If the launch of the iPad didn’t cause enough of a stir with predictions of the imminent demise of the personal computer, Gartner recently announced, “the reign of the personal computer as the sole corporate access device is coming to a close, and by 2014, the personal cloud will replace the personal computer at the center of users’ digital lives.”
Questions to think about include how will this impact your business, the products and services that you deliver, and whether your business will be ready?
According to Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner, “Many call this era the post-PC era, but it isn’t really about being ‘after’ the PC, but rather about a new style of personal computing that frees individuals to use computing in fundamentally new ways to improve multiple aspects of their work and personal lives.”
The consumerization of IT has been taking place for nearly a decade. However, Gartner believes the next wave is starting to place as the following factors come together:
- Users are more technologically savvy and have very different expectations of technology.
- The Internet and social media have empowered and emboldened users.
- The rise of powerful, affordable mobile devices changes the equation for users.
- Users have become innovators.
- Through the democratization of technology, users of all types and status within the organizations can now have similar technology available to them.
How will your business respond?