. Hyper-automation is primarily driven by the struggle with legacy applications that is still commonplace in many organizations. Outdated software leads to expensive and inefficient processes that require a lot of repetitive and manual actions. Hyper-automation uses the insights and tooling of various sharing technologies. Think, for example, of AI, robotization, and business intelligence.
Hyper-automation is an IT trend that will have a major impact on the day-to-day operations of many companies in the coming years. It promotes the efficiency of organizations and has a direct effect on business results and satisfaction among customers and employees.
#6 The Triumph of the Hybrid Cloud
Over the past year, the cloud workspace has grown in popularity – more than predicted. The corona crisis has made a major contribution to this; many employees had to work from home, which requires a flexible and secure IT workplace. We both find them in the cloud workspace. It is therefore expected that (partially) working from home or flexible working will continue to be embraced by many employers and employees after the corona crisis.
Besides the benefits of the cloud workplace for home workers, IT administrators also benefit from it for office workplaces. Because all programs and data are in the cloud, management can be done centrally and remotely. In terms of safety, it is therefore more than good; the highly secured data centers offer security options that an average workstation in the office can never match.
The transition to the cloud is an IT trend that has been going on for some time. Within that cloud you have several options: use one or more public cloud platforms, combine cloud solutions with on-premises or adopt a hybrid cloud. One of the key IT trends for 2021 is the massive adoption of the hybrid cloud, a trend confirmed by research.
More and more organizations are realizing that the hybrid cloud offers the best combination of flexibility, scalability, and security. You can run low-threshold applications that are used by many people in the public cloud, while you store business-critical and privacy-sensitive data in the more protected private cloud environment. The increasing focus on cybersecurity is therefore one of the ICT trends of 2021 that will directly influence the increasing popularity of the hybrid cloud.
#7 The Democratization of AI
And last, but not least on the list of IT trends for 2021: the democratization of AI. Artificial intelligence is already a regular part of our lives but will become accessible to many more organizations in the near future. The reason? Computing power and software are becoming cheaper and more widely available.
In and after 2021, the use of artificial intelligence will increase even further. This is already a regular part of human life. Think, for example, of the use of chatbots and navigation apps. However, this technology will also become increasingly prominent in business in the near future. The reason? Computing power and software are becoming cheaper and more widely available. For example, AI will increasingly be used to analyse patterns from all kinds of data. This offers all kinds of new possibilities in the field of automation. Consultancy firm McKinsey & Company reported in 2018 that artificial intelligence could contribute around EUR 13 trillion to the global economy by 2030. It can therefore be assumed that the deployment of AI as one of the major IT Trends will increase further.
Due to the emergence of development methods such as no- and low-code, it is also becoming easier for citizen developers to build in AI functionalities into smart, cool, and user-friendly applications that are also affordable and accessible for smaller and non-tech-related companies. AI is increasingly affecting our lives and is increasingly becoming the key to solving complex issues and problems. This applies to both the commercial world and the public sector.
The above IT trends will add yet another chapter to the way companies and individuals interact with information technology. It is therefore important to respond quickly to these developments and to keep your company future-proof.