The Wise Marketer on 27 Dec 2005, carries this story – read it here.
A summary: “The growing integration of technology into every aspect of life, whether in the home, office, family, car or recreational arenas, will profoundly impact business technology over the next decade, according to industry analysts at Gartner Inc.” The report says that consumers are now exerting massive power over businesses and the technologies that they use. Companies must take this consumer power seriously, and must make multiple connections with consumers. technology can assist in this process, if you understand how to use it properly. They must also leverage new technologies to their advantage, especially when managing and motivating their talented staff.
Some extracts:

“According to Gartner, several major social trends – including new working practices, expectations of instant response and greater personalisation – are already having a significant impact on the technology markets, as consumers look to technology to improve choice and lifestyle flexibility.”
“The technology used at home is so sophisticated that it outstrips the vast majority of commercial offerings. As home and office environments continue to merge, the knowledge worker of the future will demand the same level of functionality and flexibility in the workplace that they have got used to at home. When those demands are not met by the enterprise, history shows us that they will find the technologies and tools needed themselves in the consumer market.”
“Ignoring the social context of technology is a recipe for business failure. If organisations continue to dictate what technologies their employees can and cannot use then they risk ignoring innovations that represent significant opportunities in the future”.
“This is less of a revolution and more the coming together of a series of evolutionary changes – societal, technological and in the marketplace – at the right time. Some parts of society, especially the knowledge workers, are very open to change.”

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