Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2019. Read them in this 11th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed by Don Mal, CEO, Vena Solutions
New Year, New Technology Trends and Predictions for 2019
As I predicted last year, 2018 saw
considerable growth, adoption and excitement in cloud software, collaboration,
connected data and more. 2019 promises to be another big year for innovation in
these and other technologies. What can we expect? Here's a look at my top
predictions.
Get ready for an evolutionary shift
to a truly connected cloud ecosystem.
Having
been in business software for 30 years, I've seen computing go through several
major evolutionary changes - from mainframes to mobile phones. Today, we're
seeing a similar shift fueled by mainstream cloud adoption, anytime, anywhere
mobility and interconnected data. In this new era, the cloud is everywhere in
business...and business is everywhere.
Both
as a function and a result, I believe an overwhelming majority of new
enterprise software installs will be purely cloud-based. Especially in medium
and large-sized companies, cloud adoption is only picking up speed. Take for
example, how in the last year Vena helped some of America's biggest, most
risk-averse banks move to cloud software for some of their most important
financial, reporting and regulatory needs. And when Wall Street's doing it, you
know it's hit mainstream adoption.
Office 365 & Google Suite to lead
consumerization of enterprise software.
The
best example of this trend is Microsoft's Office 365, the world's most popular
SaaS productivity software - and to a growing extent in large organizations,
Google Suite. Office 365 has driven the consumerization of business software in
large part with its Office Store, offering powerful business software and
add-on modules as easy-to-use apps. Just like the App Store or Google Play on
their smart phones, business users can pick and choose from a growing selection
of business apps to meet their precise needs.
I
believe 2019 will see Office 365 and Google Suite continue to use a
"business-user first" approach as they introduce more sophisticated enterprise
apps to their marketplace - for finance, data analytics, BI and more.
The B2BC software market emerges.
Advances
in cloud productivity software like Office 365, combined with increasingly
intuitive consumer technologies, will set a new bar for enterprise software design
in 2019. The consumerization of enterprise technology will bring with it a new
kind of market - what I call B2BC (business-to-business-consumer) software.
In
short, business users are consumers too. Enterprise software will begin to
reflect this, as generational changes, workforce mobility and other factors
drive higher expectations for personalized, easy-to-use and self-serve experiences
- in sales or accounting software as much as any mobile phone app.
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About the Author
Don Mal is CEO and co-founder of Vena
Solutions, a cloud software company providing budgeting, planning and revenue
forecasting solutions for medium and large sized organizations. Prior to Vena,
Don led the North American sales teams for Clarity Systems, an IBM Company. He
then led global sales for Cognos FSR at IBM before co-founding Vena. Don holds
an MBA from the Rotman School of Management and a Master's Certificate in
Project Management from the Schulich School of Business.