Publisher Len Rust
Whatever your challenges are today, you can be certain they will be even greater tomorrow. The most successful organisations of the future will be those that overflow with new ideas and imaginative ways to foster and embrace innovation.
The world of Information Technology is experiencing the biggest revolution for decades. Cloud computing is the most revolutionary trend in storage and software delivery in years. Several analysts have now put the Cloud, Mobile, Social and Big Data on centre stage in their 2012 predictions.
“The adoption of new smart devices and sophisticated web services in the consumer market is accelerating, extending the gap between user expectations and the services being delivered by corporate IT” says Tim Jennings Ovum’s Chief Analyst for Enterprise IT.
Over the past few months I’ve talked with countless VARs, MSPs and other solution providers and I can tell you first hand this is an industry in motion! As technologies and markets evolve, solution providers are carving out their own unique market segments, areas of specialization and core competencies in order to compete and grow their businesses. The variety of strategies and business models are impressive and it seems that most of them tend to differentiate themselves along four (4) primary lines: Vertical Markets, Solution Technologies, IT Business Models and Geographic Markets.
Social Technologies opportunities are going to be huge and will continue to affect every part of our lives and just about every company to which we inter-relate. What others recommend, the reviews we read, what our friends do, what special discounts are offered will all become common place.
Cloud computing remains as a game-changing development and IT/CIOs are reinforcing to senior management that as markets mature, cloud computing is not just about technology, but about business activities and the processes that their operations depend on and that the cloud computing investment will transform their ICT systems, reduce costs and create a flexible business process adjustable to changing management policies.
Advances in information technology will also drive our economy – both directly (the IT sector itself) and indirectly (all other sectors) that are “powered” by advances in technology. The processes by which advances in information technology enable productivity growth enable the economy to run at full capacity, enable goods and services to be allocated more efficiently and enable the production of higher quality goods and services. It is impossible to imagine a field with greater opportunity to change the world and its practices.
