Technology trends to watch for as 2016 approaches

As we move into the warmer seasons and Christmas rapidly approaches, many of us haven’t even thought about what 2016 has in store. But before we know it, the holiday season will be over, and another busy year will begin.

However, here at Focus Technology we don’t like to think that you’ll be spending the Christmas break worrying about your businesses future IT requirements. So before the holidays begin, let us provide you with a few technology trends to consider before you take that well-earned break.

Cloud Adoption

Whether you’ve already taken that leap of faith into the Cloud or not, it’s a given that sooner or later you’ll find the best solution to your business requirements is going to be an on demand, hosted option.

The obvious advantages of moving into the Cloud are well known (reduced on-site infrastructure and support costs, as well as seamless upgrades to name a few), but there are also many “gotchas” to be considered before committing to this exciting new technology:

Cost – don’t forget to consider the overall cost of migrating to the Cloud, as well as the on-going maintenance costs. While the Cloud reduces costs in some areas, does the alternative provide adequate savings over time?
Security – Does running a hosted application in the wide realm of the Internet leave your business open to unexpected and dubious security flaws?
Reliance of Service – Don’t forget, to work effectively in the Cloud, you’re going to need a reliable and rapid conduit to the Internet.
Training – Most applications seamlessly transpose to Cloud-based versions, but invariably, as with any new concept, employees and users may need to be provided with some extra training to ensure the effective use of the new technology.

Whether you’re considering upgrading to either Microsoft’s Office 365 or MYOB’s Cloud-based solutions, or you are thinking about enhancing your team collaboration using Sharepoint 2013, here at Focus Technology we are eager to help. We can answer all of your questions, provide solid solutions to the “gotchas” listed above, or even offer advice on how to effectively enhance your online, on demand adventures.

Mobile Technology

At an increasing pace, computing power is moving away from the desk and is becoming more mobile. Recent weeks have seen the death knell ringing out for the deskbound personal computer, and with the release of ever more powerful, mobile hardware like Microsoft’s Surface devices that easily run Windows 10 operating system, or smart phones and tablets that have access to literally thousands of nifty applications, there is no reason your employees need to be tied to a desk, eight hours a day.

Of course, as with Cloud computing, there’s a whole plethora of questions to be answered for any business considering the option of enabling their staff with mobile technology, and that’s where Focus Technology can help. Our team can advise your business on the best hardware options, how to connect them into your existing business model, and how to ensure reliability and security issues are eliminated.

With mobile computing, you can really think outside the box. Embedded technology can make use of GPS coordinates, device movement patterns and even audio input to provide usable data that may enable you to offer enhanced and ground-breaking business solutions to your customers.

Adaptive Security

Unfortunately, the digital world we live and work in see its fair share of undesirables trying to break into your systems so they can infect or steal your data. In the past, it’s been enough to install the latest anti-virus and security applications at a server and desktop level to block out unwanted traffic. However, with ever more ingenious and devious methods of infiltrating your systems available to those who like to snoop around, security architecture is going to have to step up to the next level.

Going forward, you must bolster your network security with applications that are able to detect and respond to security threats on the fly. Rather than just preventing an intrusion, your public facing interface should be able to recognise an intrusion, evaluate the risk involved, and then develop protection methods on the fly.

This is especially important as the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow. Technology can now easily host complex learning applications and the algorithms they use – talk to us at Focus Technology about your plans for the future, and work with us to create and support robust security solutions to protect both your hardware and information.