The networked SME

Michael Fauscette recently blogged about what he calls the Next Generation Enterprise Platform where the emerging technologies that are currently being developed and deployed in many workplaces are leading to new business configurations and disrupting established IT practices. Although Michael is primarily talking about larger enterprises, one of his points resonated with some of my experiences in the SME space:

"The new business model that is evolving will be built on the concept of a business network, tying the traditional business resources closely with those of partners and suppliers. This connected model will also need to include much stronger connectivity to customers. Most currently deployed enterprise IT infrastructures and systems don't support and provide the required management capabilities for this close connected model."

Next-generation CRM systems are making improved connectivity to customers possible but the same technologies are also making life easier for the smaller business.  Cheap and powerful computing hardware, mobile devices, 3G/4G networks and web-based services for collaboration, document creation, CRM and project management are allowing small businesses and individuals to work more efficiently from any location.  I believe this will lead to a fundamental shift in the way that many knowledge workers operate and have implications for the traditional hierarchical structures of larger organisations.  Helping businesses make the most of these opportunities through developing their understanding of the emerging technologies should be a priority for those keen to stimulate economic activity in this country.  

Evolution of the API

As more applications offer APIs and integrate their service with others I can see that the way we think about application providers will change.  A recent post on the Box.net blog started me thinking about this.  It seems a fairly obvious direction of travel that we’re moving from running software on client machines to cloud-based applications.  This migration will take time and will not necessarily apply to all types of software.  However, it would be a mistake to assume that the paradigm of discrete software operating in isolation will apply on the cloud.  The way that new services such as Salesforce.com, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs  etc. can talk to each other and share information across their platforms is one of their strengths – each can focus on what they do best and draw on others to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.  How this plays out over the next decade is anyone’s guess – there may be consolidation and the Google monster might devour them all or perhaps a thriving ecosystem will emerge based around APIs where the best apps survive.  Whatever happens it will be a stimulating environment for innovators and developers.

We're not going back to analogue

I was giving a talk yesterday related to a book I am writing on digital publishing and ended with a quote from Fred Wilson's AVC blog.  Nobody knows what the digital landscape will look like in 10 years time but one thing is for sure, it will be very different to what we see today.

Creative destruction and the smartphone

News that Cisco is closing down its video camera subsidiary, Flip, only 2 years after paying $590 million for it is another indicator that smart phones are leading a new wave of creative destruction in the digital world. Why bother carrying a separate video camera when your smart phone can shoot high definition video?  This has already happened with PDAs; Palm stopped making standalone PDAs a while ago.  iPod sales have been falling for a while now as users prefer their music on their phones.  For Apple this is not such a problem as they dominate the music software and online retail space which integrates with their iPhones. However, if I was a manufacturer of portable MP3 players I would be looking to diversify into other areas. Portable GPS device manufacturers for vehicles and runners such as TomTom and Garmin know that the writing is on the wall for their mass market products.  TomTom make a successful iPhone app so are better placed than some of their competitors.

So who is next?  There are only so many things that a smartphone can do but I would have thought that cheap still digital cameras will go the way of Flip.  Audio dictation devices and calculators could also be on the chopping block.  Have I missed anything?

While this may be bad news for some companies it is good news for consumers.  In "The Future of the Internet" Jonathan Zittrain worries that the rise of internet appliances threatens innovation as the ability for third parties to build functionality on such devices is limited.  While some smart phones may not be "generative" in the sense that the PC has been for encouraging creativity from third party software developers they are certainly more likely to stimulate innovation than devices such as the Flip or a satnav.  The iPhone Camera+ app is a good example of this.

Technological change and the information professional

A piece I wrote for the CILIP Library and Information Gazette has just been published. In it, I look back at some of the key changes to the information world over the previous 10 years and anticipate what the future might hold for us.