A to Z of tech predictions in 2024: 5-C

What's in store for 2024? A smorgasbord of forecasts from industry observers, beginning with '5':

5 is for 5G

Source: CommScope.
Oshiaga.

Femi Oshiaga, VP of Service Providers, APAC and MEA, CommScope, said that the path to 5G will remain challenging as telecommunications businesses think about monetising their existing networks while coping with existing challenges such as ESG efforts and bridging the digital divide.

"While industry reports estimate that mobile Internet reach 1.2 billion users currently in Asia Pacific (excluding China), and that the number of 5G users in the region is set to reach over 600 million in 2028, 4G networks still continue to be the predominant choice for mobile broadband users despite the push for faster 5G rollout and adoption," he said.

"As we move into 2024, there will be a renewed focus on surfacing new use cases for 5G networks, and more operators using AI, ML to optimise operations and drive revenue. The ability to make deployments easier and coverage wider will also be a key consideration for them as we see decline in operator spending globally, and in the number of investments. 

"Easier deployments will help to drive down the cost of networking in general, while broader coverage will enable new use cases such as remote operations across vast isolated sites like in oil drilling, mining, and other heavy industries."

Source: Lenovo. Mitra.

One use case will be for the network edge, said Kumar Mitra, MD and Regional GM – CAP, Lenovo ISG. "The 10-fold increase in network speed has made edge computing more practical for businesses, offering faster data processing, real-time analytics, cost savings, scalability, and offline operation. This combination allows for customisation and seamless integration with AI, enabling businesses to provide more responsive, secure, and efficient services," he suggested.

*ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, and ML for machine learning. 

A is for agility

DataStax observed that small and medium sized businesses are "more agile and quick to the punch with new technologies". "Many large enterprises will still be experimenting with generative AI in various 'proofs of concept' or pilot programmes as the implementation cycle is much longer and the process of deploying to production, much more complex," the company explained in a list of 2024 predictions.

"We’ll begin to see smaller organisations using gen AI for everything from content creation to demand generation automation and more. They’ll be able to experiment, innovate, and deploy this technology faster than ever before."

B is for breaches in the supply chain and wider ecosystem

Nilesh Jain, VP, Southeast Asia & India, Trend Micro, it is crucial for organisations to identify soft spots in defenses. "Cybercriminals who want to victimise multiple organisations through a single supplier will weaponise the rampant use of software to cascade damage across the entire supply chain," he said.

"Vendors should anticipate that ambitious threat actors will strike at the source — the very code on which IT infrastructures are built — with attacks that will persistently focus on third-party components, such as libraries, pipelines, and containers."

Source: Cohesity.
Spanswick.

"Organisations need to find ways to enable their business partners in the adoption of AI and machine learning (ML) tools and the use of large language models without creating a cybersecurity exposure that would be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. These capabilities are going to accelerate over the next several years and their business potential can’t be overstated, but the level of risk to these organisations, if not effectively managed, is significant.

"The challenge is to manage that risk without limiting the business impact these capabilities offer," said Brian Spanswick, Chief Information Security Officer and Head of IT at Cohesity.

“Supply chain threats in cybersecurity continue to be a serious problem in all sectors, and the No. 1 vector for exploiting a company is the insecurity of a company’s supply chain. The predominance of attacks over the past year have targeted the security of products used, services provided, and the relationships between a company and its supply chain vendors. We have seen breaches in the supply chain that led to the distribution of compromised products, unauthorised access, and data theft and loss," shared Lorri Janssen-Anessi, Director, External Cybersecurity Assessments, BlueVoyant.

Janssen-Anessi said companies must understand their extended digital supply chain, the suppliers, vendors, and other third parties that have direct or indirect access to their network. "Organisations need to know who they are connected to and what access these third parties have. If a third party gets breached, this breach can then compromise the main organisation and result in data loss, ransomware, or business interruption. In addition, organisations need to be ready for interconnected supply chain disruptions that can originate from many sources, including natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts, security issues, and more," she said. 

"Before a disruption happens, it is important to understand who you are relying on and have a backup to ensure business continuity. Organisations should also continuously monitor their digital supply chain
and quickly work with third parties to remediate when issues arise. Being proactive in cybersecurity defense will help organisations weather disruptions." 

More supply chain attacks will target not only upstream open-source software components but also inventory identity management tools, such as telco SIMs, which are crucial for fleet and inventory systems, Trend Micro predicted for 2024. "Cybercriminals will also likely exploit vendors' software supply chains through CI/CD systems, with a specific focus on third-party components," the company said. 

According to the CyberArk 2023 Identity Security Threat Landscape Report, 61% of organisations in APAC indicated that they would not be able to stop - or even detect - an attack stemming from the supply chain, said Jeffrey Kok, VP, Solution Engineers, Asia Pacific & Japan, CyberArk.

