Top IT predictions in APAC in 2022

The top information technology (IT) predictions for the Asia-Pacific (region) this year according to ComputerWeekly are:

Operationalising zero trust
In 2022, many more organisations will venture into practices such as risk-based access controls as part of a zero-trust architecture, according to Ben King, chief security officer at Okta Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa. In addition, the consolidation of identity requirements – including privileged access management (PAM), identity access management (IAM) and identity governance and administration (IGA) – will be more commonplace as well.

Supply chain attacks intensify
Kurt Hansen, CEO of Tesserent, expects more supply chain related incidents in 2022 and beyond, causing difficulties for providers and customers. He noted that many Australian companies are vulnerable, admitting they most likely wouldn’t know if there was a breach since they have only very limited visibility of, and knowledge about, the cyber security capability of their providers and suppliers.

“Anywhere work” less prevalent
Despite the growing adoption of hybrid work, just 40% of firms in APAC will make anywhere-work permanent, compared with 70% globally, according to Michael Barnes, vice-president and research director at Forrester in APAC. Barnes said this is due to region-specific pressures which will force 60% of APAC firms to prepare to bring the vast majority of workers back to the office full-time.

Telcos to hone 5G chops
2022 will see telcos look to leverage learnings across their 5G deployments, IT assets and managed service solutions for operational efficiencies, according to Shain Singh, 5G and cloud solutions architect at F5 Asia-Pacific, China and Japan. Having undertaken trials for 5G infrastructure alongside customer-led edge computing services, Singh said there is an opportunity to integrate cloud, security and software as a service (SaaS)-like offerings by providing a common operational model across their fleet of assets and locations.

Talent retention top leadership agendas
In Australia, the skills shortage across multiple sectors will continue to be a challenge, even beyond borders reopening. Organisations will have a more concerted effort towards staff retention, by providing better employee experiences and flexible work arrangements, said Kristen Pimpini, regional vice-president of Twilio in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).

Containers to be competitive differentiator
Digital transformation will not only accelerate in 2022 but will also focus on finding competitive differentiators that help companies stand out from rivals. Matthew Oostveen, chief technology officer and vice-president of Pure Storage in Asia-Pacific and Japan, said one way they will do this is through investments in containers and Kubernetes. “Containers and Kubernetes are the driving force behind how the industry is reinventing the way we build and run applications, fuelling enterprise IT efficiency and their popularity will only continue to expand in 2022,” said Oostveen.

High chip demand but supply crunch remains
Deloitte predicts that many types of chips will still be in short supply in 2022, but it will be less severe than it was for most of 2021, and it will not affect all chips. The continuation of the chip shortage and its staying power boils down to a significant surge in demand, driven by digital transformation and accelerated by the pandemic. To try to fill the demand, VC firms globally will invest more than $6bn in semiconductor startups in 2022, predicts Deloitte.

Cloud use to create new security demands
Ray Garnie, vice-president for APAC at DigiCert, predicted that cyber security challenges will become even more demanding as cloud services become more granular. Garnie noted that organisations are deploying cloud solutions that are increasingly subject to local jurisdiction and regulations. Cloud sovereignty controls are focused on protecting sensitive, private data, and ensuring that data stays under owners’ control.

CT Bureau