Nick McDonald, Global Account Director at Fujitsu, says AI, cloud computing and cybersecurity are the biggest tech trends of 2024 and that organisations must take the right approach to each if they are to succeed in the next six months and beyond.
This is a technology industry at heart and for decades now, operators and suppliers have been pioneering innovative solutions to keep driving the sector forward at pace. As we welcomed in the New Year, the tech advancement taking up all of the column inches was AI, which many believe will have a seismic impact on the industry.
Six months on and AI remains a hot topic. Not only have we seen it be used as a force for good, but the rise of adversarial AI has opened up a whole other discussion around security. AI will be steering the conversation for many years to come, but that is not the only tech trend that has emerged since the start of the year that needs to be discussed.
Cloud repatriation is quickly becoming a major talking point with some large organisations looking to bring data and workloads back from the cloud as concerns around security, efficiency, performance, compatibility and cost come to the fore.
Security really is a major concern for all organisations with their vulnerability to a cyber-attack seemingly at an all-time high. This is why cybersecurity is another key industry trend that has taken centre stage and will be front of mind for all operators, suppliers and stakeholders for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
Let’s take a closer look at these trends, what they mean for organisations in the online gambling industry, and how to leverage the opportunities they present while mitigating any risks they open up.
Deploy smarter innovation driven by AI:
Operators and suppliers are under immense pressure to build innovative products, digitise
operations and exceed customer expectations for personalised experiences. A connected data strategy is the key building block to making this happen.
Data is the fuel that powers this industry and the rise of AI in this sector and others presents huge opportunities to use the vast volumes of data organisations hold to innovate.
Intelligent data analysis with AI goes beyond the human capacity to process, analyse and discover patterns in data, and with the right data storage and processing solutions, businesses can reduce data management complexity, gain real-time insights and innovate with AI.
However, the adoption of AI and data science is futile if the data used is insufficient, partial and of poor quality. What’s more, the infrastructure required to run AI projects is often costly, which is why it’s so important to build a strong business case so that decision-makers are confident in and comfortable with the investment required.
Developing this business case can be challenging without access to the computing power needed to accurately determine the project’s requirements, but with solutions such as our AI test drive, this can largely be overcome by tapping into our state-of-the-art IT infrastructure.
Solutions such as this allow organisations to test hardware options to determine which platform is right for them while uncovering dependencies and understanding the interoperability of components.
In fact, we often find that in more than 70% of cases where an AI solution is required, suitable modules already exist, and this can really help customers adapt to the specific requirements of a project instead of reinventing the wheel which ultimately takes time and costs money.
Cloud repatriation:
Many organisations have embraced public cloud solutions in recent years having been drawn to its supposed benefits – flexibility, security, cost saving, etc. But as organisations assess the suitability of their cloud solutions, many are left questioning whether it’s right for their business.
This has seen many undertake cloud repatriation. This is the process of moving data, applications and other resources that were previously hosted on a cloud platform back to an organisation’s on-premise data centres or another private cloud environment.
For many, the reasons for doing this are either cost, security or strategy. Some companies might have overestimated the cost savings of migrating to the cloud in the first instance, while others could have concerns about the rise in hacks and leaks. For others, repatriation could form part of a wider strategy for how and where data and applications are stored.
Either way, I think we will continue to see companies, and especially tier-one online gambling operators and suppers, move away from public cloud platforms to either on premise or private cloud solutions over the coming months and years.
The fight back against cybercrime:
The exponential growth of data, the rise of AI and the transition to digital opens up many opportunities. But where there are opportunities there are also challenges, and one of the greatest being faced is security.
Securing and protecting sensitive company and consumer data from unauthorised access, loss and damage is mission-critical for any organisation. This means building a secure network to protect vital data assets while also improving efficiency, productivity and sustainability.
The backup, recovery, archiving and replication of data must be in place, as must the necessary cyber security products, tools and protocols required for resilience.
So, there you have it, my tech trends that will impact the industry for the coming six months and most likely beyond.
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