Managing Director Phil Jones talks about big data, 3D printing and other trends for the next year.
The interview with Jones starts with his point-of-view that big data “is growing exponentially” and that a key challenge will be “getting the big insights” from business intelligence, the “number one priority” for Chief Information Officers” in businesses. Jones notes that “extracting usable information from data” will be key for CIOs, as well as the idea of specialists “offering hosting, analysis and insight”.
He moves on to talk about cloud technology, which is “set to continue to dominate” business and lead to the “continuing decline of on-premise IT solutions”, with Jones adding that a “greater spread of contacts” and “further democratising” of decision making will also take place alongside higher demand for “location independent products and services”.
The trend of bringing your own device (BYOD) to work is another area in which Jones believes 2014 will see growth, as it is “well-established in large businesses and enterprise”, with hardware provision in business moving to corporately-owned, personally-enabled (COPE) due to “security and data issues”, and this will also influence the growth of mobile device management (MDM).
On 3D printing, Jones notes that it “grabs headlines, not consumers”, and that it is in its “early lifecycle stage”, and the “high degree of technical capability needed” in the current software means “mainstream penetration will evolve” over time. Jones also focused on “agile, flexible, mobile working” due to technology, which he calls “Roam”, as businesses “evolv[e] their cultures and working practices”.
Finally, Jones looks at workflow, and notes that it can be “improved and digitised as much as possible” through technology, with “document production, distribution and management” among the areas in which business process management (BPM) has now moved “high up the agenda” for organisations “looking to do more with less”.