Big data analytics, security and cloud computing will be
three of the most significant drivers of technological change in 2012. The
predictions for the coming year also include the growing impact of social
networking platforms on enterprise collaboration strategies, convergence of
selected software-as-a-service (SaaS) CRM and marketing services, and the
consumerisation of IT, which looks likely to accelerate the adoption of
self-selected SaaS by line-of-business owners and the deployment of mobile
device management solutions to support bring-your-own-device strategies.
The role of chief information officer (CIO) to continue evolving next year as
it faces strong pressure to develop operational and investment models that
embrace technology-led innovation from all functional units within the
organisation.
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. To minimise this disconnect
the CIO will need to act as an enabler of innovation for the business, and this
creates the opportunity to play a central role in both operational and
commercial strategy.
With an increase in the number of employee-owned devices being used in the
workplace, datasecurity and best practice will remain a top concern for CIOs
next year. Organisations will need to protect and secure corporate information,
whilst also providing access to corporate data on self-provisioned devices.
However, selecting the right mobile device management or mobile desktop
virtualization solution must be accompanied by consideration of both
country-specific employee data privacy and industry-specific compliance
requirements.
Ovum expects these overarching themes to be pivotal to the success of business
strategy next year. Only businesses considering the opportunities that each
trend presents, and the challenges that may exist, will ensure that they remain
at the forefront of their respective industries.
Key Predictions for 2012
Cloud Computing: 2012 to
be the year of PaaS
Organisations’ approach to cloud will shift from a low-level
infrastructure-as-a-service/
platform-as-a-service/SaaS discussion. Access to innovative mobile, social and
collaborative apps underpinned by analytics and management reporting will drive
adoption.
Big Data &
Analytics: new data sources create transformation opportunities
Applying analytics to social media, machine-to-machine and location data will
create new business opportunities and drive new investment in business
intelligence and data warehousing infrastructure. However, only organisations
using big data and analytics in a transformative way will realise substantial
benefits. The advanced “social media command/control centre” will
increase in appeal as more organisations engage directly with their markets and
constituencies through the vehicle of social media, rather than via marketing
services agencies, and look to measure the effectiveness of their investments
in this channel.
Security: mobility
multiplies the data leakage points
Going forward, organisations must learn to live in a state of compromise and
should plan and act as though they have already been breached. The flip of the
consumerisation of IT is that customer complaint will increasingly take the
form a malicious attack on the corporate network. The use of employee-owned
devices also will continue to grow the number of data leakage points for the
enterprise. This will continue to drive both the need for more rigorous
penetration testing and advanced MDM capabilities.
IT Consumerisation: a
source of contention in the workplace
The consumerisation of corporate IT will create contention within the workplace
as line-of-business owners confront the CIO, arguing that the corporate IT
function is no longer able to satisfy the particular requirements of the
department. Personal computer” gives way to personal cloud” as users consume
mobile and web apps, making bring your own software (BYOS) more common than
bring your own device (BYOD). Consumers will increasingly provide new sales
channels for vendors to sell into the enterprise, so the role of the CIO has to
change in order to deal with “proliferative innovation” –
technological innovation driven from all parts of the organisation.
Social Media: rapid
growth in social enterprise platforms
The social networking market will not see any major disruption to its current
growth trajectory in 2012, and Facebook will continue to drive the evolution of
employee communications as organisations look to enterprise social networking
software. However, as Facebook has turned its social networking service into a
platform, there will be a growing focus on third-party application development
for emerging social enterprise platforms such as Jive and Yammer. Ovum expects
to see innovative new services pushed into the enterprise through this channel
by new market entrants.
Mobility: tablets
deployed as an enterprise tool
Mobile apps in both the commercial and public sectors will mature to
become a lever for change and innovation in 2012. The debate over
native apps vs. browser-based apps will continue to be driven by the growing
exploitation of HTML5 and CSS5. The tablet computer will continue to see
deployment by the enterprise for specific roles, particularly for
customer-facing staff in service industries, as a tool to close the knowledge
gap with customers who themselves are increasingly armed with product and price
search services on their own smart devices.
By Tim Jennings, Ovum’s Chief Analyst for Enterprise
IT
editor@telecomlead.com
