IT Trends of 2019 Quiz: Are You Up to Date?

Are you ready to tackle the top IT trends of 2019? Test your knowledge and discover the key concepts driving the IT industry forward this year.

The IT landscape is constantly evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for IT professionals. From the rise of serverless architectures to the growing tech skills gap, 2019 has brought significant changes to the world of information technology.

Today’s applications are no longer monolithic; they are composed of interconnected components that can scale independently, creating a more efficient and flexible environment. However, this shift is not limited to applications alone. Infrastructure, automation, code delivery, and virtualization have all undergone transformations, with innovations like infrastructure as code, AIOps tools, automated CI/CD pipelines, and the widespread adoption of container technology.

Leading research firm Gartner has identified ten pivotal concepts and trends that are shaping the IT landscape in 2019. This quiz will test your knowledge of these trends, helping you stay informed and prepared for the ever-changing world of IT.

Question 1

What makes IT environments more heterogeneous than ever before?

A. Proliferation of platform choice
B. Multi-tenant infrastructure
C. Energy-saving initiatives
D. Digital pu pu platter

Answer

A. Proliferation of platform choice

Explanation

Digital diversity escapes the confines of owned data centers in favor of a mix of SaaS models and cloud platforms — but the data center isn’t dead yet. The wealth of options has many benefits for IT organizations but also presents new risks and additional costs. For example, insufficient visibility into the environment can lead to sprawl and resource waste.

Question 2

What technologies are usurping the traditional data center?

A. Cloud platforms
B. Edge computing
C. Colocation
D. All of the above

Answer

D. All of the above

Explanation

The data center is no longer the standard computing environment for IT organizations — it’s one option among many. The public cloud and as-a-service software, platforms and tools enable organizations to downsize their physical hardware and save on maintenance overhead. Yet, analysts predict that the data center will never truly die but rather shift into a smaller, more flexible setup.

Question 3

How will the emerging IT trend of serverless computing interact with VMs and container deployments in 2019?

A. It will eventually replace them.
B. It’s an additional hosting option.
C. It will host containers and VMs.
D. It will become a platform buffet.

Answer

B. It’s an additional hosting option.

Explanation

Serverless computing is a relatively new application hosting method that removes resource management responsibility from an IT organization. While it opens the door to a lot of flexibility in terms of application scale and performance, serverless is only compatible with specific types of workloads and does not offer the stability or broad range of use cases that containers and VMs provide.

Question 4

How does edge computing improve application performance?

A. Lower data transmission volume
B. Easier to monitor
C. Data center elimination
D. All of the above

Answer

A. Lower data transmission volume

Explanation

Edge computing is common in IoT operations because it distributes the data center into small setups close to the data generation source, so data travels less distance over a network. Only the results of processed data are transferred back to a centralized data center, a setup that greatly reduces network traffic and latency. However, because edge computing distributes resources and decentralizes data processing, monitoring grows more complex and requires more experience and expertise for IT teams to master.

Question 5

SaaS increases the physical IT environment’s complexity and risk.

A. True
B. False

Answer

A. True

Explanation

SaaS applications reduce the resources IT organizations need to maintain in their environments, as well as the responsibility of ownership for tools and business software, and necessary infrastructure. However, the lack of visibility into SaaS applications makes factors such as compliance significantly more difficult to monitor, and leaving security to an outside body can be risky.

Question 6

What does the enterprise network team need to keep up with changing application workloads and configurations?

A. A strong automation strategy
B. Additional bandwidth
C. A strong cup of coffee
D. Extra security measures

Answer

A. A strong automation strategy

Explanation

While security should always be a high-level priority for IT organizations and no IT team would turn down additional bandwidth — or coffee — enterprise networks must be as automated as possible to adapt to rapid iterations and shifts in business workloads. Analytics capabilities, device discovery and provisioning are all prime areas for automation to improve network agility and scalability.

Question 7

What areas of IT can AIOps tools improve?

A. Application monitoring
B. Systems maintenance
C. Root cause analysis
D. All of the above

Answer

D. All of the above

Explanation

AI and machine learning are integrated into more and more tools and application components leading up to 2019, but the drive to improve quality and capabilities hasn’t stopped. AIOps tools have popped up in almost every aspect of IT environment management. As an IT trend in 2019, AIOps will factor into monitoring tools, CI/CD, root cause analysis and log management, as well as help desks and other facets of IT operations.

Question 8

Global IT coverage is simple in the age of high-speed communications and cloud.

A. True
B. False

Answer

B. False

Explanation

Global IT partnerships with other organizations can be a competitive advantage for businesses, but they can also be a significant liability. If the partner fails or flounders it can negatively affect — or even damage — your organization. Think beyond service providers, examine those relationships and elevate expectations for the best possibility of success.

Question 9

How should organizations address the skills gap and transition with emerging IT trends and technologies?

A. Hire and fire IT staff frequently to add experience
B. Complain on social media
C. Avoid change as long as possible
D. Retrain IT staff

Answer

D. Retrain IT staff

Explanation

The rate of technological change is difficult to match, especially for traditional IT admins whose roles have been at least partially deprecated by containers, cloud, automation and other changes in IT. Dedicate resources toward retraining staff to take on distributed application architectures, cloud operations and data aggregation.

Question 10

How will the skills gap change in 2019?

A. It will shrink.
B. It will grow.
C. It will get braces.

Answer

B. It will grow.

Explanation

Technology is changing at such a rate that it would be impossible for schools to adequately prepare hopeful IT admins and engineers to hit the ground running, and for admins who’ve worked in IT for 10 years, bridging that skills gap is an additional challenge. Cross-training and knowledge sharing are key to success in 2019, but don’t be afraid to add new talent to the IT team where needed.