Enterprise IT is becoming a commodity. The cloud makes it easy for companies to provide updates and feature upgrades constantly, behind the scenes. As a result, the leaders in every technology category are starting to look the same – all selling the same basic services, all delivered using the same basic infrastructure.
Truly, the main difference is becoming how easy technology vendors make it for customers to buy their product and start using it.
I predict we can look for more enterprise-grade software and hardware being sold on consumer outlets. Amazon already has at least one listing for a multi-user license of enterprise “web-to-host network management” software. (That’s not even Amazon Web Services. That’s just plain Amazon.)
What does consumerization of enterprise technology mean for business – and business workers?
Consumerization Has shifted the IT-Worker Balance of Power
The roles are reversed for IT departments and their customers. IT used to make all network and appliance decisions. Employees or other users had to adapt their way of working to whatever technology they were given.
Think about the whole Bring Your Own Device movement. Originally, IT directors held off on integrating tablets and smartphones into their networks. Their argument was that personal devices couldn’t offer the security that businesses need.
But the users decided. They demanded personal devices on corporate networks, and it’s happening, almost like fate. Standards allowed it to work, and by and large that was that.
So it goes with a lot of technology today. As the Internet has matured, expectations of how and where you can work have changed. You are now just as likely to be in the driver’s seat as the IT department when it comes to choosing the technology you want for work.
You’re still the customer, and IT’s still the provider – it’s just that the balance of power has shifted.
Cloud Services Let IT departments Put User Experience First
It’s not unreasonable any more to expect IT to adapt to users’ technology – much of which is designed for the consumer market. It’s easier now than even five years ago.
With Software-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service over the cloud, today’s IT leaders worry less about racks, equipment and networks. They can focus more on meeting user technology expectations. (And users expect to use their consumer devices and applications at work.)
Even now, IT departments aren’t necessarily buying “technology”; they’re buying services, and letting consumers bring their own products to access those services.
That’s why it’s not much of a leap to conclude that enterprise-class business technology of all kinds should soon be available on consumer shopping sites. Before long, you may be able to purchase sophisticated business collaboration software, the latest New York Times Best Seller and a Billboard Hot 100 album at the same time.
You can probably download them all, too.
Simon Dudley is the Video Evangelist for LifeSize. He is on Twitter @simondudley.
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