Enterprise Apps Predictions for 2018

Sean Michael

Updated · Dec 27, 2017

As 2017 comes to close, it's that time of year to think ahead about what's yet to come next year.

In the world of enterprise applications, including business intelligence (BI), customer relationship management (CRM), big data and application development that EnterpriseAppsToday focuses on, there are a lot of different things to look forward to in 2018.

Following are predictions on the state of enterprise apps for 2018 from a number of leading vendors.

The Rise of Microservices

In 2018, technology companies are going to ditch the buzzword “cloud” in favor of the next big trend in IT: microservices, Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad, predicts.

“By doing the exact opposite of what enterprises have historically been doing up until the disruption of digital technology, we’re going to see the concept of microservices take on a whole new life form, as enterprise ecosystems continue to grow,” Walker said. “Enterprises should also take note fast — moving to smaller applications makes it much easier to scale and decreases risk, while increasing efficiencies.”

All Apps Go to Subscription Model

 In 2018, all companies will realize that future growth can only come from subscriptions, predicts Tien Tzuo, CEO and founder of Zuora.


”Companies like Salesforce.com, Amazon, Netflix and Box were the vanguard of the subscription economy, but the story is now far broader and deeper, and relevant to every industry,” Tzuo said. ” In addition to providers of software, books and music, companies in media and entertainment, consumer services, telecom and utilities, financial services, healthcare, education, farming and, through the innovations around the Internet of Things (IoT), even manufacturing and automotive are pivoting to or starting up as recurring revenue subscription businesses.”

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Will Be Muted

 AI will go deep into the “trough of disillusionment,” predicts Patrick McFadin, VP of developer relations at DataStax.

“The largest users (Facebook, Google) make it look easy, but companies without the deep experience aren’t seeing the same results,” McFadin said.

Additionally, McFadin predicts that stream processing data will become further integrated into standard back-end databases.

The Tech Industry Transformation into an Experience Business Will Speed Up

“Today’s enterprise customers are no longer willing to put up with experiences that are slow, complicated, rigid and painful,” Dheeraj Pandey, chairman, founder and CEO of Nutanix, said. “They now demand simple, frictionless, flexible and — most importantly — delightful experiences. The same types of experiences consumers have enjoyed from companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook for years.”
 
Pandey predicts that in 2018 enterprise technology companies that cling to the belief that customer experience can be an afterthought, rather than a priority, will continue to lose. However, those enterprise technology companies that realize that they must continuously create new, captivating experiences for their customers, and have the velocity, innovation and ecosystems needed to do this, will win.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at EnterpriseAppsToday and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

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  • Sean Michael
    Sean Michael

    Sean Michael is a writer who focuses on innovation and how science and technology intersect with industry, technology Wordpress, VMware Salesforce, And Application tech. TechCrunch Europas shortlisted her for the best tech journalist award. She enjoys finding stories that open people's eyes. She graduated from the University of California.

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