As we wind down another year, let's try looking into the future and predict the hot topics that will dominate the IT Asset Management arena in 2024. Based on my analysis, the key areas that will remain in focus include artificial intelligence (surprise, surprise), cyber security, cloud, the economy, and global unrest – which is nobody's favorite except for anarchists.
Let's take a closer look at these topics and explore why they're likely to be so important in the coming year.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The biggest story of 2023 is AI. AI has created hype like no other since Y2K and the World Wide Web. It caught almost the entire industry by surprise, and its hype may be warranted. That hype is what makes AI so dangerous. Companies will seek competitive advantage and fear what their competitors may be doing, pushing them to act quickly. You will hear more about time to market, first to market, agile everything, and the need to take risks. The standard technology diffusion curve does not apply here. ITAM must be ready, but you may struggle to manage cloud assets. If you haven't already, it's time to deploy Cloud Asset Management.
Learn more from our article "The Perfect Storm is About to Hit Organizations" on LinkedIn.
Cyber Security
I'm sorry, but cyber threats are not going away in 2024 and will probably get more sophisticated with the bad guy's use of AI. The industry still hasn't learned what it takes to maintain an accurate IT asset inventory. Until they do, insanity, doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results each time, will be the word that best describes the maturity level of the organization's cyber security program.
Learn more from our self-paced "ITAM and Cyber Security Workshop."
Cloud
Do you think your organization has hit the peak of interest in cloud technologies? Think again. Guess what is dependent on the cloud? AI! As your organization looks at ways to implement AI solutions, you can assume cloud technologies are right behind it (literally and figuratively). The bad news may be that AI solutions bring in a new cloud service provider (CSP). Sure, it would be easier to use AI from an existing CSP like Amazon or Microsoft, but does that vendor offer the best solution right now? Then again, the best solution right now may not be the best solution tomorrow.
The Economy
While inflation may appear to be subsiding, let's not forget what's behind that decline – rising interest rates, which are implemented to slow down the economy's growth. We are seeing the effects of inflation and rising interest rates with layoffs. Is your ITAM staff protected if downsizing occurs within your organization? Was your ITAM staff protected in the past?
Economic uncertainty will play a role in corporate volatility. This volatility can manifest itself in multiple ways, including price changes, repackaging of services, companies closing, mergers, and acquisitions.
Learn more from our free course "IT Asset Management in a Down Economy - Surviving and Thriving."
Global Unrest
While most people may associate global unrest with wars and coups, I also add global warming and natural disasters because these both contribute to political instability. 2023 has brought us plenty of unrest and will continue into 2024. And just for the fun of it, let's add the US presidential election into the mix. We all must keep an eye on rising prices, cyber-attacks, and disruptions to the supply chain in 2024.
🎵 ITAM's a Highway! 🎵
🎵 I want to ride it all night long! 🎵
Do you really want to ride it "all night long," as the song goes?
A few years back, I recommended IT asset managers get their ITAM program in shape because a new asset type, the cloud, would stress-test their program. Lucky for IT asset managers, FinOps has provided a great distraction. While FinOps is extremely valuable, it's just one small part of managing cloud assets and probably one of the easier tasks! The wheel above, which I call the "Wheel of Stress," will further challenge your ITAM program. I didn't mention IoT, quietly making its way into organizations and turnkey systems!
When planning your day-to-day ITAM activities, if all else fails, print the "Wheel of Stress," cut out the circle, add a spinner, and spin your way to a different stress each day. 😀
Like this year, time is flying by, and with it, more new technologies. If you are not making time to improve your ITAM program, the work will continue to pile up, and new asset types will not be managed appropriately. Executive management is focused on revenue, profit, shareholders, and the market. Rarely will they tell you to take the time to make things better. This means YOU must make the time to make improvements. I've done this many times in my career. Feel free to contact me to discuss strategies and tactics.