A new study from B2B sales outsourcing company, inside global, reveals data around search patterns, and what we can expect to see from technology in business in the year ahead.

Technology is advancing at breakneck speed. Keeping pace with the latest trends is far from easy. As emerging technologies like blockchain evolve, our curiosity about them also increases.

Where Business Meets Tech

Few businesses can exist in the modern world without technology. Computerised systems help businesses across all industries run a multitude of functions quicker and more efficiently than ever before.

From helping businesses stay organised through applications like data storage and digital file sharing, technology is vital for accuracy, data security and maintaining up-to-date records.

Biggest Business Tech Trends for 2023

We have never been so driven to keep abreast with the latest tech trends. Technology shapes every part of our lives and particularly in business. Staying focused on the future can bring advantages in employment, health, education and more.

But what are people around the world searching around the topic of technology, and what are the biggest tech trends for 2023 according to Google?

We used Google Trends* to reflect searches people make on Google every day around the topic of tech and business. Results are scaled on a range of 0 to 100 based on a topic’s proportion to all searches on all topics, 0 being the lowest and 100 the highest.

Here are the top business-specific topics people were searching for in 2022 according to Google Trends:

1. Blockchain

Approximately double the number of people searched for information around blockchain than the second-most searched subject, according to Google Trends.

Searches around this hot topic peaked at the maximum 100 in the week starting January 30, 2022, and remained above 90 for six weeks of the year but dipped to 42 around Christmas week.

In basic terms, blockchain is data you can only add to. You can’t change it or take away from it, hence a ‘chain’ of data. No one entity controls the data, and you don’t need a bank or third party to validate transactions. This offers a new level of data security and transparency not seen before.

Where previously data was stored in the cloud, blockchain decentralizes data storage, encrypts that data and provides innovative ways to access it.

Further advancements in blockchain technology are expected in 2023 as companies create more decentralized products and services such as concert tickets using non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

2. SaaS

Software as a Service has been around since the early 2000s and was the second-highest searched subject on our list according to Google Trends.

SaaS reached its highest search result of 54 on two occasions in April and July and remained at 50 or above for 13 weeks of the year, suggesting the topic was consistently searched.

First-generation SaaS was designed to solve specific business problems and was pretty inflexible. It has evolved dramatically, and today’s cloud-based SaaS is used in a multitude of industries and sectors including finance, human resources, marketing and sales which is part of its appeal.

3. Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is still a popular resource and came third on our list of tech trends for 2023 according to Google.

It rose above 30 twice in the year in weeks starting February 13th and October 16th and remained above 20 in the other 50 weeks of the year.

Cloud computing provides access to a host of computer resources and data storage via the internet managed by a cloud service provider. Among the advantages of cloud computing are lower IT costs, better scalability and quicker response times than traditional IT methods.

4. Quantum Computing

Quantum computing represents a significant leap in technology and was the fourth-highest searched subject on our list of tech trends for 2023 according to Google.

Though quantum computing searches recorded only single-figure scores for all 52 weeks of 2022, it is likely to become a more heavily searched topic in the future as product developments advance.

Quantum computing uses subatomic particles to create new methods for storing and processing data and information. One day, it could produce computer processors that work millions of times quicker than those available today.