Enabling the business outcome in a ‘Real-Time' enterprise environment is the next challenge for global brands and government agencies in 2019.

Tech companies will need to drive hard to continually exceed to their customers' expectations during a time of accelerating change.

They will need to show how technology can help deliver on their customers' objectives, improve agility, security and impact, or they risk being disrupted.

Here is Verizon Enterprise Solution's view of those enterprise technology trends that are most likely to impact our global business and government customers in 2019.

1. The Real-Time Enterprise

Foundational technologies - software-defined networks, 4G, the Internet of Things, intelligent video, security, telematics - are already changing the operations of businesses.

In 2019, savvy CIOs will be focusing on how to reinvent their operations to leverage the enormous potential promised by disruptive technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence/machine learning, automation and robotics, augmented and virtual reality and the next-gen cloud including edge computing.

Many of these technologies have now moved from concept to reality, and those who can best leverage the advantages they bring will increasingly be well placed to win the future.

2. Businesses will invest in performance

CIOs are recognising that the network they use really matters to their business - a secure, strong network foundation enables them to deliver innovative platforms and solutions that will move their business forward.

Then, it's all about the service model and the tech surround that makes network-reliant applications available - the support, the professional services, service level agreements and more.

The key is to find an expert partner with the network expertise to help you deliver on your business objectives.

You cannot run a modern business without secure network capacity.

3. The customer is royalty

Customer experience (CX) has been a hot topic over recent years, but many of us have had personal experience of the big brands letting us down.

With AI infiltrating CX systems, there is an unprecedented opportunity to move to a principle of ‘personalisation for you', putting the customer back in the centre of the business opportunity.

The best organisations will use data to inform human engagement, remembering that it is human-focused engagement that creates real relationships.

The technology will be leveraged to do this at speed and scale.

4. The transaction guarantee

We have talked about software-defined networking (SDN) for a while, but it is now out there, live, and transforming business opportunities all around the globe, configured to match your cost and security requirements.

In 2019, organisational success will be driven by how well CIOs leverage the many options that SDN enables, delivering agility, flexibility, and scale to run their business.

It is now beyond application-aware networking, and instead, about focusing on the transaction guarantee, and defining policies to support the specific application, time or location needs that will make the difference.

5. Contextual privacy will be front and centre

There has never been a bigger focus on the importance of privacy, as data breaches continue to hit the headlines.

Application users are keenly interested in how their data is used.

In 2019, we will begin to see a focus on contextual privacy requirements, linked to location-based awareness.

This will change how organisations are able to approach their security and will impact their ability to keep personally identifying data safe.

6. Automation will transform the workforce

Robotic process automation and machine learning (ML) will transform how businesses operate - and what skills a business workforce needs.

In 2019, educators and businesses will focus on how to build a pool of data scientists and ML specialists to support our future “skills needs”, rather than yesterday's business requirements.

7. Back to basics on security (again) and a focus on specifics

In 2019, organisations will redouble their efforts to strengthen their security posture.

It is about understanding their risk environment, and ensuring they are doing the basics right to protect their business - practising IT hygiene to keep infrastructure current to protect against vulnerabilities continues to be critical.

Network-level security is essential - in a software-defined world, network segmentation and security is a central part of the design.

They will also increasingly need visibility on data to drive insights and ultimately to make decisions on how to mitigate against specific security threats. But, action will be taken - or the board or the customer will ask why.

“Our customers are seeking new approaches to gaining immediate insights into their operations and the customer - The  ‘Real-Time Enterprise' is definitely where they want to be, whatever the stage of their journey, and wherever they are located around the globe,” says Verizon enterprise solutions president George Fischer.

“It's no longer about digital transformation – that's a given and is accelerating, driving the need for real-time insights. It's about how they can build and manage digital to change their business opportunity moving forwards.