Gadget tsunami in 2012

SA is in the middle of a behavioural shift, the single largest it can expect to see in this lifetime from a working point of view, according to communications management company Unison.

“That South African business is mobilising is old news. But now we are also getting access to more information, in more ways, in more places. The natural conclusion to this is, of course, that we will be online all the time with access to information from everywhere.”

It adds that the fact that SA has one of the most expensive mobile costs globally is not slowing it down at all. However, few local companies are reaping real rewards from mobility so far.

Within its predictions for 2012, Unison says this year should see the communications market mature as businesses begin to manage and control their communications across the enterprise in a more proactive, holistic and cohesive manner.

“2012 should see the focus shift to the tangible, rather than the intangible, benefits of mobilising. Through 2012, we will start to see shifts in businesses as they adjust and learn how to operate in the new market. Companies are lagging from a unified communications and policy point of view, and the 'wait and see' approach that has been endemic for the last couple of years won't survive through 2012.”

It adds that the other spin-off, as a result of the mobility shift, will be how businesses, firstly, adjust their internal policies to cater for the mobile era and be more inclusive of the needs and behaviours of the X and Y generation.

Secondly, they will adjust how they alter their customer interactions.

A major trend that will continue from 2011 is the “gadget tsunami”.

Unison says there were two main highlights, the first being the explosion of the tablet market led by Apple.

The second is that 2011 saw the sale of smartphones eclipse the sales of PCs. “Mobility was the main story and is likely to remain so for the next year as well.”

In 2012, it will again be mostly about mobile devices and gadgets and the consumer market, says the company.

“From Apple we will see the iPad 3, the iPhone 5 is likely to make its belated arrival, the Kindle Fire will get a v2 release that is likely to make it a credible player with its own niche, and Microsoft looks set to make a credible play for the mobile market with their new Windows platform. Nokia looks like they may stage a comeback in the smartphone market and BlackBerry will do what they can to stop haemorrhaging market share.”

The mobile apps market will continue to grow in leaps and bounds, according to Unison.

“As a result, many of the cloud offerings from the larger players will start to fight for real estate, putting Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon and even Facebook up against each other in a battle that can only benefit the consumer.”

The company also says the cloud offerings will initially be snapped up by the consumer market with some corporates taking tentative steps.

“We are unlikely to see the scale of shifts we saw in 2011, but in many ways the shifts we see through 2012 will be more impactful and far-reaching as we take the technology that was released in 2011 and begin to apply it in a more productive and effective manner.”

Organisational shifts are already occurring, with ATOS Origin in France banning internal e-mail.

Unison also highlights local technology company Gijima's enterprise-wide rollout of iPads.

“With their policy of an iPad for everyone, Gijima locally adopted a 'jump in and see what the water is like' approach. Many of the consequences of the shift were unforeseen, but they must be congratulated for taking the plunge.

“They will no doubt experience some pain, but as a result are likely to come out the far side faster and see some real benefits.”

The company adds that SAP is now managing 125 000 iPads, which is currently the largest single tablet community globally.

“It is interesting to see that the people testing the waters are the technology services businesses, either because they are visionary, or because if they want to sell it they need to believe in it.”

Unison expects to see the above shifts start spreading beyond the technology companies in 2012 into the broader market.

Other local IT trends for 2012 include competition heating up in the tablet and smartphone market, more end-to-end integrated experience as gadget/platform vendors tie in closer to their cloud offerings to gain market share, and ballooning communications costs where the cost per unit will come down, but the number of units being consumed is increasing exponentially.

Also, businesses will shift to proactively begin to manage communications across their enterprise, and try to ensure the mobility era is driving up productivity and delivering tangible business benefits, says Unison.

“The cost per unit to communicate will continue to reduce as we see the effects of the undersea cables, fibre optic, VOIP and fixed mobile convergence (WiFi) take effect.”

Service issues with local suppliers as they grapple to cope with exploding data traffic volumes can also be expected.