It’s a cloud enabled social media mobile world of big data

Image by Affiliate via Flickr

Did I hit all of the tech buzzwords in the title of this post or what?  I’m not trying to take advantage of any keyword search algorithm to get more views, but if it happens, all the better. The intention of the title is to paraphrase what Frank Gens, Senior Vice President and Chief Analyst at IDC recently said:

“The IT industry as a whole is moving toward the mobile/social/cloud/big data world of the 3rd Platform much more quickly than many realize: from 2013 through 2020, these technologies will drive around 90% of all the growth in the IT market…Companies that are not putting 80% or more of their competitive energy into this new market will be trapped in the legacy portion of the market, growing even slower than global GDP.”

This could have not been more evident than at DellWorld last week. I had the opportunity to attend with some of my Seagate co-workers and friends, and you could tell Dell is positioning itself for growth with a focus on these key areas.  The trade show floor was setup in a neighborhood style with the neighborhoods being Business Enablement, Security, Cloud, Social Media, and Big Data. I had the pleasure of working the cloud neighborhood which was well attended.

But, probably not as well attended as the Big Data and Social Media sections of the floor.  I was not surprised that Big Data was of interest to IT Managers from both public and private institutions, but was a bit surprised at the level of interest in social media. It seemed like all of the presentations inside the social media booth were packed.  Some of the presentations focused on how to use social media not as a marketing tool, but as an IT tool to better engage with users, solve problems, and provide services. The Business Enablement and Security sections were also well attended. Probably because they are the traditional IT standby’s that IT Managers always look for ways to improve.

My take aways from DellWorld 2012 (putting myself in the mind of an IT Manager) when it comes to Social Media, Big Data, and Cloud:

  • IT Managers seek better ways of providing services and support to users using social tools employees are becoming more familiar and comfortable using, and many times prefer.
  • IT Managers are being asked to develop strategies to harness data to improve the business or institution, to make it more competitive, to meet customers needs, to gain a competitive edge.
  • IT Managers are adopting Cloud in very strategic ways.  The IT pros I spoke to all had one thing in common: they all were using cloud, but only in certain areas.  There was no massive transition to a cloud infrastructure, or adoption on a wide scale.  Instead, it was very targeted in areas where it made the most sense in terms of lowering TCO, or meeting some specific metric or need.

What was also very cool about DellWorld was seeing Michael Dell walking the floor, talking to customers, shaking hands, and taking pictures. Such appreciation combined with a focus on the areas IDC points out as critical to long term success makes me believe Dell is in a position for growth for years to come. It all comes down to execution.

Do you think Dell will pull it off?

Check out Seagate’s photos from DellWorld 2012 on Flickr & Facebook.

Related Posts:

More on Big Data
More on Security
More on Cloud

 

2012-12-17T10:39:41+00:00

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One Comment

  1. Xtreme Displays TX December 12, 2013 at 2:43 pm - Reply

    Really nice post here. The IT industry is changing and with suit so are the rest of the industries. You have done a great job laying things out here.

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