FEATURE : 2021 OUTLOOK

This year won ’ t mark an end to the bombardment of phishing attacks , targeted attacks and ransomware the world has experienced in recent months – if anything , 2021 could look like the ‘ wild west ’ in the world of cybersecurity . With cyber criminals becoming increasingly bold and aggressive , and a remote workforce making organisations more vulnerable than before , organisations and CIOs in particular , can expect a challenging year ahead . Industry pundits share insights on the tech outlook of the Middle East enterprise market and hear predictions about the year ahead .

rife with uncertainty and challenges for both individuals and businesses , there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel . With COVID-19 vaccines approved and the process of being administering having kicked off , this year is starting with many hopeful that it shall be able to return to relative normality that happened prior to the Coronavirus pandemic . Yet 2021 is also likely to be a year of picking up the pieces and adapting . Business operations have changed significantly and organisations will be tasked with rebalancing and reassessing their systems for a working world that looks drastically different from a year ago . The fact is the enterprise segment in the Middle East isn ’ t quite out of the woods yet . business needs to technology solutions like employee single sign-on .

“ With the exception of e-business , IT was defined as a cost centre . We ’ re living at a time when businesses are looking to increase their digital footprint and offset the risks associated with both the current health situation and loss of revenue . As businesses are forced to evolve and provide alternate offerings , CIOs are also needing to evolve into revenue drivers . IT is now moving organisations towards their financial goals , not just in e-businesses , but in traditional in-store businesses as well , and we ’ ll see this shift continue through 2021 ,” he said .

Frost added that : “ We will see CIOs achieve quick wins by replacing parts of their legacy technology with ‘ componentised ’ digital technologies that can be more easily reused across their infrastructure . These include services like online payments , messaging and communication , and identity management that allow businesses to speed their Digital Transformation and adapt to changing environments , whether that be a pandemic , new cyberthreats or consumer devices and expectations .

Anas Abu Ghoush , Head of Information Services , Heriot-Watt University Dubai , said 2021 will require CIOs to both respond to digital acceleration and proactive risk management . “ COVID-19 has helped us all become more familiar with uncertainty and has also shown us how important certain technologies are than we previously thought . This includes Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning as many business operations have incorporated such technologies more than ever before .”

With this in mind , here are the top technology and business trends that organisations should keep an eye on , to ensure that they are best positioned for success in 2021 .

James Frost , Regional Director , MEA at Auth0 , said traditionally the CIO position aligned internal

Ghoush said Harvey Nash / KPMG found in a recent survey that small scale deployments of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have risen from 21 % before COVID-19 to 24 % in a period of only a few months . “ In the next few years , most IT and automation initiatives around the world will have a cloud ecosystem as the primary framework that offers

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