Cloud, Mobile, and Social will define communications in 2012
For many tech companies focused on enterprise communication and collaboration cloud, mobile and social will her the main drivers for enterprises investing in communication technology.
Cloud adoption will continue to accelerate in 2012, especially in small businesses, among which only 10 percent or so have deployed cloud technologies, according to a report for Zoomerang. Other important statistic is Forrester Research data that predicts more than 77 percent of organizations will support Google Android and iOS devices next year, driving a richer application choice for users from their mobile devices. Web research firm StatCounter noted thatGoogle's Chrome 15 was more widely used in the last week of November than Microsoft'sInternet Explorer 8. This illustrates the emergence of Cloud based devices and increase of demand for endpoints driving cloud based services.
There's little doubt that Chrome share is on the rise. And that's crucial for Google and Cloud based applications because the browser gives the Cloud apps the ability to push the Web standards for business applications
To capitalize on the consumerization of IT and users bringing their own personal devices into the workplace, Companies will integrate web-based mobile device management into business applications driving a "mobile-first" strategy where mobility takes centre stage.
Finally social media and networks have further infiltrated the business landscape in 2011. With the launch of new major Social networking platforms such as Google plus and the integration of Skype with Facebook, Social networking platforms are increasingly becoming the collaboration platform of choice for mobile users and even enterprise workers. The social enterprise has been growing as more and more companies look to incorporate Facebook-like communications among workers. Jive (which just debuted on the Nasdaq),Yammer, and Salesforce are all betting on the social as an integral part of productivity and business processes in the future. Google will soon bring a more in-depth Google+ social experience to businesses and institutions using Google Apps.
The market for enterprise social collaboration software, which offers Facebook and Twitter-like capabilities adapted for workplaces, will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 61 percent through 2016, a year in which the market for these products will reach US$6.4 billion, compared with $600 million last year, according to Forrester Research.
From Social networking pages enterprises will be able to connect with customers, vendors and fellow employees, there is so much work going on which will make enterprises much more productive. There’s a shift towards moving from individual productivity based applications to more social applications, and this is only going to accelerate.
Part of 2012 will entail bringing the social experience to businesses and this will be driven & built through the adoption of the cloud within the enterprise. The combination of cloud applications and services with the ease and use of collaboration through Social applications will further drive productivity to the mobile workforce and enable adoption and proliferation of Mobile end points as more then just communication device but communication and collaboration devices that will become user primary tool for doing business.