"We expect supply chain attacks, particularly cascading supply chain attacks, to increase in 2024. Cascading supply chain attacks are a type of supply chain attack where a hacker gains access to one system and then uses that access to compromise other systems that are connected to it. Such attacks are on the rise due to their effectiveness in circumventing hardened targets. Attackers exploit vulnerabilities in interconnected, trusted, but softer targets to infiltrate more secure systems," he explained.

Kok added that regulations are changing for cloud-based security. "Regulated industries, such as financial services and critical information infrastructure, have historically been hesitant to adopt software-as-a-service (SaaS) security offerings due to a lack of legislative endorsement or regulatory ambiguity. However, regulatory agencies in many countries in the region are in the process of amending, loosening, or clarifying guidelines related to SaaS adoption for security solutions," he said.

"This legislative shift will enable more regulated industries to embrace and deploy cutting-edge security offerings, including those based on AI and big data, to enhance their cybersecurity posture."

*CI/CD stands for continuous integration and continuous delivery or deployment.

C is for cloud 

AI-specific clouds

Pure Storage expects to see a shakeup in infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) hyperscaler cloud computing with a new generation of specialised cloud providers concentrated on AI-specific services. In a list of 2024 predictions, the company said graphics processing unit (GPU)-run clouds would disrupt the established status quo.

"This new breed of hyperscalers will grow rapidly on the back of GPU chip manufacturers channelling demand from a broad base of customers to cloud providers," the company said.

"This space will also see M&A activities as the incumbent IaaS hyperscalers move to acquire AI cloud capabilities."

*M&A refers to mergers and acquisitions.

Industry-specific clouds 

"With increasing industry adoption, there's a notable migration of applications from data centres to the cloud and a surge in software utilisation. As traditional sectors embrace cloud technology, a new phase emerges - industry cloud platforms as termed by Gartner. These platforms are tailored to specific industries in a manner that streamlines the consumption of industry-specific solutions while adhering to unique regulatory and operational constraints. This evolution enables industries to leverage cloud resources more effectively for their distinct needs," said Sandeep Bhargava, SVP, Global Services and Solutions, Public Cloud Business Unit at Rackspace Technology. 

NTT concurs. "When working well, cloud environments become invisible, leaving applications on stage, front, and centre. This has largely been achieved with office apps, project management tools, CRM solutions and the like, but not quite yet mastered for specific industries. That will change (in 2024).

"In 2024, vertical specific clouds package software, PaaS, and IaaS layers to deliver industry-centric use cases focused on business outcomes, rather than the technology itself will increase. Analysts have been expecting this for some time, and there is now a great deal of interest in these projects. A transformation services provider for the transportation and defense industries has already transitioned to a managed cloud infrastructure to optimise spending and reduce costs."

Source: Rackspace. Bhargava.

Sustainable clouds 

"Cloud technology can drive efficient innovation and sustainability processes within organisations to address environmental challenges. Proper planning and tweaks in cloud technologies allow organisations to scale IT capacity for present and future competitiveness," Bhargava noted. 

Bhargava also said that on the flip side, cloud computing can also generate carbon emissions due to the extensive use of computing and storage, as substantial electricity is required for operation and cooling. "Nonetheless, the industry has been very cognisant of these implications, fostering organic initiatives spanning various areas to promote sustainability in all facets of technology. This heightened awareness is propelling the community to innovate digital solutions aimed at facilitating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes for companies," he said. 

Flexible clouds 

"Over the past decade, cloud-native technologies have transformed enterprise IT. In the next decade, we’ll see the rise of the intelligent composable cloud. Customers will compose their own clouds — not only for IT but also for operational technology (OT), commercial, and consumer cloud capabilities — and cloud providers will adapt by allowing users to compose services by industry, role, and use case," said Bhargava.

Hybrid clouds

Source: Veeam.
Spiteri.

Anthony Spiteri, Regional CTO APJ, Veeam, saw flexibility in terms of cloud infrastructure. He suggested that 2024 will see a notable shift back to private infrastructure as organisations seek to regain control by migrating certain applications away from public clouds.

"While the cloud will play an important role for businesses, flexibility will become a key consideration with more demanding a tailored response to their data requirements, whether that be shifting workloads or ensuring on-premises data protection," he said.

"The continued optimisation balance between public cloud and on-premises is also expected to come under greater scrutiny in 2024. While solutions provided by hyperscale cloud providers have always provided cost-effective alternatives, cloud storage costs can quickly add up for organisations not built as a digital-first enterprise.

