It’s 2026! The turkey is all gone, sprouts just a faint aroma and it’s time to look at what’s coming up in the new year!
2026 is shaping up to be less about chasing shiny new tools and more about using technology in smarter, more practical ways. The biggest shift isn’t a single product or platform, but how IT quietly embeds itself into everyday work, helping teams operate with efficiency and resilience.
One of the most likely significant changes, is the maturation of AI. Artificial intelligence is no longer something businesses “try out”. It becomes part of the tools people already use every day. Email, documents, CRMs and finance systems increasingly include built-in intelligence that can summarise information, suggest next steps, automate routine tasks, and even carry out simple actions on your behalf. For small businesses, this means less time spent on admin and more time focused on customers, sales, and delivery.
Alongside this, cybersecurity continues to rise up the agenda. As cyber threats become more automated and sophisticated, small businesses can no longer rely on basic protection alone. In 2026, security is increasingly baked into IT services by default, covering identity protection, backups, device management and monitoring as standard. With growing regulatory pressure and customer expectations around data protection, good security becomes a business enabler rather than a technical afterthought.
Cloud technology also continues to evolve. Collaboration tools are becoming more intelligent, offering better search, automatic meeting summaries, and clearer visibility of work in progress. For small businesses with flexible or distributed teams, this makes it easier to stay productive without relying on long email chains or constant meetings. VMhosts have some exciting developments in the pipeline for our cloud platform so keep your eyes open for that! Of course, we have already mentioned the M365 changes (and price rises) which are on the cards.
VMhosts also have a new, all-encompassing IT service in the works which will be brought to market very soon. This will be the plan to be on for any business looking to drive their systems forward. Whilst we can’t say much more yet, it is something else to be excited for!