These are the top 5 IT trends that will dominate in 2023

Will 2023 be the year in which AI breaks into the mainstream? What about Cloud adoption? What are the developments in the field of hybrid working? We ask Cedric van Riemsdijk, Lead: IT Business Development, at Nsecure. In his role, he regularly discusses the greatest needs and challenges in the field of access and security with various clients. He then translates these insights into effective IT solutions. Cedric foresees, among other things, that AI will play an increasingly important role in the coming years, also in the access and security domain. In this article, he unpacks the five biggest IT trends of 2023.

Trend #1: Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) in itself is not an entirely new phenomenon. That being said, it was only in 2022 that AI-powered applications had a large-scale breakthrough in the general public. Just think of Dall-E 2, an AI application that allows you to generate completely new images, or ChatGPT, the chatbot that can write texts on almost any topic imaginable, in any style imaginable.

Cedric explains: “In the coming years, AI will play an increasingly important role, also in our access and security field. Our ‘smart’ camera systems have been able to detect deviations in walking patterns for some time now. As soon as a visitor deviates from the walking pattern defined as ‘standard,’ the system automatically gives a signal. AI cameras can now also recognize walking styles and, for example, detect if someone is sneaking across a terrain.”

“AI enables us to recognize behavioral patterns better and detect deviations ever faster, in real-time. At the same time, the acceptance of these types of applications will continue to increase as the general public becomes increasingly familiar with the possibilities of AI. A major advantage is that these applications can also add a lot of value for organizations in the context of sustainability. For example, by adding algorithms that can steer behavior and routes and provide insights, such as which office location is less busy at certain times. AI can also generate a notification when an access pass is presented for access to an unauthorized area.”

Trend #2: Cyber Threats: Zero Trust

The British newspaper “The Guardian,” the Municipality of Antwerp, and Metro, the German parent company of wholesale chain Makro, are just a few examples of organizations recently hit by cyber attacks and suffered all the associated organizational and financial consequences.

As an ever-increasing number of systems and devices are connected to the internet in 2023, opportunities for online attacks will only increase. Cedric adds, “In addition, large banks, insurers, and government agencies are no longer the only potential victims of cybercrime. Companies that manage vital infrastructure,  such as rail managers, energy companies, and SMEs, will also increasingly be vulnerable to ransomware (where captured data is released only after payment of a ‘ransom’) and other types of cyber attacks.

“It is not surprising that more and more companies and organizations are adopting the so-called Zero Trust principle in setting up their security landscape. From the principle of ‘never trust, always verify,’ only users with the right credentials really have access to a specific physical or digital location. We also apply this principle in our systems and solutions for access and security.”

Furthermore, according to Cedric, monitoring is increasingly aimed at the level of individual endpoints, such as PCs, servers, and mobile devices. “As soon as a deviation is detected, such as a login attempt at an unusual time or from an unknown location, the relevant endpoint is immediately isolated from the rest of the network. The goal: to prevent cyber criminals from quickly penetrating the higher-level systems.”

Trend #3: Hybrid working

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have rapidly become familiar with hybrid working: working partly in the office and partly remote. What’s new is that the number of opportunities to work time and location independently is increasing. Companies and organizations increasingly use convenient Cloud apps for activities, including planning, time registration, or various HR tasks, such as requesting leave or submitting expense claims.

Cedric: “In our own field, access and security, we also see that there are increasing opportunities to arrange things remotely.

Requesting access to a specific (physical or digital) location? Applying for a new access pass?

Employees are increasingly arranging more access and security matters via the Cloud – regardless of where they work that day. It is important, however, to continue to comply with legislation and regulations, such as the GDPR or labor law. You can do this, among other things, by having the ‘paperwork,’ such as certifications and documents, in order before persons are registered to gain access to a company location.”

Trend #4: Increasing acceptance of the Cloud

More and more companies and organizations are definitively moving to the Cloud in the coming years. Even companies that were previously somewhat hesitant to move to the Cloud – for example, in the financial sector – are now moving their environments, according to Cedric.

“This is partly due to the new European NIS2 directive, which has strict security standards for companies in ‘essential sectors’ (including the energy sector, healthcare, banking, and infrastructure for the financial market). The realization is growing that it is precisely Cloud providers that can achieve the required high level of security.”

“In addition, more and more Cloud providers are offering the option to store data in any desired region in accordance with the privacy laws and regulations applicable there. For many Dutch companies and organizations bound by the European GDPR directive, this is one less concern.”

Trend #5: Open architectures

Because more and more platforms are being developed based on an open architecture, it is becoming easier to connect the entire business chain. In the coming period, the various systems within an organization – from ERP and HR systems to communication platforms and systems for security, access, or identity and access management – will be able to communicate with each other more easily using API integrations. Platforms are also communicating with external systems and databases with greater ease.

According to Cedric, this type of chain automation offers several advantages, especially regarding security and access. “An example of linking an identity management platform with an ERP system: if the safety certificates of a particular supplier performing work have expired, and they are no longer compliant, the financial department is also unable to make payments to the company at that time. This prevents things from falling between the cracks.”

In short, this type of chain automation can bring many benefits in areas such as sustainability, efficiency in business processes, and increasing security.

YIM closely follows developments in IT, compliance, security, and access. Want to know more? Then contact us!