Three major trends in digital transformation in 2018, blockchain will usher in spring

In 2017, which is about to pass, digital transformation has become a common choice for many organizations to promote internal informatization, optimize resources, and achieve IT reconstruction. So what will be the trend of digital transformation in 2018?

Trend 1: Deep integration of cloud computing and the Internet of Things

Although cloud computing and the Internet of Things are both development trends of future technologies, the relationship between cloud computing and the Internet of Things has not been too close.

The application objects of cloud computing are still mainly reflected in traditional servers, PCs, etc. In fact, the Internet of Things has the potential to change activities in many fields. Market research organization IDC pointed out in 2015 that more than 50% of the activities of the Internet of Things are concentrated in manufacturing, transportation, smart cities and consumer applications. Within five years, all industries will launch initiatives to adopt the Internet of Things. Consulting company Gartner estimates that the number of global Internet of Things devices reached 8.4 billion in 2017, an increase of 30% over the past year, and by 2020, this number will be a market value of 20.4 billion.

It can be said that the combination of the Internet of Things and cloud computing has brought a lot of imagination to the industry. With the support of cloud computing technology, the Internet of Things has been given stronger working capabilities, and cloud computing provides a good storage space for the massive data generated by the Internet of Things. Cloud storage can use cluster applications, grid technology or distributed file systems and other functions to bring together a large number of different types of storage devices in the network through application software to work together and provide data storage and business access functions to the outside world; while the Internet of Things provides cloud computing with landing applications, enriches the application scenarios of cloud computing, can further promote the mining of data value, make data value further manifest, and promote the "instant burst" of industrial innovation.

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Trend 2: Further integration of blockchain and traditional finance

In 2017, the skyrocketing digital currency attracted a lot of attention. Although most people still have widespread doubts about its actual value, in fact, the application value of the blockchain technology behind digital currency has been widely recognized.

The payment mechanism and communication channels built by the blockchain allow users to conduct direct commercial transactions without the intervention of a third party. At the same time, the characteristics of the blockchain network itself allow it to support linear and permanent index records, which enables users to conduct global review or citation without any authorization.

Today, many experts at the forefront of the industry have begun to call for "people to own their own data" rather than traditional "centralization", which will greatly ensure security.

Experts predict that in 2018, blockchain technology will further integrate with traditional money and its potential in security will be further realized. The scalable, secure and easy-to-audit data platform it creates has even reached the security level used by national confidential organizations.

Because of this, 2018 will be a new starting point. As technologies mature and can leverage each other's technical advantages and features, the industry is fully capable of achieving major breakthroughs and starting to build a new ecosystem that can change the way people live, work and relax.

Trend 3: XaaS shows strong development potential

What is XaaS? Simply put, XaaS is a "legal" term that can effectively describe a new type of cloud service - this type of cloud service can use IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, and is flexibly delivered in one package. XaaS is not a new word. Like all words with -aaS, it also originated in the field of cloud computing. The author quotes this concept here, in addition to referring to various services at all levels based on cloud computing in the digital space, it also includes various services in the real world, such as equipment sharing and leasing, supply chain finance, business service outsourcing, and material hosting.

With XaaS, many traditional businesses can be cloudified, and traditional service delivery methods can be transferred to the cloud, providing enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, with all-round business support at all levels of information flow, capital flow, and logistics. In this regard, experts from Tus-GuoXin Enterprise Digitalization Research Center pointed out that several XaaS categories are becoming popular among medium-sized enterprises. The reason is that these services are either easy to outsource (UCaaS); or have become a requirement, provided that IT companies choose to operate their businesses in cloud services (MaaS); or are mature enough to bring benefits to organizations, such as Network as a Service (NaaS).