Blockchain and predictive technologies take centre stage in 2019

By Ravi Rajendran, Managing Director, Asia South Region, Veritas Technologies LLC

Moving into 2019, the technology market will continue to transform and adapt to new customer demands. In particular, organisations will be collecting and analysing vast volumes of data – more so than ever before. Businesses in Singapore and across the region will need to start thinking about how to perform tasks more efficiently and effectively, and how to take advantage of new solutions that will make the jobs and lives of those responsible for these tasks easier. This is especially pertinent for Singapore as it plans to reinvent and digitally transform 23 sectors that cover about 80 per cent of the country’s economy.

In particular, data and IT staff will need to incorporate more blockchain technology into their workflows for enhanced data security and protection. Leveraging technologies that enable predictive insights will give IT staff the tools to know how or when to upgrade technology and ensure business continuity.

1) Blockchain’s Effect on Data Backup and Recovery

The benefits that blockchain will bring to an organisation’s security protocols are unparalleled. However, other areas will be affected as blockchain becomes more prominent in 2019. A traditional backup will give way to hyper-converged solutions. Convergence will occur between compliance, protection and security as businesses continue to address risks and exploit opportunity with the data they have access to. In the coming year, organisations that can effectively leverage blockchain will be the clear winners as technologies continue to converge.

This makes blockchain ripe for the backup and recovery market because it can touch all pieces of data, stored in any location. As long as data exists, the need to tap into that data will also exist – but who has access to this data will be the real determinant of blockchain’s power. We’ll need to keep three groups in mind: the user, the organisation and any third parties. Individuals will need the opportunity to delete their data and access it when they like. Organisations will want to use insights from the data to explore new opportunities. At the same time, both parties should be concerned with any threats from third parties.

Blockchain can provide a solution that enables all of the above. But before it can be widely adopted, factors such as people, legality, business, culture and more will need to be well aligned. In 2019, we will see more innovators experimenting with blockchain use cases that demonstrate many of the blockchain data protection benefits.

2) AI Enables Predictive Insights and Data Protection

Going into 2019, organisations will deploy more technology that enables predictive insights into IT infrastructure. Currently, most IT managers are taking a rearview mirror approach when reacting to unplanned downtime caused by interruptions related to software or hardware error, component failure or something even more catastrophic in the data centre. Incorporating predictive technologies will enable proactive monitoring for downtime and faults, and IT managers can take preventative action before a disruption ever occurs. Being more prescriptive can lead to fewer interruptions and less downtime in operations.

More frequently, AI is enabling predictability and will play a key role in data protection in 2019 and the future. As businesses are continuing to adopt more complex IT environments, such as hyper-converged infrastructures and other modern workloads, data protection will also need to adapt. AI consistently learns from the system as these dynamic IT environments adjust and change.

Data protection stands to benefit the most from AI enabled predictive insights by reducing risk to data in a power disruption. With regulations such as GDPR guaranteeing data protection for users at a business’s expense, it is becoming increasingly important to keep data under lock and key.

In Singapore, the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) has recognised the benefits of AI and is also taking strides to ensure that both businesses and the public are well educated about the AI value chain (Developers, Businesses and Consumers). On top of this, they have also developed an AI governance framework which will consider essential issues in the commercial deployment and adoption of AI in Singapore. Proactive strategies to avoid the repercussions of even a moment of downtime will be critical for businesses in 2019 that need to provide round-the-clock data support.