Technology Causing Major Operations Shift
Technology is constantly evolving. As a result, organizations need to evolve with it. The permeation of cloud and mobile technology is forcing companies of all sizes to dramatically change the way they go to market, reach customers and operate internally, according to a recent CompTIA study, “Building Digital Organizations.”
The main drivers of organizational change are new technologies around cloud computing and mobility. In fact, these two areas will account for nearly all projected revenue growth in the IT industry moving forward, the study states. While there always will be traditional IT needs such as security, networking and help desk, the areas of growth within these needs will be around cloud and mobility. As I’ve said before in this space, this is good news for solution providers as organizations will need to rely on them more for their changing technology needs.
The report further states that with more technology options available for all-size companies, with more individual business units having IT influence, building business systems are becoming a greater challenge. Regardless, it is critical for organizations to adapt if they are going to be competitive in the future.
CompTIA cites some statistics in the study from IDC to back up the growth of these emerging areas. The new era of computing is what IDC is calling the “3rd Platform.” For instance, wireless data spending will hit $536 billion in 2015; smartphone and tablet sales will reach $484 billion; overall cloud spending (including IaaS, PaaS and SaaS) will reach $118 billion; and data-related software, hardware and services will be $125 billion for the year, according to the report.
For the most part, company IT spending budgets are changing accordingly, as is the role of traditional IT. “In order to meet both operational and strategic goals, budgets are becoming more distributed,” the report states.
For example, 19 percent of companies said internal IT still owns the entire technology budget. However, individual business units are growing in influence with their own funds. According to the study, 33 percent of businesses have discretionary IT funds; 20 percent said their IT funds are split evenly with IT; 9 percent said they own the majority of the budget; and 19 percent claim to have complete control.
Regardless of this split, IT budgets across the board seem to growing. This is a realization of need. Most organizations understand that keeping pace with technology is critical to their survival.
“Growing budgets do not mean that companies are becoming less cost-conscious, but it is a signal that investments will be made if the business case is viable,” the CompTIA report states. “With budgets held by different groups, that business case will take different forms depending on who is making the decision. Pitches for technology will often need to go beyond specifications and features to include user experience, innovative potential, and overall integration across separate functional areas.”
The fact is the role of IT is changing and cloud and mobile computing are expediting that change.
“In the age of cloud and mobility, the workforce is more aware than ever of technology options and more equipped to apply those options directly. Workers bring in their own mobile devices, and business units procure their own cloud solutions,” the report states. “The concept of a business system could mean different things to different people. A sales team may think of a CRM application and the various functions and features they need for driving new deals. The IT team will consider the CRM application along with the databases on the back end and all the devices that need to display that application in different settings.”
These changes may be disruptive to businesses and their organizational structure, but are opportunities for solutions providers. I encourage you download
This is just an overview of the lengthy report. I encourage all solution providers to download a full copy at www.CompTIA.org.
Knock 'em alive!
