A new year has come, and we are excited to meet what it will bring us. Of course, we cannot divine what the future will be like. But we can discuss the most widely spread tendencies that will take place in 2022 as we did in the past years. Let’s stick to our nice tradition this year and figure out which trends will flourish in 2022.
SaaS Will Strengthen Its Presence
Statistics show that nearly ⅔ of employees in software companies still work from home. The situation is true to life for many other spheres. SaaS (software-as-a-service) has become an efficient response to the pandemic, and in 2022 it is not going to climb down. I would say last year was a breakthrough for SaaS products. Very few people believed that this work-from-home period would be a success, but still, it is! In 2022, vendors are going to support such a work culture, and more SaaS products will appear. Definitely, the most widely spread SaaS products that we used last year will gain new features. They will become more customizable as first of all they are concentrated on their customers, their very special needs, and great user experience. SaaS tools will have more integration capabilities as many customers faced the following problem: they already had a business system, and they didn’t know how to integrate with a new tool. Deep centralized analytics will become a part of any SaaS product. Data and statistics streamline business processes and show soft spots defining where to go next. We have a post that gives quite vivid examples of how helpful SaaS is and which business problems in technical writing it may solve - How SaaS will Save Your Future.
Easy, Quick, and Safe Data Sharing
Data sharing is often a way to solve business challenges and meet enterprise goals. Companies that have a data-sharing culture are believed to perform better than their competitors in a wide range of metrics. Last year, we all faced a great problem: we needed to share data within our companies and with external teams, but some businesses were not ready for that. Besides, we had to keep in mind that some information was sensitive, and we still needed to protect it. That was a real challenge. To make the right decisions and be compliant with guidelines and regulations, employees must have quick access to data. Businesses have already started to search for trustworthy data-sharing solutions and prepare a data-sharing environment.
I cannot help mentioning the ClickHelp technical writing platform that is eager to keep up with the latest trends and gives companies the ability to share information through technical documentation. With the help of our tool, you can create:
- Public documentation - it is available to as many people as possible.
- Restricted documentation - only particular users or groups of users can access it.
- Password-protected documentation - users can access it only if they have credentials.
Read our post Should You Restrict Access to Your Online User Guides?
Further Development of Video Conferencing Tools
Video conferencing tools rapidly became a must-have for the majority of businesses and industries during the pandemic. In 2021, we saw that this market expanded drastically. In a very short period of time, video conferencing tools acquired new features, and next year, we’ll see even more. Video conferencing tools can help us organize any type of online meeting: from 1:1 to huge international meetings. These tools allow hiring talents all over the globe without being tied to a particular location. Teammates can be spread around the world but be united by a digital workplace. That is far more productive than a traditional way of cooperation. Moreover, video conferencing is used to get in touch with customers, increase their engagement, enhance brand awareness, and even boost marketing activities. A very promising market, I should say. For technical writers, the use of video conferencing tools became a game-changer. Just think of communication with SME, and you’ll understand everything. Not all the details can be discussed via emails.
AI to Support Cyber Security
Cyberattacks become bigger and more complex every year. There is a huge demand for high-quality protection. That is why artificial intelligence (AI) is now widely used for information security. AI is able to learn, so with time, it recognizes the typical patterns of a company’s network. AI can analyze millions of data sets, and of course, detect various cyber threats and malicious activities even if they look like normal activities. Moreover, AI can analyze traffic and distinguish between “good” bots, “bad” bots, and humans. In 2022, companies will go on using AI for cyber security to automate the work of cyber security teams and let them be ahead of threats. This industry is going to gain even more popularity in the future.
Automation of Business Processes
Thousands of companies spend time and money to automate routine tasks. In 2022, we’ll see another outbreak here. About 80% of companies are reported to increase automation financing. But now, it means not just getting rid of repetitive tasks, it is a way to improve satisfaction among employees. They have more time for high-value and creative tasks. Employee satisfaction affects customer satisfaction as they appreciate personalized service but not script-based answers. Another benefit of automation is the increased speed of business processes which allows a company to be ahead of the field. Automation can be implemented anywhere: from chatbots for customers to automated lead generation. The main idea here is that these are not separate things, these are pieces of the same picture.
5G Is Everywhere
The demand for high-speed Internet is increasing, and last year showed that we badly need it. Nothing could be done without an Internet connection: you can’t study, work, buy food, and do the simplest everyday tasks without it. In 2022, 5G will become one of the most desired technologies. It is going to attract a lot of investments, and it will definitely, change our lives for the better. It is the fastest Internet connection we’ve seen. It means it will increase our productivity and contribute to an amazing user experience. Apart from that, higher speed will have a positive effect on our everyday life.
Technical Writing Will Boom
We see that technology is developing very rapidly, and there should be someone who could build technical documentation for customers and even for internal users. In 2022, the technical writing field will boom. More and more user guides will be written. New standards will appear. All that means that more people will choose technical writing as a career, and they will need to prepare for a shift like that. Our post 11 Skills of a Good Technical Writer might be helpful.
As for technical writing tools, they will be in great demand. Vendors will elaborate their features to comfort the technical writing process and make them more customizable. In 2021, ClickHelp, as a vendor of a technical writing platform, had a major release: now we have a translation module for those who want to create a multi-language documentation site or to easily manage translations. For more information, see the Translation Management page. In 2022, ClickHelp is going to follow the trends and is ready for new changes to support technical writers all over the world.
Conclusion
Probably, the year 2022 will be as hard as last year. But we all should remember that hard times give us the ability to develop and grow. Technology has already made a big step forward. Technical writing keeps pace with it. With the right tools at hand, you’ll cope with anything.
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices