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Embrace the era of digital economy

More than 7 billion people will connect to the Internet using 30 billion devices by 2020.

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Businesses must adopt new ways as the world is changing and they must prepare for a ‘digital future’, according to industry specialists.

The transition to an ever more connected world, brought on by the Internet of Things, was a ‘huge digital wave crashing down upon business as usual.’

In this connected world software will be the key enabler. Software is not just about the killer app, it’s also about enabling devices with it. It is estimated that more than seven billion people will connect to the Internet using 30 billion devices by 2020 and these devices will need apps.

“We’re living in interesting time, from an IT perspective we live in unprecedented times. We have entered into the digital era and this is the biggest shift to happen since the industrial revolution,” EMC chief executive and chairman Joe Tucci said at a recent conference.

“Businesses must decide whether they want to ride opportunities presented by this wave or crash under it,” Tucci told EMC World conference. He added that the company was there to help and “figure out how to do that.”

The chairman identified three important business imperatives that organisations must look at so they can successfully transition into the digital age.

He said: “First, you need to build a digital agenda. To do that, you need to rediscover the art of writing software for a new era that’s more agile and pervasive.” He said the second imperative was to “transform IT to enable it to support this, and the way to do this is to move to cloud technology.”

He claimed that the hybrid cloud approach is the best way for many companies transiting with either legacy systems or which require flexibility on whether they go with private or public cloud. The third point for Tucci was a “laser focus on cyber risk,” especially as firms shift data to the cloud.

“This is where security analytics comes in to understand what’s happening and change the course,” the chairman explained.

These three imperatives, alongside pushing businesses on what EMC terms the third platform, a combination of social, mobile, cloud and big data, forms the core EMC’s “Federation Strategy”, which was launched by EMC last March.

David Goulden, chief executive of EMC Information Infrastructure said that technology is having a dramatic effect on the expectations of consumers who expect faster, more personalised digital experience.

The US multinational, which manufactures information management and storage software systems, said organisations need to redefine themselves and adopt a digital mindset, in order to embrace disruption and be prepared.

At the company’s annual show, EMC announced “Project Horizon” — a next-generation content platform and apps marketplace — to help IT directors and businesses drive their digital agenda, strengthen their competitive advantage, and harness the untapped value of business content.

The Project Horizon marketplace will be curated by EMC, including both EMC-built and partner-built apps and solutions.

EMC chairman said that along with its federated companies RSA, VCE, VMware and Pivotal, EMC aims to provide an “outcome-focused” solution to customer problems that uses best of breed technology coupled with allowing customers to choose and implement products from other vendors.

He said: “Our core philosophy and pledge to customers is to give you a choice with no lock-in. To do this is expensive and require scale, which EMC has.” The chairman also reaffirmed his firm’s commitment to investing in research and development.

EMC’s strategy was to spend 12 per cent of annual sales on innovation and new products, he said, adding that another eight per cent has been earmarked for further acquisitions.

The storage giant’s March quarter results saw the firm post sales worth $5.61 billion, despite analysts predicting slightly higher numbers of around $5.74 billion.

abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com

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