Or, consider the social credit system the Chinese government is piloting. Similar to a credit rating score, the algorithmic system rewards behaviors considered positive, and punishes citizens with low scores for behaviors considered negative, such as bad driving, smoking in the wrong place, or spending too much time playing videogames the consequences of a low score are real: reports indicate millions of people have been blocked from buying tickets for air travel as punishment.
As these systems become more ubiquitous; industry, government, and society will face increasingly thorny questions over the tradeoffs between innovation and the issues of transparency, explainability, and accountability. Through refinements to standards and protocols, along with advances in interoperability, technologies are increasingly out-of-the-box ready to deploy, allowing for ease of experimentation. Sectors that fit this description may include restaurants, farming, delivery of goods, building management, and environmental management, just to name a few. More specifically, consider how sensors, data, AI, and robotics process automation RPA have the potential to impact the entire chain from the growing of food, to the preparation of food, to the delivery of food.
On the workforce front, according to a study from the Brookings Institute on the digitalization of the workforce, occupations classified as low- or medium skill have seen a dramatic jump in the transition to digital skills. Occupations such as roofers, carpenters, landscapers, drivers, personal aides, or various types of trades and technicians, are steadily incorporating more technologies and the corresponding digital skills.
With the pervasive focus on data coupled with the growth of AI and everything-as-a-service models, the rate and scope of change will likely accelerate. Potential adoption inhibitors such as resistance to change, resource constraints, digital divides, and skills gaps will factor heavily into the equation as well. The ingredients of innovation have never been more accessible. With little more than a broadband connection and a credit card, a startup can spin up powerful, scalable compute and storage capacity with minimal investment. Add in open source code, stackable technologies, talent marketplaces, and creative financing and the ingredients are all there for innovation to flourish.
The data bear this out as tech hubs have sprouted up across the globe think Toronto, Nairobi, Budapest, Singapore, Stockholm, Dubai, and Sao Paulo, to name just a few. While Silicon Valley and other U.
Countries looking to leapfrog ahead increasingly pursue efforts to enhance their appeal, which typically starts with building the most tech-savvy workforce possible. Lastly, factors such as livability, affordability, and openness cannot be overlooked when the competition for talent extends beyond borders. Certainly, there has always been some mix of tactics and strategy in the directive of any IT function, with that mix varying based on the size of the business, the vertical industry, or the attitudes of upper management.
But the shift towards strategy is a general phenomenon that has affected all businesses and driven a new paradigm. It is an oversimplification to say that IT was ever purely tactical, but that model helps illustrate the organizational perception of IT through much of its history. In this traditional viewpoint, corporate goals were considered the domain of the business units. Getting product to market and driving customer satisfaction was the purview of the sales team.
Geographic expansion rested on the shoulders of the operations team. In turn, the business units relied on the IT function to provide support that allowed them to perform their jobs with greater efficiency.
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Constructing a technical foundation, delivering the right endpoint tools, and troubleshooting user issues were all important tasks within a company, but primarily to the extent that they drove productivity. IT was often viewed as a cost center, striving to deliver a specific level of service within the lowest budget possible.
In contrast, modern IT has expanded to more explicitly serve a dual purpose. Along with the tactical support work that continues to be a requirement, IT now has a role to play in directly driving strategic objectives. Customer acquisition happens on digital platforms. Brand awareness is built through social media. Market share is gained through omnichannel experiences. These initiatives are not achieved simply by building programs on top of technology, but by using technology as the primary mechanism for success.
Expansion into a more strategic role creates two new types of interaction for the IT team. The first is the direct connection to business objectives. This brings IT into upper-level organizational discussions, where requirements are broader and more abstract. Rather than receiving a request that has been funneled through business units and may map to an individual application, IT must consider the overall needs of the business and construct systems that address many concerns simultaneously.
The second new interaction is a partnering relationship with business units. In the past, the relationship was primarily one of support. Now the IT team is working alongside the business units as they build systems together or as the IT team guides technology procured by the line of business. With this activity happening at a level below the overall strategic direction, the challenge here is in building consensus around tradeoffs.
This requires some communication of technical details to the business unit, and it also requires the IT team to build knowledge around line of business priorities. Within large organizations, the images above primarily represent internal resources.
But most companies in the SMB space rely on a mix of internal resources and third-party support for their IT function. The concept is the same, though—a shift towards strategic thinking drives changes not only to the structure and role of an internal IT team, but also to the nature of relationships with outside partners. These partners may be asked to support corporate goals and provide input to the planning process, which may drive companies to broaden their horizons as they consider their partner ecosystem. It must be noted that the diagram depicting a modern view of enterprise technology is not drawn to scale.
While the role of IT has expanded to include a larger strategic component, IT teams have not usually grown at the same rate. This presents a unique challenge for CIOs and other individuals responsible for technology. Without significant resource growth, they not only need to add specialized technical skills, but also need to build a new operational model.
Technology is a crowded market today, leaving those in the business of tech scouting for every opportunity to differentiate themselves from the fray. One approach, though not new, is gaining steam: the pursuit of a vertical industry specialization. Focusing on a specific industry allows channel firms to move beyond horizontal solutions to become more granular in what they do; in effect, attaining know-it-all status in a niche market such as healthcare, retail, manufacturing and beyond.
Plus, customers love it.
Finally, their tech providers are speaking their specific business language. But with verticals, it is about understanding the software, all of those specific-use applications that pertain to the industry in question. That will earn you true vertical street cred. Many cloud-based ISVs are developing discrete applications tied to specific industries. These are often small firms lacking a largescale sales operation and eager to grow. As a result, many are beginning to experiment with indirect channel partners to grow their footprint and penetrate various customers segments.
It is most likely this group that has made a concerted effort to make one or more vertical industries a strategic focus and a significant source of revenue. This is not the same as becoming an expert in the applications and business processes that an individual vertical such as retail requires. That level of expertise is what truly comprises vertical industry focus and is what many ISVs, vendors and customers are seeking in their channel partners. It needs noting that vertical specialization is not the simplest path to pursue successfully. Breaking into a specific industry, mastering the vernacular along with niche applications and processes takes time and investment.
Technical acumen is the comfort zone for the channel after all. The enormity of the industry is a function of many of the trends discussed in this report. Economies, jobs, and personal lives are becoming more digital, more connected, and increasingly, more automated.
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Waves of innovation build over time, powering the technology growth engine that appears to be on the cusp of another major leap forward. In the U. Despite the size of the U. Spending is often correlated with factors such as population, GDP, and market maturity. Among global regions, Asia-Pacific is the largest, accounting for approximately one of every three technology dollars spent worldwide. Many APEC countries enjoy the twofold effect of closing the gap in categories such as IT infrastructure, software, and services, along with leadership positions in emerging areas such as robotics.
If these patterns hold, APEC will continue to grow its share of the global technology pie at the expense of slower growing markets. The bulk of technology spending stems from purchases made by corporate or government entities. A smaller portion comes from household spending, including home-based businesses. With the blurring of work and personal life, especially in the small business space, along with the shadow IT phenomenon, it can be difficult to precisely classify certain types of technology purchases as being solely business or solely consumer.
CompTIA projects the global information technology industry will grow at a rate of 4.