We are entering a new era of Information Technology (IT) that reimagines where we work, the way we work, and how we provide the tools for work. The first era was the mainframe where highly centralised computing was controlled by programmers and system operators. Then came the second era (client/server) that provides internet/computer users with services and capabilities, such as storing data, serving up web pages, and managing network activities. We are now embarking on the Third Platform era: a confluence of the Internet of Things, Big Data, Social and Mobility. Today is only the beginning of this paradigm shift. Businesses are yet to catch up to the cultural and technological changes occurring around them. In the future and as 5G emerges, workplaces will become a new wonder for employees.
Outdated hardware already harms productivity, but by 2020, such technological laggardness will be commercial suicide. Survey showed that outdated technology is harming workers’ productivity. The survey found that 62 percent of employees reported feeling their time is being wasted at work by outdated tools of technology – adding up to more than their annual holiday entitlement. Across the board, almost one third (27 percent) of public sector workers said their organisation is not so supportive when it came to boosting productivity.
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Despite the lack of recognition of technology, the majority of IT spending is siphoned off by maintenance, leaking money from innovation while hardware calcifies. Overall budgets are growing, but it is chiefly to accommodate increased spend on services and software. Gartner projects a 33.7 percent CAGR on cloud services by 2020, 6.9 percent on Enterprise software. The hardware that workers will use to access this life-changing, world-beating SaaS will be the same as they’re using today. Once the Third Platform Paradigm Shift is complete, businesses will start using Windows 10 on a 4G connection, persistently pausing meetings to buffer colleague’s holographic faces.
As of 2015, Millennials made up more of the workforce than any other generation, and by 2020, they will account for 50 percent of workers. This means HR and business leaders should be ready in welcoming this tech-savvy generation entering the workplace by ensuring the company has the latest of technology. But what do young generations truly want in terms of IoT? Here are ways to ensure you have the right tech for the majority of the workforce in the future.
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