Digitalization Trends to Market Success

Tapping new markets through digitalization

An increasing number of companies outside the IT sector are becoming digital leaders. Major traditional companies  have realized that they can do more than control their own markets; they can tap new ones and gain a foothold. Here are six digitalization trends that will have a major impact on companies in the next three to five years:

1. Hyper scaling puts the spotlight back on hardware

With the hardware deployed until now, it will be impossible to master the rapid development of software and the World Wide Web in the future. The need for bigger and faster data centers is growing. Google is the largest in the field of hyper scale data centers with well over a million servers consuming around 260 million megawatts of power – roughly a quarter of the energy generated by a nuclear power plant. New hyper scaling­ approaches will have to overcome previous limitations.

However, not only Internet companies are reaching the hyper scale level with their interconnected devices, sensors, and data centers. Enterprises from the utilities, oil, gas, and automotive industries are hot on their heels.

2. The app business

The development of applications was originally conceived for private consumers. Apps have the advantage of being simple, compact, and fairly self-contained. Companies have much more complicated problems to solve. A large number of applications is necessary to cover complex business processes across several time zones, countries, and thousands of employees. The trend is moving toward entire libraries or “ecosystems” for applications.

The analyst company Gartner predicts that, by 2017, around a quarter of all enterprises will have their own app store for managing corporate-sanctioned applications for PCs and mobile devices.

Applications are not only becoming smaller and faster, they are also getting everywhere. The range of industries that have discovered applications as a way of connecting with customers is growing rapidly.

3. Internet of Things blurs the line between digital and physical world

The Internet of Things is changing our habits and our working environment. Companies use data to react faster and more intelligently to market changes. For example, Philips and Accenture have presented a concept for. A doctor with smart glasses can monitor vital patient data without having to move away from the patient or the operating table.

The number of smart devices is growing while their cost is falling. Smartphones have turned their owners into digitally augmented versions of themselves. This opens up completely new doors for enterprises: They not only have the opportunity to get new insights into the market, but they can also establish a new basis for socio-political decisions. Technology and business leaders must think about how they can bring together customers and business in a digital-physical world.

 Lema Baraka (42592)