2023 Tech Priorities — Focus on 2 to 3 Priorities vs. 10+

Gartner Inc. released a report showing a 0.2% decline in IT spending in 2022. It also offers an expected 2.4% increase in 2023. The increase rate is positive but needs to be more satisfying, considering technology’s impact in eliminating business inefficiencies. Unfortunately, despite the Technology Leaders’ attempts to prioritize trends in automation, big data, and artificial intelligence, economic uncertainties are still rattling the business world. The following article explores the unstable financial condition, forcing corporate technology leaders to redirect their focus and budgets to the outlined three tech priorities in 2023.

The Tech Market Outlook

Harsh market conditions, such as increasing inflation in today’s markets, force many corporate technology leaders to re-evaluate their priorities and process of staffing. Many tech companies plan to sharpen their focus and budget on tech priorities. For instance, according to the Whirlpool Corp CIO, Dani Brown, the company’s capacity limits them from focusing on many tech priorities in 2023. Instead, her spending priority will remain on IT’s Foundational aspects. That is the spending on software projects that can unlock the business’s potential in the future. Another business leader, Shanthi Iyer from DocuSign Inc., reiterates Brown’s sentiments. She insists that their cloud-based document management service provider will focus its resources on tech priorities with the most significant impact in 2023.

Unfortunately, there is increased pressure on CEOs to spend money on opportunities that allow businesses to generate profits with fewer investments. The trend is shifting towards shorter time-to-value projects from long-term projects.

Top 3 Tech Priorities in 2023

Increasing global economic challenges are forcing tech leaders to evaluate every decision from a long-term financial and technology view. CEOs are willing to invest exclusively in tech priorities that ensure companies meet the desired business outcomes. Here are the top three tech priorities in 2023:

1. Adoption of Combinatorial Trends

As expected, businesses are already considering technology trends to create new possibilities. Standard technology trends potentially disrupting the industry in 2023 include AI, clean tech, immersive reality, and cloud computing. As a result, businesses hope to combine different technologies to remain relevant in the current digital industrial revolution. The possibility of new opportunities in combining technologies such as applied AI with ML or sustainable energy with clean energy technologies presents exciting ventures. Although combinatorial digital technologies are shared among startups, giant companies embrace this multi-stack innovation. The company’s software development talents work tirelessly to find technologies they can combine to create new possibilities. However, their combinatorial effort remains with the following combine, cluster, and complement fundamentals:

· Combine: It stipulated that software developers should find and combine suitable technologies suitable in a business domain level. This prerequisite requirement allows companies to focus their investments on experimentation and innovation for a combination that can solve given business issues.

· Cluster: Refocus combinatorial effort to feature level by identifying and combining trends that produce the most value and combine naturally

· Complement: This step allows companies to track combinatorial efforts beyond their primary use. Sometimes the secondary effects can outweigh the intended use.

Combinatorial trends are creating exciting possibilities across different business domains. Many businesses are embracing the combinatorial trend. They hope that holistically combining technologies can unlock new opportunities and improve their competitive advantage in the industry.

1. Investing in Tipping-point technologies (AI and Cloud Computing)

The CIO and CTO tasked with convincing the board to invest in tech priorities are looking for tipping point technologies in 2023. Such technologies this year include AI and cloud computing. A Mckinsey research shows there is massive adoption of the technologies. The report indicates that AI adoption has penetrated at least one or more functions in at least 50% of companies. Most companies have changed their attitude toward cloud computing. Every CEO wants to stay caught up and take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade their cloud capabilities. Most organizations have adopted a more ambitious goal of accelerating their timelines to build strong cloud foundations. Cloud provides the following essential benefits forcing companies to think more prominent and more innovative in 2023:

· Improved capacity to scale applications

· Capability to automatically add capacity according to demand

· Multiple application code base

· Advanced security capabilities

· Improved security and data loss protection.

Every board wants to get ahead of the other with such tipping-point technologies. As a result, CIOs have improved their persuasion power to convince board members preoccupied with strategies to minimize IT budgets. Most businesses are willing to invest in renewing their IT infrastructure to enable reusability, resiliency, and security while adopting the 2023 tipping point technologies.

1. Change in Security Measures (Cloud Security)

The mass migration to the cloud has pushed companies to prioritize security protocol that protects their data. 2023 will record many CISOs and CIOs driving their companies to rethink security’s roles in improving their business’s risk posture. The profound commitment to migrate to the cloud and strategize the company’s security protocol is a trend expected to accelerate beyond 2023. The movement has become a top priority for the following reasons:

· More businesses from the heavily-regulated industries, such as banking, are currently moving to the cloud

· Cloud service providers are investing billions in new security protocols and tools

· Corporate tech leaders are automating their security tools.

The cloud presents new challenges around security and compliance standards. Current issues, such as significant concentration risks, have prompted companies to prioritize cloud security. Businesses should expect new measures and policies in 2023 as more industry leaders migrate their critical applications to the cloud.

On the Bottom Line

Companies often need help knowing where to focus their budgets, especially in the tech business. However, the reality is that Technology Leaders and CEOs must appreciate that remaining relevant in the tech world comes with a hefty upfront investment worth the risk. Therefore, the company must prioritize key software projects that unlock business value instead of many tech priorities.