Let\u2019s dig for insights beyond the blindingly obvious. I talked to several tech leaders, deep-thinking individuals in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, asking them for their predictions, their idea of new trends, and disruptions in the tech industry. Let\u2019s see what catches their eye.<\/p>\n Gary Singh, VP of marketing, OnDot Systems<\/a>, believes that 2018 will be the year when mobile banking will transform into digital banking \u2014 which is more disruptive than one would expect. \u201cThe difference between digital and mobile banking is that mobile banking is informational. You get information about your accounts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Singh continues, \u201cBut in terms of digital banking, it’s really about actionable insights, about how do you basically use your funds in the most appropriate way to get the best value for your dollar or your pound in terms of how you want to use your monies. So that’s one big shift that we would see start to happen from mobile to digital.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom Burns, Senior Vice President of Dell EMC Networking<\/a>, has been following Software-Defined Wide Area Networks. SD-WAN is a technology that allows enterprise WANs to thrive over the public Internet, replacing expensive fixed-point connections provisioned by carriers using technologies like MPLS.<\/p>\n \u201cThe traditional way of connecting branches in office buildings and providing services to those particular branches is going to change,\u201d Burns observed. \u201c If you look at the traditional router, a proprietary architecture, dedicated lines. SD-WAN is offering a much lower cost but same level of service opportunity for customers to have that data center interconnectivity or branch connectivity providing some of the services, maybe a full even office in the box, but security services, segmentation services, at a much lower cost basis.\u201d<\/p>\n NetFoundry<\/a>\u2019s co-founder, Michael Hallett, sees a bright future for Application Specific Networks, which link applications directly to cloud or data center applications \u2013 with the focus on the application, not on the device. \u201cFor 2018, when you think of the enterprise and the way they have to be more agile, flexible and faster to move to markets, particularly going from what I would call channel marketing to, say, direct marketing, they are going to need application-specific networking technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n Hallett explains that Application Specific Networks offer the ability to be able to connect from an application, from a cloud, from a device, from a thing, to any application or other device or thing quickly and with agility. Indeed, those connections, which are created using software, not hardware, could be created \u201cwithin minutes, not within the weeks or months it might take, to bring up a very specific private network, being able to do that. So the year of 2018 will see enterprises move towards software-only networking.\u201d<\/p>\n Mansour Karam, CEO and founder of Apstra<\/a>, also sees software taking over the network: \u201cI really see massive software-driven automation as a major trend. We saw technologies like intent-based networking emerge in 2017, and in 2018, they’re going to go mainstream.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/tech-4.jpg\")
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