In my last blog post, I looked at some of the reasons why mobile apps have emerged as the next frontier in Nearshore, and are only likely to grow as a dominant market driver in the years to come. One of the reasons I point to is IT consumerization, the trend of information technology gaining adoption with consumers, who in turn bring these devices or software to the business.
In this post, I’d like to delve deeper into this trend, and talk through some of the reasons why I believe it will continue to reshape the IT landscape – and, by extension, the Nearshore market – for the foreseeable future.
At its heart, the concept of IT consumerization means just what it sounds like: consumer devices making their way into IT environments. But the reasons for this – and their implications for Nearshore – bear further exploration.
Certainly one of the primary contributors to the consumerization phenomenon is Apple, whose introduction of first the iPhone and then the iPad gave consumers easy-to-use devices with intoxicating user experiences that changed the way we considered that technology could fit in our daily lives. As more and more consumers adopt these devices, we subsequently wanted these tools to enable business functions as well and, increasingly, requested IT departments to support them.
Yet in many cases corporate IT departments have been unprepared for this, as their traditional Windows-based environments and IT policies (read: security initiatives) are unable to account for the use of personal devices to access corporate data. Slowly, but surely, these companies have started to adapt their policies and environments to support consumer devices like the iPhone and iPad, to the point where, now, according to Apple, 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies are now testing or deploying iPads for at least some of their workers.
This is where Nearshore providers come in. Though much has been written about IT consumerization and IT has done its best to adapt, it remains a nascent trend that will only gain steam in the years ahead, as new technologies emerge that introduce additional complexity to the process. Many CIOs and IT managers, unsure of how to capitalize on the opportunities presented by consumerization, are now looking to Nearshore providers to help adapt their infrastructures, policies, and technologies to generate value from these investments in consumer tools for traditional IT purposes. This includes creating applications that fully leverage the latest tablets and smartphones that have made their way into business environments, as well as providing the integration services and management capabilities that contribute greater value to IT investments in consumer technologies.
Nearshore is all about value generation, and the move toward IT consumerization presents one of the greatest opportunities yet for companies to derive greater value from their Nearshore engagements and relationships with providers. As consumer technologies continue to evolve at a rapid pace, companies will surely look to their Nearshore partners to help them adapt. For this reason, IT consumerization will continue to shape the Nearshore market in the weeks, months, and years to come.
Paulo is responsible for mobile operations at Ci&T, a global IT outsourcing company considered a symbol of innovation by the IAOP/Fortune Magazine. With over 15 years experience in software development Paulo worked for financial and telecommunications companies before joining Ci&T in 2002. You can connect with him at proberto@ciandt.com.
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