At the moment, it is difficult to predict exactly the way the global IT industry is heading. Analysts see persistent up and down trends in the demand for certain business solutions, creating a highly volatile climate based mostly on the rules of “chance.”

One thing is certain however: There are a lot of opportunities to leverage. It is just a matter of identifying them and knowing how to realize effective results from them.

In Malaysia, where the local IT market is regarded as a high-growth sector, entrepreneurs should know by now that they are in a good position to maximize their resources to attain better sales numbers. This is attested by the fact that the Malaysian IT market is currently worth around $10 billion with an average growth rate of around 7.1% until 2019, according to a BMI Research study. This implies that there is a strong demand for certain services and products as well as an increase in spending for most enterprise level solutions.

Right now, the growth of the Malaysian IT market depends heavily on three different technology drivers:

Mobile and cloud computing. In a 2012 article published in ZDNet, enterprises in Malaysia continue to invest in technology despite challenges brought on by global financial difficulties. Even until now, businesses are investing heavily in utilizing cost-effective innovations led by cloud computing and mobile optimization. The downside however is that the increased demand for cloud services has indicated an observable decline in data performance, implying a need for skilled manpower as well as better security solutions. Nonetheless, forward-thinking IT vendors can attain the best numbers for their cloud and mobile computing products once they get to bypass the initial challenges presented by data deluge.

Hardware. Hardware spending will also see a significant long run increase. This comes as Malaysian enterprises have noted consistent increases in their income generation as well as a reduction in connectivity costs. We can see then that these companies are highly capable of investing in hardware upgrades that will get them to attain optimal business efficiency.

Security. We cannot discount security from the list of highly important enterprise-level IT solutions. IT security is still as important as ever, and as businesses handle an increasing volume of data, they profess a crucial need for effective software and hardware notably in the areas of business continuity and disaster recovery. IT Business Edge has even noted that cybersecurity will be a top area for increased IT spending in 2015, so it will be a no-brainer for Malaysian entrepreneurs to invest in that area.

Competition with the IT industry can be challenging. In order to get ahead, IT firms should invest in IT lead generation and appointment setting.