John GANTZ told delegates at IDC’s Expo and Forum in Boston that they had better adapt to accelerating change or dissapear. He goes on to point out three specific challenges ahead of them.
“The first challenge is posed from the convergence of the World Wide Web and the telephone network, which he said will create a type of new infrastructure – “the great Internetwork.” This will extend far beyond desktop PCs and telephones to reach cars and other mobile platforms, meaning the corporate landscape will evolve as the number of ‘customer touch points’ multiply.
The second area of potential disruption will come from software, in particular the explosion of open-source development; service-orientated architecture, the merger of Web-based and desktop services, additional to composite applications. The entire sector, regardless of location, is expected to change – some companies will be forced into acquisitions, while others will make
mistakes, risking an “end user veto” of unpopular features.
The third area of potential chaos will be pervasive computing, spreading beyond PDAs and music players. Entire buildings will be added to the network of the future, while sensors in rubbish bins and parking spaces will be deployed to improve collection rates and traffic flow. Supporting the trend, demand will explode for phones, games, toys, cameras and handsets enabled with VoIP or GPS, while sales of PCs will level out by 2015, Gantz said.”