Business Application Trends in 2022

I think everyone will agree when I say the last two years have changed the way we look at the world.

Businesses are no different. The way we conduct our business has turned upside down.

From remote work to online meetings, all aspects have gone virtual. It has opened up new avenues while creating new challenges.

So it is natural that business applications will follow the same pattern. It has forced us to come up with new options keeping with the changing realities. 

Business applications are now reflecting that. I think 2022 will be the year we will perfect a lot of the changes

The business trends I see coming this year are:

1. The Cloud

I think this is the year when we cloudify everything.

Cloud computing and remote work go hand-in-hand, and this business trend will continue into 2022. According to Gartner, the public cloud services market is expected to grow from $242.7 billion in 2019 to $306.9 billion by 2022.

With the boom in SaaS company growth & announcements that major tech companies are switching to primarily remote-based workforces, you can be sure that newer cloud computing advancements will be necessary to stay competitive.

2. Employee Trackers

COVID-19 caused many people to switch to remote work in 2021. As a result, there were new business trends with time tracking software use.

These trends are likely to prevail in 2022 and beyond, shaping the future of the remote work.

From attendance to identifying workday trends to accountability, the use of employee trackers will see continued growth this year.

According to a study by Robert Half, employers lose about 5 work hours a week due to various reasons.

3. Cybersecurity

The virtual world comes with the constant threat of security breaches. In 2022, we will see businesses putting a high emphasis on cybersecurity.

According to darkreading.com, businesses suffered 50% more cyberattack attempts per week in 2021.

While many large businesses suffered breaches, small and medium businesses were easier targets for hackers because of their lack of resources and security expertise.

Out of all the cybersecurity threats that small businesses face, 43% are targeted by cybercriminals. However, only 14% of small businesses are able to defend themselves in the event of an attack.

4. AI-Powered Chatbots

AI-enabled chatbots will become much more advanced in 2022 and beyond. I predict that they will be able to figure out what you want by parsing your natural language, looking at machine learning techniques, and retrieving data.

Marketers have had a lot of new challenges in recent years, and one of them is personalization. Businesses are using AI to give customers the information they're most interested in at any moment.

For instance, chatbots allow customers to get in touch with you on their own terms and help them find quicker & more efficiently what they're looking for.

5. Dark Mode Standardization

From a niche, the dark mode has gained popularity in recent years. 

Websites and apps are continuing to offer dark mode UIs because studies show that the majority of users prefer to use them.

Tomorrow, web developers will be able to switch between light and dark modes with a built-in feature. This will most likely become the most popular design in 2022 and onward. It may even become the default for all applications.

6. Voice navigation

People want things quickly and easily, we're always in a rush; we need nothing that's taken more than a few seconds to find and where you don't have to look too hard.

And this is where voice search comes in.

Over the past few years, most major companies (like Amazon, Google & Apple) have started developing voice recognition technology and smart speakers. This has made it important for businesses to make sure their sites are optimized for voice search.

Conclusion

This year and the future will be quite different than what we've been used to. We're settling down with what we thought were temporary changes as something more concrete. We'll see tremendous growth in the industry and the normalization of new trends, especially Cloud services and cybersecurity. Let's toast to our growth this year and to our good health