Netwrix, a vendor of information security and governance software, announced the release of the Netwrix IT Trends 2020 report, which summarizes feedback from 1045 IT professionals worldwide about the projects they are planning for the upcoming year. Data security and automation were the top two planned IT projects for 2020, while artificial intelligence (AI) projects didn't make the list's top 10.

The online survey, conducted in October 2019, asked respondents to name their top five IT projects for the next year; they could pick from a predefined list or specify their own descriptions. The survey found no dramatic difference in IT priorities among organizations based on size or vertical. The key findings include:

74% of organizations named data security as their top IT priority for 2020

54% of respondents plan to focus on automating manual tasks

43% of organizations ranked data privacy among their top five priorities; 52% of them are subject to privacy regulations

33% of organizations intend to focus on digital transformation, integrating their existing solutions and performing cloud migrations. These goals were mostly cited by larger organizations with more than 5,000 employees

20% of organizations plan to focus on addressing the IT skills shortage either through education of existing IT personnel or talent acquisition

AI was included in the predefined list of choices but didn't make it into top 10 IT trends selected. Only 14% of large organizations (10,000–50,000 employees) plan to deploy AI-based solutions in 2020

"Not surprisingly, data security is a top priority for the majority of organizations. There are several factors that go into a successful data security process. The first is automating current processes to free up time for data security projects. Another is to research and deploy a data security solution. Be sure your solution offers automated data classification, because it is the optimal way to enhance data security and reduce your attack surface without additional effort by the IT team," said Steve Dickson, CEO of Netwrix.

"Infrastructure, operations, networking and security are the foundation upon which the technology-enabled world is built. It must deliver value at each layer as it ultimately supports people."
— Gartner, "Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020" by David Cearley, et al, 21 October 2019.