By Mark Howell, Owner/Operator
Darke Cloud Solutions, LLC

GREENVILLE — Many Greenville businesses will embrace automation to become more efficient in 2022, according to a local technology expert.

Mark Howell, of IT support company Darke Cloud Solutions also predicts the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will grow next year. And he believes hybrid working will become critical to employees.

“We’ve seen technology evolve at incredible speed in the last two years, driven by the pandemic,” Howell said.

“2022 isn’t going to be any different. The speed of technology change has huge momentum now. As business leaders our options are to embrace the change and transform our businesses, or get left behind. That sounds dramatic, but things really are changing that fast,” added Howell.

Howell’s three technology predictions for 2022 are based on watching developing trends over the last few years.

“Automation is going to be the biggest thing next year,” he said. “It’s now possible to make most software talk to most other software. And that makes it easier to automate repetitive tasks. Any time a human has to repeat a task, you can find a way to get software to automate it for you.

“I also believe AI will be embraced by more businesses. Artificial Intelligence is no longer just for big businesses. It’s being used within software available to businesses of all sizes. Many are benefiting from AI already without being aware of it,” said Howell.

“My final prediction is that work from home will continue to be the ‘new normal.’ It’s not going away. Hybrid working is here to stay. And increasingly employees will demand it as a standard part of their working conditions.”

Outside of business technology, Mark also expects to see a leap next year in voice search, such as using Alexa to get answers, as well as big improvements in battery tech, driven by phones and the speed of electric vehicle development.

Darke Cloud Solutions was formed in 2014 and specializes in supporting local businesses in the Greenville area. For further information, go to www.darkecloud.com.