IT services and solutions firm UXC says 2014 will be remembered as the year of disruption, a pivotal year of change in the ever-evolving IT business model. 

UXC is the largest Australian-owned ICT consultancy firm, and services medium to large entities in the private and public sectors across Australia and New Zealand.

Sean Mathieson, executive GM, Emerging Solutions - Strategic Opportunities, UXC, says everything shifted in 2014. “It was the year when organisations could no longer ignore the inevitable or stand still in the face of it,” he says.

“The advancement of enablement technologies, such as the cloud, made this disruption a disturbance. Organisations will need to be faster and more agile in the face of this disruption in 2015.”

UXC says there are several disruptive technologies that are now disturbing ill-prepared organisations.

“In a year of ‘get fast or get going', IT departments found their control over business intelligence platforms, tools and applications slipping away,” the company says. “This was often due to IT's inability to operate at the increased pace of the business.

A new class of user is demanding more user-friendly, self-service features placing constant pressure on expensive and scarce IT resources.

In 2014, digital increasingly became a major business imperative and IT teams struggle to keep up with the need for greater levels of process and data innovation.

“Adopt the cloud more broadly and you'll find value increases while challenges decline,” UXC says. “This is why an upsurge in the adoption of cloud technology was the single biggest change within IT in 2014.

As engagement has become more dynamic, UXC says it is essential for businesses to become more effective and efficient, which leads to maturing attitudes around cloud adoption.

“The numerous benefits already realised by a large number of organisations included greater scalability, faster access to infrastructure and an increased level of employee collaboration, to name a few,” it says.

However, while many businesses have cloud strategies, the benefits of the cloud were limited by the time it takes to rewrite traditional applications. “Any CEO's accepting this or any form of old model technology will be under increasing pressure in 2015.”

Further, UXC says “mobile applications on steroids became a focus in 2014 as mobility revealed potential on a grander scale.

“It will develop further in 2015 but this year brought acknowledgement and acceptance of the need for an aggressively agile infrastructure. Business no longer has the opportunity to wait and see.

There is acute pressure to keep up value adding, faster and faster again. “Consumers are influenced by a positive digital experience and this year it became clear that impressions of brand, product and service will be created through digital engagement.

“A mobile-first approach will need a system of engagement that can keep up with customer needs. Mostly, genuine commitment to the pace of change will be required.

UXC says the threat to cyber security has reached an unprecedented level and the need for increased business security around technology has seen the rise of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or Head of Data Security.

“What was once a fairly insignificant role in the IT department has moved into the spotlight,” the company says.  “Of course many still face significant resistance from colleagues to enforced security measures but internet and mobile technology's central role in business has changed the landscape forever.