This month, Gartner unveiled the list of top 10 tech trends for 2012 at annual symposium in Orlando. In the words of Jason Hiner from TechRepublic.com
“This is always one of the most anticipated presentations of Gartner Symposium since it helps give a 20,000-foot view of the year ahead”
Here is a quick list for your review:
Jason gives a good breakdown of each trend. This blog represents my viewpoint on some key takeaways for the CRM community.
Takeaway # 1: Cloud Computing & CRM
The biggest surprise on this list is the demotion of cloud computing. Last year, it was #1 on the list. It could perhaps indicate one of two things:
- Cloud computing has become so pervasive that it no longer qualifies as the “hottest” trend
- Cloud computing has crossed the peak of hype cycle and it will now be under a microscope where failures will be noticed
Within CRM community, be prepared for conversations beyond cloud either cloud is expected but not enough or where cloud challenges are out in the open (without the benefit of being classified as an emerging technology)
Takeaway # 2: Human Experience & CRM
The human experience is the new cloud. The consumerisation of IT has put a whole new focus on the old science of “human computer interaction”. CRM experience will increasingly be spread across multiple devices and applications. In such a world, CRM will be an “aggregator” that provides a seamless experience.
If you have not noticed, check out the latest positioning from Salesforce. It is about “social enterprise” where CRM is one of many components.
Takeaway # 3: Apps & CRM
In the words of Gartner analyst David Clearly, “With enterprise app stores the role of IT shifts from that of a centralized planner to a market manager providing governance and brokerage services to users and an potentially an ecosystem to support apptrepreneurs”
Third party application providers are not new to the CRM community. Traditionally, these small niche products were built to fill gaps in the vendor applications. Today, the roles have reversed. The Apps are considered integral to any platform or business application. The proliferation of Apps is expected by enterprise consumers and CRM applications will increasingly become a mash-up of Apps.
Takeaway # 4: Big Data & CRM
The concept of data has changed dramatically in the last couple of years and this is just the beginning. A CRM lead without Linked-In integration is considered stale. Today, data augmentation is “always-on” with services like D&B, USPS, etc. easily usable by CRM applications.
Takeaway # 5: Analytics & CRM
In the world of big data, social data and rich internal data, it is only a matter of time that analytics will becomes the most differentiating feature in a CRM application. The role of analytics will be to provide a sense to a user of all the noise that CRM applications are being exposed to across multiple form factors.
Looking forward to your thoughts on the Gartner’s Top 10 trends for 2012 and how it will impact the world of CRM.
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