2008: The Year Disruptive Technology Becomes Mainstream
2008: The Year Disruptive Technology Becomes Mainstream
December 10, 2007: 2008 will be a year of “post-disruption” according to the analysts at IDC, with “everything-as-a-service”, Web 2.0 applications and open source coming of age in the IT marketplace.
The firm claims that over the past few years, a handful of key disruptions (such as online delivery, community-based development and solution-oriented packaging) which began life at the margins of the IT market, have gained momentum.
2007 itself saw the likes of software-as-a-service, Web 2.0 applications, open development communities and "free IT" funding models really take off, and with non-traditional competitors like Google, YouTube, and Facebook beginning to flex their muscles IDC believes the stage is set for what will become the Post-Disruption Marketplace.
So much so in fact, the analyst firm is predicting that the most important players in the IT marketplace will dive headlong into this new world after cautiously dabbling in it over the last year or so.
IDC says 2008 will see greatly increased investment in emerging markets, introduction of a raft of new online product and service offerings, the opening-up of closed business models to communities, and innovative new approaches to simple, solutions-oriented packaging.
Not only this, the company predicts that these “disruptors” will cease to be seen as such, and become the new “status quo for competing in the IT marketplace for the next decade”.
“Disruptive technologies have been a persistent theme in IDC's predictions over the past several years,” said Frank Gens, senior vice president of Research at IDC. “These technologies have been creeping into everything from enterprise software and hardware to consumer gadgets and telecom services, forcing vendors to rethink their offerings.
“In 2008, the era of experimentation will end as industry leaders get serious about transforming their products and services to take advantage of – and meet the challenges posed by – these new technologies and business models. The status quo is about to change.”
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