Business technology trends to watch in 2008

Know which tools will drive the SMB bottom line

Each year, improved versions of business technologies flood the marketplace, typically at lower prices than earlier iterations, pushing aside legacy technologies and gradually redefining the tools required for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to remain competitive in an increasingly global economy.

We asked respected industry analyst Carmi Levy, senior vice president of Strategic Consulting, to comment on the technology trends he believes will have the greatest influence on Canadian SMBs in 2008. Here are his views on what’s in store:

Unified communications
UC has been just over the horizon for most of the last decade. It finally hit critical mass in 2007 as prices slid and the tools became standardized and more widely supported. In 2008, SMBs will quickly jump on board as they replace their old phone networks in large numbers.

They’ll be discarding their obsolete, voice-only systems in favour of IP-based networks that simultaneously handle both voice and data services. The UC solutions that take advantage of IP networks offer stronger collaboration between work teams, richer features for employees and clients, and simplified management and reduced cost for already-overworked IT staff.

Mobility
SMBs are constantly being challenged to do more with less, and to do it better and faster. The growing power of mobile devices and software is making it easier than ever for companies of all sizes to empower their mobile employees. Mobility will reach its tipping point in 2008 as widespread availability of cost-effective tools finally makes it feasible for SMBs to dive in headfirst. Companies that continue to ignore the mobile imperative risk being left behind by competitors that are already helping employees accomplish more when they’re away from the office.

Software as a service
As software becomes evermore complex, SMBs are finding it more difficult to stay ahead of the curve. Fortunately, companies that provide hosted solutions are recognizing the potential of the SMB market, and are targeting more services here. Expect subscription-based offerings to increase in popularity through 2008 as vendors recognize that SMB IT personnel don’t want to spend their time supporting systems that aren’t core to their business.

Security
Security is like insurance: Companies hate spending money on it because it doesn’t directly contribute to the bottom line. But they also understand the risks if they don’t spend the money. In 2007, threats became more insidious, faster-moving and less predictable, and this trend will continue into 2008. In many cases, SMBs are finding it more cost effective to outsource their security planning and operations to firms that specialize in these areas.

Storage
Massive growth in storage needs in recent years – driven by the explosion in multimedia content and more robust networks – is driving huge demand for hardware big enough to store it all. Storage Area Networks (SANs), which used to be so expensive that only the largest companies could afford them, are now so affordable that SMBs will be compelled in 2008 to prioritize this critical technology.

Virtualization
After years of installing new servers to meet every new business need, SMBs are now stuck with lots of expensive machines. Virtualization allows them to reduce the total number of servers in their data centers by consolidating multiple “virtual” machines onto fewer physical systems. Fewer machines are much easier to maintain, which represents a major opportunity to save capital and ongoing costs. Although last year was widely considered the year of virtualization, this trend continues into 2008 as SMBs adopt virtualization in ever greater numbers.

The Bottom Line
SMBs in 2008 will continue their drive to make their technology do more, at a lower cost, and with less load on overworked IT staff. This coming year will continue to see formerly expensive technologies move down the price/complexity scale to help them accomplish just that.

Carmi Levy is Senior Vice President of Strategic Consulting at Toronto-based AR Communications Inc., a leading provider of strategic marketing communications services to a wide range of Canadian businesses. For more information, please visit http://www.ar-com.com.

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