Basic HTML Version
0870 903 9500
magazine
05
Tablets, social media and cloud computing
will transform the SME landscape within the
next 12 months, global IT trade association
CompTIA claims in a new report (
Technology
Trends that are Shaping the IT Industry
).
Its survey of 400 IT and business professionals
shows that 18% of UK SMEs are now using cloud
solutions and a further 30% plan to introduce
them within the next 12 months. Almost all (93%)
cloud users found the transition easy and 79%
were positive about the results. Four out of five
(81%) expect to increase their cloud usage over the
next two years.
CompTIA states that the move to the cloud
will be facilitated by the uptake of tablets, which
benefit from the remote access that the cloud
provides. Thirty-seven percent of SMEs already
have tablets and another 37% are planning to
purchase them.
Most respondents expect to use tablets
for working on the move, presentations and
note taking. However, a significant proportion
are looking at using them for specific business
purposes, such as product demonstrations (34%) or
point of sale transactions (32%).
As only 5% of SMEs have purchased tablets to
replace PCs or smart phones, CompTIA expects
a three-device policy to become the norm in
enterprises.
Social media has the highest adoption rate
among emerging technologies, at 26%, with 61%
of respondents experiencing a positive return on
social media investment. The most common uses
of social media are marketing-related,
such as brand awareness and communicating
with customers: 22% are using social media to
monitor information and better understand market
dynamics.
Half (49%) of companies not using social media
see no clear benefit in the technology, even though
nearly half of them think it would be beneficial to
have improved communication with customers.
Green IT has the lowest adoption rate (12%),
though 26% plan to introduce it soon, perhaps
indicating that companies have been putting
off spending decisions but plan to make energy
efficiency central to future purchases.
www.comptia.org
The next 10 years will herald a ‘seismic
shift’ in the business landscape of this
country, the likes of which have not been
seen since the original
industrial revolution, Bibby
Financial Services claims in its
new report
‘2020 Vision – the
Future of Business
’.
It argues that greater use
of smartphones, tablets, online
networking and social media will
lead to a surge in the number of
micro businesses, many of which
will operate outside traditional
business hours and premises.
It also describes the
phenomenon of ‘semi-detached’
businesses – individuals and
firms who will share expertise and develop their
own professional networks to take advantage of
open market opportunities.
The lines between home
and work will continue to blur.
The conjoining of business and
personal bank accounts and
the lack of physical business
premises will make companies
harder to identify and will
transform how businesses
behave and how suppliers and
customers communicate with
each other.
The report also predicts a
rise in ‘lifestyle’ businesses as
conflicts between traditional
working environments and
other responsibilities (notably caring for children
and elderly parents) lead people to choose
flexibility in their work over higher wages.
Business psychologist and CEO of Xancam
Consulting Dr Maria Yapp said: “Generation Y
(people born in the ‘80s) are infinitely more
comfortable with the idea of the ‘boundary-
less workplace’. They have the technological
savvy to make remote working entirely possible;
they are stronger at ‘teamwork’ than previous
generations and their networks are much wider.
They also demonstrate a strong entrepreneurial
streak and research indicates that this
generation will be much more likely than its
predecessors to start up and run as many as 10
different ‘micro’ businesses over the course of
one person’s career.”
www.bfs2020vision.com
Olympics a missed
opportunity for 4G
network providers
Chris Marling, editor of Broadbandgenie.
co.uk, has taken a swipe at Ofcom and
the UK’s mobile network operators for
failing to develop 4G networks in time
for the Olympics, as new analysis by
the mobile broadband comparison site
shows mobile broadband speeds are
stuck at 1-2Mb.
“A 1-2Mb average is too slow to be able
to stream video or use video chat reliably;
to download anything but small files; or to
do most kinds of online gaming – even if
the service was consistent, which it rarely is.
Tablets are exploding in popularity, but if you
thought you’d be watching Jessica Ennis,
Mo Farah and the rest win medals while on
the move, you can think again,” he said.
“The Olympics offered the perfect target
date to get our 4G services up and running
– just as Brazil is using the 2014World Cup
for the same purpose. Instead anyone coming
here next year will find a fourth rate network,
instead of a 4G one. And that’s before you
even get onto the issue of capacity, which 3
Mobile has just announced is going to be an
issue for it.”
www.broadbandgenie.co.uk
SMEs to extend take-up of new
technologies
Micro businesses to define new industrial revolution
Photo courtesy London 2012
To capitalise on the growing phenomenon of tablet
computers, Stabilo is introducing the smartBALL.
This stylish, refillable pen has a silky smooth
ballpoint at one end and a touchscreen stylus at
the other for use with iPads and smartphones.
2020 Vision
The fuTure of business
agenda