"Having made the move to the cloud, customers are now exploring alternatives that might make more sense financially, computationally, or in terms of data sovereignty - particularly via edge computing - to regain control over their workloads. To be able to action these alternatives quickly and cost effectively, data flexibility is again a necessary requirement."

Spiteri also said as-a-service models are likely to grow as part of a broader business strategy that focuses on services that provide flexibility and scalability.

Source: Nutanix. White.

"Organisations have sought to enable a variety of applications, enhance business agility, and optimise costs. Despite this surge, not every workload seamlessly aligns with the public cloud, and many enterprises grapple with legacy applications and data entrenched in on-premises or private cloud environments," agreed Aaron White, VP and GM of Sales, Nutanix APJ.

"Therefore, hybrid multicloud solutions that offer the best of both worlds will become the default choice for enterprises that want to balance performance, security, compliance, and cost."

White cited the Nutanix 2023 Enterprise Cloud Index report, which found that 86% of IT decision-makers in APJ expect hybrid cloud to positively impact their businesses in 2024. "On top of all this with the ever-expanding digital frontier, and as AI takes root in everyday operations, the inevitability of the hybrid multicloud as the default choice becomes a catalyst for transformative change," he said.

"It not only addresses immediate challenges but positions organisations to thrive amidst the uncertainties of tomorrow. The ongoing journey toward hybrid multicloud adoption represents a strategic paradigm shift—one where adaptability, resilience, and innovation collide to redefine the very fabric of modern enterprise IT."

Hybrid cloud environments will require relevant management solutions. "As businesses embrace technologies like hybrid cloud, edge computing, and AI, deploying advanced management solutions becomes crucial for scalable operations. Hybrid cloud platforms as-a-service enable customers to streamline IT, accelerate AI, and leverage integrated hybrid cloud with edge capabilities, facilitating rapid business growth while ensuring cost efficiency by paying-as-they-need," observed Mitra from Lenovo. 

"(2023) saw the need for more predictable and forecastable pricing structures driving a growing number of business decision-makers to rethink their reliance on hyperscale public cloud providers. In the current economic climate, it is no surprise that more businesses are now choosing highly flexible hybrid and multicloud options," said Pieter Kraan, MD, Leaseweb Singapore.

"Added to this, many tech leaders now have the skills and confidence that are required to optimise how cloud works best for their business, whether this is finetuning performance on a daily basis to achieve a balance between cost and flexibility or giving departments more direct control over their own cloud services.

"In 2024, expect more organisations to accelerate their multicloud strategies in a bid to manage their total cost of cloud ownership and gain the freedom to pick and choose the services they need. This move means that data centres will need to be prepared for deep and far-reaching conversations around data privacy and security with customers." 

Cloud repatriation and regret

Source: OVHcloud.
Maiolo.

"With the spotlight on emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning (ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT), businesses are actively incorporating these innovations into their strategies to unlock new growth frontiers. However, the success of these initiatives relies on robust processing capabilities capable of handling complex algorithms and vast datasets," said Terry Maiolo, VP & GM, Asia Pacific, OVHcloud. 

"In fact, 52% of organisations have opted to bring back cloud workloads to on-premises infrastructure due to factors like management decisions, data security concerns, higher-than-expected costs, and limited access to new technologies.

"In the rush to adopt cloud computing, hasty migration of all workloads to public cloud infrastructure has presented considerable challenges. Many organisations have neglected the crucial step of assessing technical requirements first and determining which workloads would genuinely benefit from a cloud environment. Consequently, workloads relocated without proper consideration often led to suboptimal performance or the need for extensive refactoring to achieve cloud optimisation."

Cost-effective clouds

Jay Jenkins, CTO, Cloud Computing, Akamai said: "As businesses increasingly turn to cloud infrastructure and services, the collective expenses associated with data storage, computing power, and egress bandwidth can swiftly strain financial resources and impact overall profitability.

"Beyond the immediate financial challenges posed by computational costs, concerns with vendor lock-in and reliance on specific cloud providers or proprietary technologies and abstractions can also make transitioning to alternative solutions challenging, resulting in substantial migration expenses or operational disruptions.

"Mitigating these challenges demands expertise in cloud technologies, software development, and system administration. Enterprises will need to maintain a skilled workforce capable of effectively managing and optimising their applications to provide the best performance while sustaining a competitive cost structure."

Cloud security

According to the CrowdStrike 2023 Global Threat Report, cloud exploitations increased by 95% and the number of cloud-conscious threat actors increased more than 3x in 2022. At the same time, the growth of cloud computing, the pace of DevOps, and the increased use of no and low code development platforms has led to an explosion of applications and microservices running within cloud environments, CrowdStrike said in a list of 2024 predictions. 

