The New Mainstream in Business Technologies
Posted by | December 27, 2011
While developing a perspective on future trends is always a tricky business, there are few moments when the direction of things seems obvious, such as with the development of the Internet. The convergence of mobile computing, social media and cloud computing is perhaps another of these defining moments when you consider the potentially limitless opportunities this combination can create.
New mobile technologies are being developed at an accelerating pace. By any measure—skyrocketing quantity of data, number and utility of apps, and proliferation of Internet-connected devices—the numbers clearly indicate this technology is rapidly evolving and being widely adopted.
Social media is also evolving. New business models are being introduced to address the exponential growth of social media as new tools and networks are being adopted across a wide range of demographic users. And we are seeing a real adoption curve within businesses attempting to harness the power of such networks.
Cloud computing is changing rapidly as well. In fact, some investors believe that cloud computing will be the leading technology growth sector for the next three years. Although data loss and security remain risks, there are many advantages to a cloud strategy including remote access, cost-savings, and organizational benefits. It’s predicted that by 2014, revenue for cloud services will reach almost $150 billion.
With these rapid changes and adoption curves, we can expect to witness myriad points of intersection that will occur amongst these three areas as they converge. According to IDC in a report predicting technology trends in 2011, “a select group of disruptive technologies—cloud, mobile devices and apps, broadband connectivity, social networking, and analytics—will move beyond ‘early adopter’ status, maturing and coalescing into a ‘new mainstream’ platform for growth both for the IT industry itself and for the industries it serves.” Our partner company, ThingWorx, is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the proliferation of mobile, social, cloud technology through their platform that enables constantly connected devices.
Further confirmation of such trends is evident in the manner in which technology organizations are now advising businesses to remain agile in their security strategies and implementations related to cloud computing and mobile platforms. Rapid innovation will pose substantial opportunities to improve current practices.
