Future Technology Trends to Start Planning Around Now

With every passing year I continue to be amazed at the rapid pace of technology innovation, and 2015 will be no exception. In fact, it seems the speed of innovation is getting even faster, as technology and business are converging at unprecedented levels. I’m not the only one who has noticed it—my SAP colleague Kevin Gilroy recently noted at our recent SME Summit that we’re at “a fabulous inflection point” with innovation that happens once every 25 or 30 years.

With so many new technology trends reaching critical mass, it’s easy to miss one. But you need to stay on top of them or get left behind. It’s imperative that solution providers be able to identify all the latest trends and piece together the puzzle to best fit their own business—and that of their customers.

With that in mind, here are three technology trends that will have a profound impact on the SME space in 2015 and beyond.

1. The Networked Economy

As our connected world continues to mature (up to 75 billion devices will be Internet-enabled by 2020), we are developing new ways for machines to work together. In the so-called Networked Economy, there will be unparalleled collaboration, productivity and innovation.

Imagine the possibilities of a connected network with virtually no boundaries, offering unfettered access to almost any device anywhere. The Networked Economy could have a greater impact on our society than the Industrial Revolution. That’s big enough to start talking about with customers right now—just to let them know you’re on your game. Ask your vendor partners what their plans are, what their road map is, and what you can do to be ready for what’s on the way.

2. The Third Platform

The Third Platform—the loosely defined shift toward mobility, social business, cloud and big data/analytics—will drive up to 90 percent of IT industry growth from 2013 through 2020, according to IDC.

Further, more than half of companies have adopted some form of cloud services now, and about 70 percent of CIOs will embrace a cloud-first strategy when looking at IT by 2016.

The problem?

Many companies struggle to make sense of it all—of identifying and implementing the right tools, of monitoring application performance and maximizing value from their investments.

If customers start to think cloud first, solution providers need to do so more quickly. And even if you’re well down the path offering Third Platform technologies, think about increasing that investment—soon. We expect SAP partners to make $11.3 billion in SAP Cloud and managed services in 2018, a 10x increase compared to last year. That’s how you spell opportunity.

3. The Millennial Decision Maker

It was inspiring to see so many 20-something business owners attend our recent SME Summit—all of them super-smart, super-motivated and super-bold. The millennial generation has grown up, and its influence in corporate America gets stronger every day. 

We’ve talked about these “kids” for some time—the ones who grew up in the digital age. Their demands of technology are going to be far beyond what we’ve seen to date.

It’s going to be our job to ensure we’re delivering technology to them in new ways at unprecedented rates. Sit down and talk to college students today. They’ll not only tell you what they want; they’ll ask you why you can’t do it yet.

Wait Until Next Year? No Way!

As channel companies, our collective success rests on being able to read the market and develop the solutions that customers need to improve their productivity and efficiency. SAP is already planning big investments around these trends in 2015, to ensure that SAP is leading the way and our partners can help get us there.

End of year is a good time to sit back and marvel at what’s going on, but not for long—you could easily fall behind. We talked a lot at SAP this year about making history. Now it’s time to start doing it!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Make 2015 a great one!

Ira Simon is vice president, Partner Marketing & Communications, at SAP. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s annual sponsorship.