"The speed and dynamic nature of application development makes it impossible for organisations to maintain a full picture of every application, microservice, database, and associated dependencies running in their environments. This will create a massive risk profile that cloud-savvy adversaries continually look to exploit. In 2024, enterprises must focus on securing their entire cloud estate – from both an application and infrastructure perspective – to win this battle," the company said. 

Trend Micro highlighted the vulnerability of cloud-native applications to automated attacks in its 2024 predictions. The company expects to see a surge in cloud-native worm attacks that target vulnerabilities and misconfigurations and using a high degree of automation to impact multiple containers, accounts and services with minimal effort.

"Proactive measures, including robust defense mechanisms and thorough security audits, are essential to mitigate risks," the company said.

Source: Trend Micro.
Jain.

"As cloud adoption continues to grow across APAC, we anticipate an increase in worms in 2024
that will be tailored to exploit cloud-native platforms and technologies," elaborated Nilesh Jain, VP, Southeast Asia & India, Trend Micro.

"This risk extends to all organisations, irrespective of their maturity in cloud adoption, as 'living off the cloud' attacks become more prevalent. More specifically, attacks in Kubernetes environments will become more automated and specialised."

"Worms are capable of rapid propagation in cloud environments, especially through misconfigurations in APIs, which serve as easy entry points. Furthermore, attackers can use compromised environments as a stepping stone to infect others. Lastly, cybercriminals will be able to scale up and automate their attacks, which is ideal for large-scale attacks on cloud environments. Thus, organisations must proactively scan their cloud environments in search of potential worm attacks and practice Zero Trust where possible," Jain added. 

"With more organisations migrating to cloud infrastructure, Tier-0 assets such as Azure Active Directory, AWS Identity and Access Management, and identity-as-a-service are emerging as the new 'keys to the kingdom'. As a result, they are becoming increasingly attractive targets for cyberattacks," said Kok. 

"We can expect to see a surge in attacks and attempts aimed at compromising these cloud Tier-0 assets. Additionally, attackers may employ cascading supply chain attacks to access these valuable assets."

Source: ManageEngine. Ganesan.

To protect themselves, businesses are likely to become more identity-centric, said ManageEngine. Rajesh Ganesan, President at ManageEngine said: "In 2024, we believe enterprises will also adopt an identity-centric approach, ensuring that only authorised individuals are granted access and permissions, therefore safeguarding their identities and data.

"Going a step further, cloud infrastructure and entitlement management will be implemented to increase granular visibility and minimise threats by providing a comprehensive view of identities and entitlements across diverse cloud environments. Together, such solutions will bolster security and enable a worry-free digital experience for the end users."

*CRM stands for customer relationship management, while IaaS is infrastructure-as-a-service. PaaS is the acronym for platform-as-a-service.

Sovereign clouds

Pure Storage also predicted growing demand for clouds that support data sovereignty as governments tighten regulations on the use and location of data, especially within industries such as financial services. The training of AI systems can also raise sovereignty issues, the company noted.

"2024 will see the rise of the sovereign cloud, as more organisations respond to government regulations requiring them to store data within their own jurisdictions for greater data control," Pure Storage said in its 2024 predictions.

"Countries that are taking the lead include Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia."

"While AI will continue to dominate conversations, organisations need to take a quick step back and put in place a strong cloud strategy that will pave the way for their journey. It will be crucial to understand their technology stack, focus efforts on (re)building customer trust and cultivate the skills that will allow workers to keep up with the demands of an ever-evolving digital landscape," concluded White.

C is also for currencies 

Cryptocurrency

"Over the past 12 months Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital asset has gained 155% in value – this trend can be expected to continue as institutional investors pile in, especially in the form of Bitcoin spot ETFs, bring with them not only capital but expertise and a huge amount of influence and credibility," said Nigel Green, CEO, deVere Group.

“This growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies by traditional financial institutions, along with regulatory clarity in many jurisdictions, is likely to contribute to their mainstream adoption. We predict that crypto will play an increasingly important role in diversifying investment portfolios and facilitating cross-border transactions, thereby reshaping the global financial landscape.”

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) 

Green also said that CBDCs will be a defining trend in 2024. "Several central banks around the world are actively exploring or developing their own digital currencies, aiming to modernise payment systems and enhance financial inclusion," he observed.

“CBDCs offer governments greater control over monetary policy and the ability to streamline financial transactions. Additionally, these digital currencies have the potential to reduce the reliance on cash and improve the efficiency of cross-border payments.

“As more central banks pilot and implement CBDCs, 2024 is expected to mark a crucial turning point in the evolution of digital currencies within the mainstream global financial system.”

*ETFs are exchange-traded funds.

Explore

Read predictions from D-F at https://www.techtradeasia.com/2024/01/a-to-z-of-tech-predictions-in-2024-d-f.html