 "IT Expertise Becoming Strategic In Nature")
While tech market predictions abound through the year, when industry gurus and analysts like Rodney Nelsestuen, Senior Research Director, Financial Strategies and IT Investments, TowerGroup, John Keppel, Executive Board member, Partner, Managing Director, TPI Research, Analytics and Intelligence, and Noshir Kaka, Director & Lead Outsourcing, Mckinsey & Co. come together to discuss the top trends for the year, one is sure to sit up and listen, and not dismiss this as yet another crystal ball gazing session.
With technology maturing over time and becoming suitable for the different variants in the enterprise, IT expertise has become more strategic in nature, signifying a remarkable impact for driving business value, the analysts agree in unison.
With technology offering an opportunity for strategic business advantage here are some major IT trends that they believe CIOs should adopt and incorporate within their long-term plans and initiatives in order to achieve the magical success figure.
Top Trends To Catch In 2011:
Outsourcing
The year 2011 will see a major adoption of outsourcing by the SMEs. CIOs can not only make up for the economic loss in the past but also save a lot of capital in the present from outsourcing. There is a lot of buzz about outsourcing meeting cloud sourcing, but this remains a debatable area, as the argument and verdict of cloud based offerings is limited to the respective business units or functions head rather than IT.
Offshoring
Offshoring is drastically changing the face of SMEs and large enterprises. In the past, organisations that used offshore service providers sent only a portion of their work offshore, but now things are changing. As per some recent figures, 10% of small/midsize organisations and 38% percent of large organisations use offshore service providers. Organisations use offshoring for application development, Web/e-commerce systems, etc. This trend is here to stay for a longer time.
Pilot Program
There is a new shift towards developing pilot program. It is when the outsourcer and the client get together and plan a new product or service, and then they want to pilot the same product and service on a very small scale, so that both the outsourcer and the client develop expertise on how to implement it technologically or from a BPO perspective. The company gets the experience of how it is going to work out in the market. So, it’s a kind of win-win situation for both.
Cloud Computing
Over time cloud is going to enable an entire new breed of customers, for example, SMEs. IT penetration among the SMEs is extremely low and very often there is a shortfall of manpower and capital investment in technology, and since cloud is affordable SMEs can adopt it and enhance their business. Cloud or SaaS also allows enterprises to reach areas, which were geographically impossible to reach earlier. And, looking at the current requirements of enterprises, cloud is something which will stay for a longer time.
Assuming Financial Risks
Top leaders in the enterprise are more comfortable in taking risks in order to achieve business benefits from new technologies and innovative methods, Gone are the days when cost was the major concern. Today it is about coming up with new techniques, implementing them. If there is a fiasco, the required correction is made and the new system or new rules are embraced very quickly.
Social Media
Social media is the new buzz word spread all over. It is changing in itself and also changing the way people do research and address consumers. Social media is not only changing the way information is stored but it is also helping in tracking opinions about products and services. Many companies are now acknowledging this fact and have started using social media as a proactive strategy in their marketing, branding and influence strategy.
Mobility
Email, SMS and instant messaging have been the killer applications of portable devices, not only in the enterprise setting but also in the normal day to day life. With the recent explosion of smartphones and tablets in the market, mobility is going to take us to the next level. Web based applications and services have started becoming popular and enterprises are making employees work even on the move. This also raises the security issues. We know every coin has two sides, but no one can afford to ignore the coin.
Multi Sourcing
Multi sourcing is said to be the outline for successful IT sourcing. In today’s business environment growth is increasingly dependant on the development of ground-breaking and holistic sourcing strategies which concentrate on all the business needs, both in the short and long term. Having the internal capabilities and governance that a multi sourcing strategy mandates every enterprise can look forward to reaping dramatic increase in business value derived from IT.