The coming year will not be a sure-fire success, but there will certainly be opportunities for companies in this industry, according to the manufacturer. These lie in particular in technological advances and high energy costs.
On this basis, Thomas-Krenn.AG has identified five IT trends for the year 2024.

Trend 1 - Cloud exit

The generally questionable total cost of ownership (TCO) as well as non-transparent and complex pricing models, especially among large hyperscalers, mean that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular are not benefiting from the cloud as hoped. In addition, there are still data protection concerns with regard to US providers. As a result, the number of exit scenarios from pure cloud to hybrid environments has already increased in 2023. This trend, which began with the strong growth in HCI solutions, will gain further momentum among SMEs in 2024. This is all the more true as such hybrid clouds can certainly tap into the potential of artificial intelligence (AI).

Trend 2 - Hardware costs

Although current forecasts predict a certain economic recovery in 2024, this will be of a manageable size and will only occur over the course of the year. At the same time, 2024 will see another wave of modernization after the equipment peak during the Covid pandemic; in addition, support for Windows Server 2019, among others, will end. Companies will therefore show a willingness to invest, but will pay even more attention to the costs of hardware procurement. This applies equally to servers, storage including unified systems and clients.

Trend 3 - Energy efficiency

What has been true since the beginning of the current geopolitical crises will continue to be one of the key issues in 2024 - energy. This applies to both gas and electricity. The wave of modernization in IT expected in 2024 will certainly give companies the opportunity to make progress. Among other things, optimized processors and new players in this field will ensure this. Correspondingly economical systems will be particularly in demand, as they not only reduce costs, but also meet the ever more stringent legal requirements, keyword "ESG".

Trend 4 - Edge computing

Far from being a new phenomenon, edge computing may become significantly more important in 2024. One reason for this lies in the measures surrounding cloud exit and hybrid scenarios; companies that initiate changes here will increasingly take these to the edge. Energy efficiency is also a driving element. In particular, the increasing digitization efforts will play a central role in helping the edge approach become even more widespread.

Trend 5 - Collaboration

Collaboration has not only changed within companies since the coronavirus pandemic, but also beyond company boundaries. Agile low-code systems and the desire for more digitalization play a role here. In addition, the number of system houses will continue to consolidate in 2024; the remaining ones will become larger and offer more services. If cooperation is established, it will therefore be closer and more intensive, covering a broad spectrum: Manufacturers and system houses will take on the role of trusted advisors more than ever before.

Christoph Maier, CEO of Thomas-Krenn.AG, explains: "Perhaps it is surprising at first glance that AI is not one of the trending topics of 2024. For us, this is not because it is not relevant, quite the opposite. As a trend, AI is both dominant and diffuse. It is also a toolbox; there is no one AI. We therefore see other trends that often use AI or can contribute to safe, legally compliant, efficient provision. In our view, ecology and economy are central to this, and with less cloud contribution. In many cases, these will be evolutionary steps, even against the backdrop of the recession. Once again, the same will apply: Those who make the right decisions will emerge as winners."