How Has The Change In Technology Consumption Affected Us?

The mid 2000’s was an easy time wasn’t it? We could see where our servers and applications were and the IT teams controlled the technology environment. For many customers, these servers were even still in a room in their building! We had “cool” server names like Bart and Homer or Goofy and Mickey. As I am getting older, I meet less and less people who can identify with that last bit. I can guarantee someone reading this still has a server named Homer though!

Times rapidly changed though. I think there were fundamental shifts in the landscape that have happened at unprecedented scale and speed. And no, I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg and his Metaverse was actually one of them.

Capital dried up. The banking crisis almost forced a change towards OPEX based purchasing and the intense squeezing of budgets became real. I believe The knock on effects are still being dealt with today.

Cloud became the buzzword. We all thought that those servers in our server rooms were going to be gone and vendors like Dell and HPE would cease to exist. That was partly true yes. The reality is that it's no longer a choice between Cloud OR On-Premises (as was the messaging back then). The "OR" has been replaced with "AND". This shift explains why our business exists today. Everyone's role has become slightly more challenging with this intricate architecture. It's now about workload applicability and it's also about how your users securely and efficiently access these applications from wherever they are. This is what we help our customers with.

The rise of SaaS applications also meant that there was a democratisation of technology. Technology that was the sole preserve of large organisations with big budgets was now accessible to anyone who wanted it. Organisations were no longer limited by IT departments as the gatekeepers anymore. Line Of Business managers started to go back to being a kid again. They were only limited by their imagination and that continues today. If you dont help provide the technology, someone will just go and get it. 

Artificial Intelligence has emerged as the newest trend, sparking significant transformation and widespread discussion. The hype around it is huge but don’t get lulled into a false feeling that it is all just hype. I believe it is going to cause a shift in industries and it is accelerating at levels we cant actually comprehend right now.

In the US, Andreesen Horriwitz is invested in an AI company that is trying to replace lawyers. If you get a speeding fine or parking ticket, you plug in the details and it will work out any loopholes, send objections on your behalf and if you need to, schedule your appearance in court...all only for a few dollars. They are starting to do the same in the medical field where simple medical queries that would have needed a doctors appointment could be solved by uploading a picture of the strange rash that has developed on a body part (you may not want to show the doctor). Access to legal and health services that may have only been for the rich is going to create a shift in society that I am not sure we fully understand yet. 

And then finally, the one thread that runs through all of this as the biggest disruptor? I have eluded to it above, but I truly believe it is the one thing that has forced change in technology consumption in all organisations over the last 15 years.

Users with Credit Cards that are able to sign up for all these services and put your data in places that you don’t know about and therefore have no control over. There are people in your businesses getting business class upgrades on their holidays to Costa Del Sol because of this!

The implication of all this is that technology will be widely adopted, regardless of your consent. This creates a challenging issue of safeguarding your information as securely as possible without hindering your business operations. Fortunately, tools are available to protect your data, and the Microsoft 365 suite offers excellent solutions that you might already have access to through your existing licenses.

We are here to help you through this new Hybrid IT world and can assist you to fully utilise the tools at your disposal to get the most value you possibly can.