Compared to other sectors of the IT industry, such as software development and cybersecurity, change occurs less frequently in IT operations. It's rare to see true disruption in the way IT teams work.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't expect any new IT operations trends in 2024. On the contrary, there are several developments that will likely impact – if not reshape – ITOps over the next 12 months.
This article evaluates them by discussing six key predictions for IT operations in 2024.
1. The growing need to support hybrid workers
It turns out that fully remote work is not here to stay, despite predictions to the contrary in recent years. The vast majority of workers face mandates for Back to the office – But not necessarily full-time. Many organizations with return-to-office policies still allow employees to work from home one or two days a week.
For IT operations teams, this means just that Delivering a great hybrid working experience – And taking care of the unique protectionreliability and other challenges of remote work – will be a priority in 2024. Many IT departments are already familiar with these requirements because they have fully supported remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. But always-on hybrid working changes the norm a bit by requiring IT departments to deliver an excellent, consistent experience for employees wherever they are. This is different from supporting fully remote workers.
2. Invest in employee experience
Providing a better employee experience has become a key focus While companies struggle to keep employees engagedIT operations teams are a key part of the solution. After all, most employees rely heavily on digital services, and the quality of these services depends largely on how IT departments design, implement and support these services.
For this reason, we expect IT architects to face greater pressure to improve employee experience in 2024. More IT departments will be required to track metrics related to employee experience and engagement and prioritize internal customers just as much as external customers.
3. IT departments are abandoning VPNs
For decades, virtual private network (VPN) technology has been the go-to solution for IT operations teams that need to connect to firewalled resources from remote locations.
However, as 2024 approaches, it seems that the days of a traditional VPN are numbered. VPNs are cumbersome for users, who sometimes find it difficult to configure them on their devices. It's also not very effective for securing applications that aren't hosted in-house by companies, which means most applications today. It can degrade network performance.
For all these reasons, expect 2024 to be the year IT departments start replacing VPNs with alternative methods of remote connection, such as Access a zero trust network (Our adultery). VPNs will continue to exist, but they will no longer be the primary solution for connecting remote users to firewalled resources.
4. The impact of generative AI on IT is fully visible, but remains limited
The past year has brought us no end of expectations about the extent to which AI can generate AI Transforming IT operations, along with almost every other aspect of business. 2024 is expected to be the year when generative AI solutions for IT operations enjoy full adoption.
However, don't expect generative AI to revolutionize ITOps over the next year. AI can help IT teams with tasks like summarizing tickets and communicating with users, but it can't automate many of the tasks that fill a typical IT engineer's day.
In short, expect to see more AI-powered ITOps tools in 2024, but don't expect them to be true game-changers.
5. IT engineers become programmers
Speaking of generative AI, one of the ways it has impacted the IT industry on a large scale is by making it easier to create code, even for people who lack extensive programming experience.
I predict that in 2024, this capability will increase the pressure on IT operations engineers to code. Learn programming languages It has long been a way to increase one's value as an IT engineer, and now that AI has lowered the barrier of entry to programming, the ability to produce at least basic code, even if most of it is generated by AI, will become more important. Fundamental to the way IT operations teams work.
6. More IT tools and skills to learn
Traditionally, IT teams have typically had to master a limited set of technologies – whatever tools and platforms their business chooses to use.
But this has changed as more companies deploy workloads across multiple clouds using complex and diverse technology stacks. In 2024 and beyond, IT engineers should expect increased pressure to be able to work with whatever technologies are thrown at them.
Meeting this challenge will require focusing on learning basic IT skills, rather than gaining experience using specific tools. Engineers will need to learn, for example, how to work with it Infrastructure as code In general, rather than mastering a specific tool like Terraform. Likewise, they will need to learn about all public cloud platforms, not learning Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP) alone.
Conclusion: IT trends to watch in 2024
At a high level, 2024 will likely mean business as usual for IT operations teams. But IT engineers should expect small changes, such as an increased focus on employee experience, more expectations for writing code — with the help of AI, when necessary — and demand for more diverse IT skill sets.
Which of these ITOps predictions will impact your IT operations team the most this year? Sound off below.
About the author
Christopher Tozzi is a technical analyst with subject matter expertise in cloud computing, application development, open source software, virtualization, containers, and more. He also lectures at a major university in the Albany, New York area. His book For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution is published by MIT Press.
