Dec 18 2008
Forrester: Reshaping the Tech Sector
Last month Forrester published “The Hour of the Vendor Strategist: Three Mega Business Trends Will Reshape the Tech Sector.” As one may guess, much of the shaping will be done by the present state of the economy. Amidst the doom and gloom, however, “Forrester encourages forward-thinking tech vendors to see the silver lining in today’s dark economic clouds.” For those who avoid, “channeling all their strategic thinking into dealing with the recession’s short-term effects,” a tech landscape that will be entirely redrawn by 2015 may prove fertile ground; even in the relatively near-term. Contributing to the remapping of the landscape are: globalization 2.0, invisible IT, and the consumerization of IT.
The current state of the economy, and other factors including its longstanding position as a frontrunner, has kept the attention on the Western economy. However, Forrester suggests that this has already begun to change: “Throughout the 20th century, the Western economies, led by the US, dominated the world markets. No more.” The “explosive” growth of the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China are poised to take the front seat. With their growing economies and tech sectors, the Eastern economies, “will challenge Western tech multinationals to localize their whole value chains,” says Forrester. Furthermore, Globalization 2.0 will lead to an explosion in workforce diversity; companies will, “engage in a talent war as they outbid each other to hire multicultural senior managers who can orchestrate cross-regional teams and partner ecosystems.” Finally, “The days of the West as the epicenter of global innovation are numbered.” Also numbered are the days of IT as it is known today.
