Splunk has released four 2023 Predictions reports detailing how a convergence of trends and technologies will reshape business resilience in the year ahead. The report editions identify trends across four key areas: Leadership Trends and Emerging Technologies, Data Security, IT and Observability, and Public Sector.
“Organisations worldwide are navigating increasingly complex environments composed of advanced cyber threats, macro-economic turbulence and talent gaps,” said Patrick Coughlin, Vice President of GTM Strategy and Specialization, Splunk. “A focus on value, opportunity, and business resilience in 2023 will help teams continue to innovate, evolve, and succeed. The technologies that matter in protecting cyber resilience are converging, and the organisational structure and siloes are coming together. Data has been converging for a decade and we are entering the golden age in how we think about cybersecurity and talent resources.”
The 2023 Predictions feature insights from several Splunk senior leaders and technology experts on the present and future technological and economic landscape:
Leadership Trends and Emerging Technologies Report
Resilience is the new value focus, and strategic organisations are elevating leadership and converging data and tools around it. Organisations are making an effort to modernise, simplify, and reduce costs while trying to increase visibility of their environment. Those who drive to a common set of tools and data, including a convergence of security and observability data, will achieve more holistic resilience.
Economic uncertainty kills the appetite for experimentation. Vendors and visionaries will have to lead with value. In this economic environment, organisations need to be nimbler, with more incremental funding, and a sharp focus on results. Looking into the next year, organisations can expect the value focus to centre on digital experience and direct improvements for serving customers.
Data Security Report
Ransomware actors will skip encryption and move straight to cyber extortion. As ransomware gangs continue to diversify their portfolios for the most lucrative impact, they will opt to avoid locking systems and focus on infiltrating sensitive IP or customer data that could lead to companies quietly paying ransomware demands.
Enterprise misinformation attacks are going to ramp up into a really big problem. Enterprise misinformation is evolving beyond CEO gift card scams into new forms of digital risks. In 2023, enterprise social media account takeovers, CEO deep fakes, and memestocks could create consternation in the public and private markets.
Public Sector Report
Ransomware attacks will get more professionalised and only keep on coming, especially against K-12 schools. The barrage of ransomware attacks hasn’t ceased and educational organisations are especially at risk, with K-12 schools being the most common target for ransomware attacks. While basic cybersecurity practices will stop many attacks, no organisation can count on stopping all of them.
To address the talent shortage, public sector organisations will rely on clever short-term strategies ahead of long-term solutions. Public sector organisations can plan ahead for talent shortages by anticipating short employee retention spans and building expected departures into hiring plans. Public sector organisations will increasingly partner with their vendors to get more out of their existing investments to cope with talent fluctuations.
IT and Observability Report
Observability will be the new face of digital transformation – and digital experience. Observability is now a core competency and essential for driving digital transformation. The complexity of greater, faster digital transformation is a challenge for most organisations and the tools that manage that complexity will become even more important.
When observability is table stakes, automation will be the next differentiator. Between the increasing complexity of systems and the shortage of tech talent, organisations will need a much greater reliance on automation just to keep up. Making automation smarter is the next big leap and will include a range of tasks from alerts and responses to system outages and cyberattacks, to effectively onboarding new talent.