Driven by the ever-faster technological progress, the IT industry is one of the most dynamically changing ones. While it is true that some of the novelties can only be understood by the techies, ignoring the trends can be a deadly mistake even for those who are not directly present in the industry. So if your firm is outsourcing the IT services, this guide is a must-read for you.
Global technology trends for 2017
At the end of last year, Gartner, the information technology research giant, published its “Top strategic predictions for 2017”. The purpose of this white paper was to guide entrepreneurs through the unstable times of digital disruption – a situation when some industries are deeply impacted by the rapid changes in technology.
According to Gartner, the technological breakthrough will take place as soon as within the next 3 years. It is predicted that, by 2020, 100 million buyers will shop with the use of the augmented reality. Simultaneously, around 30% of web browsing sessions will be effectuated without the use of a screen. 20% of brands are predicted to abandon their mobile apps and the same percent of each user’s activities will involve one of the seven leading digital giants.
What is more, the behavior of more than 10% of workers around the world will be influenced by algorithms and the health of 40% of them will be monitored by a fitness tracker. Finally, the so called Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to decrease the costs of maintenance and services of businesses and individual consumers by one trillion dollars a year.
Consequences for IT outsourcing companies
The predictions listed above have already brought some fallouts for the businesses. All the areas of IT outsourcing have been influenced – from the recruitment through used tools to the final product or service. Here’s the list of the most important trends for 2017:
Recruitment: Open-source projects vs Résumé
Whether a company was looking for an internal worker or an external service provider, the recruitment process would usually be based on a curriculum. List of finished courses and previous job positions used to reflect the actual knowledge of the programmer. Not anymore.
In the times of dynamic changes, the education acquired during the university courses may result obsolete as soon as on the day of graduation. Good programmer is required to constantly follow and apply new practises. This, however, cannot proven by a statement in their CV.
This is why recently recruiters shifted their focus towards a new assessment method – participation in the open-source projects. Online programming communities, such as GitHub or Stack Overflow, became an equivalent of a portfolio.
Even if the recruiters are not able to evaluate the quality of the code itself, they can evaluate the opinions of the community and the level of involvement of the programmer.
Education: JIT learning vs. Traditional courses
Just-in-Time is a solution used in logistics, where the production is triggered directly by the sales order. This enables product customization and helps to avoid the cost of high stock and obsolescence.
In 2017, the JIT solution has found an application in the education field as well. Technological change constantly increases the need for adaptability and pushes us towards a higher job specification.
As a result, offering an on-the-job training is becoming a popular solution for many companies. Training your employee on a specific tool is usually cheaper than looking for one that is already familiar with it. What is more, the information obtained is always up-to-date and guarantees the application of the most efficient practises.
Tools: Renting vs. Buying
Until recent years, the companies who needed an IT infrastructure wouldn’t have other choice than buying its own equipment and hiring internal professionals. Although this meant a huge financial burden, it was the only way of obtaining a customized solution and protecting the important data. Luckily, those times are over.
Replacing “buying” with “renting” is one of the most crucial technology trends in 2017. The digital disruption makes the ground of every firm very unstable. Building your own IT infrastructure is an unnecessary risk.
Outsourcing IT services seems to be the perfect solution. Nowadays, virtually all of the services are customizable and security is not an issue anymore. Thanks to specialization and the economies of scale, IT services providers can significantly reduce the service cost for an individual user, without having to trade the service quality off.
Product: One-page web apps vs. Traditional websites
Some of the Gartner’s predictions included shifting towards new types of devices. The internet usage on smartphones has already outran the one done on computers. And even those are already being replaced with newer inventions, such as smart-watches. What does this mean for a company wanting to be present online?
Our websites have to be adjusted not only to the new gadgets but also to the raising requirements in terms of user experience. Customers are used to finding the information they are looking for within seconds and with the least effort possible.
That is why, the latest trend in the web development trend it to replace the traditional websites with so called one-page web apps.
The navigation is reduced to the minimum and the content is based on a dynamic databases, allowing the user an efficient and comfortable interaction with the site. Finally, the web app can be accessed from any device without the quality trade-off.
Product: Responsive web apps vs. Mobile apps
If one of your projects for 2017 was to build a mobile app for your company, you should think twice.
The mobile fever, reigning in the industry for the last couple of years, seems to be coming to an end. One of the reasons is the incompatibility of the operation systems – Android, iOS and Windows 8 all require an app written from scratch, which raises the cost of building and maintenance.
But the main cause for the mobile apps’ popularity decline is that the web apps mentioned above make them simply obsolete. Thus, if you want to provide your customers with a good online service without dropping a bundle, you should cross the mobile app out from your list.
Next step
In Areus we always stay ahead of the industry, leaving the threats of the digital disruption behind. Contact us here and make sure your business will thrive online in 2017.
