Social Networking - Trend 1 |
Part AOne of the most famous social networking platforms is Facebook, with over 750 million users worldwide according to Facebook Statistics, with 700 000 new users joining each and every day. Trendy no doubt, but what is even more interesting is that, according to socialbakers, there are over 4million users within South Africa, almost 10% of the country's population.
A social networking platform that started off locally, originally for mobile phones has over 10 million users in South Africa, stated Sarah Macdonald - Senior Research Executive at TNS Research Surveys - at SAMRA 2011. As this was developed locally the international uptake is at 27million, with 40 000 more users per day (webaddict). "There's no substitute for statistics" and these stats definitely show that both globally and locally, social networking is a big trend, which are here to stay. Part BSo if that many people are using social networking, then it must be all sunshine and rainbows, right? NOT SO!
The negative impacts affect, but are not limited to, teenagers and preteens. In a plenary talk called "Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids," Dr. D. Rosen (2011) discussed the potential negative impacts social networking can have on young people. According to Rosen, Facebook can be distracting and has a negative impact on students' capabilities in the classroom. Ramon Thomas, MD of Netucation, says that children openly exchange what should be private information on these social networking platforms. Ramon goes on to say that children accept online invitations to chat from strangers and that parents need to constantly remind them not to talk strangers, even online. A study conducted by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University researcher Adelina Mbinjama, in 2009 revealed that even in semi rural areas, MXiT was in high usage and 62% of the girls - aged 12 to 17 - received pictures of boys' genital areas and asked the girls to return the same. Ramon Thomas has written "The Parents Guide to MXiT" which teaches parents how to approach these touchy subjects and helps to educate both children and parents. If more people took the initiative to educate rather than ridicule, the world, South Africa included, would be a much better place. |
Part ATony Scott, the CIO of Microsoft says that IT consumerization will be a definite trend this year as it allows people to work anywhere, it is an "extension of mobility". According to Paul D'Arcy - Executive Director of Dell Large Enterprise - CIOs will not be able to ignore the consumerization of IT as there is a blurring of work and home that is taking place, as well as the emergence of new mobile devices which are highly capable of performing work related tasks.
According to a Gartner survey, by 2012, companies expect to support an average of 3 smartphone or tablet platforms. SAP South Africa says that the number one budget booster for a company is the consumerization of IT, by sanctioning the use of tools that are most likely already being used 'under the radar", companies can see increases in sales and even happier customers. With the ever-dropping prices of hardware in South Africa, IT consumerization is sure to take off. Part BSymantec's Director of Project Management says that with the increase of IT consumerization, so too will increase the likelihood of corporate information being leaked. This can be prevented by having policies in place explaining how and when these devices can be used as Editor in Chief of Techrepublic, Jason Hiner, suggests.
In a paper entitled "Friendly Takeover The consumerization of Corporate IT", Bernnatet al, (2010) say that with the consumerization of It, numerous risks occur. Among them are, security - data leakage either by intent or even inadvertently, has more chances of happening. Legal issues - there are laws and regulations in place governing how companies operate, for example if a company's policy is to closely monitor all data access and email traffic, these tasks become much more difficult when employees use their own devices. Last but not least, maintenance costs - once personal devices are allowed to join the corporate network, added costs are bound to arise from maintenance to support activities, added to this is the further cost of complex heterogeneous computing. Since the adoption of this trend is relatively new in South Africa, one would imagine that it is possible for companies to take the first step and provide guidelines and best practices for their employees to bring in their own devices and use tools they are comfortable with. This will give the employees a sense of empowerment whilst avoiding the "mess" that can arise if IT cosumerization is left unchecked. |
IT Consumerization - Trend 2 |
Cloud Computing - Trend 3 |
Part AAccording to Larry Bonfante, CIO of US Tennis association, they are using cloud computing for mainly back office functions which is saving them 1/3 of their hosting costs. Furthermore, Paul Bolt - who is a partner and marketing director of insight, says that many people are already using the "cloud" perhaps without knowing it. They use it for storage of emails and backups of important files or documents. So all the people using Gmail or the lesser known Ymail are all users of the "cloud".
According to Minaar Peters - Technology Analyst and Editor of Bandwidth Blog - two-thirds of the South African business sector are either already into cloud computing, or want to get into it. For most South African organisations, cloud computing is viewed primarily as a cost saving mechanism. According to Springboard Research lead analysts Michael Barnes and James Erickson small and medium sized businesses, 71% of them, are using cloud-based solutions. Part BUsers of cloud computing with dedicated server packages often complain about a lack of privacy and security functions (Daynesoft, Deloitte). Further issues with cloud computing includes navigating the cloud, managing content and being able to run a number of programs simultaneously (Daynesoft). If companies view cloud computing primarily as a cost saving mechanism, which they do, having to spend extra capital on hiring experienced professionals to handle their cloud or purchase some sort of cloud management software, either way, adding to the total cost of cloud computing for the individual company.
Thus, companies may still be sceptical to make the migration to the cloud. Even though so many businesses are looking to adopt cloud computing, for South African companies, one of the limiting factors is bandwidth (Springboard Research). However, with the new cables (SEACOM, WACS, EASSy etc.)being put into place, our situation is likely to change, soon. |
References
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx
http://www.bandwidthblog.com/2011/02/25/two-thirds-of-sa-businesses-heading-for-cloud/
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/423/60266.html
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/423/60266.html
http://www.cio.com/article/670770/5_Reasons_Why_CIOs_Can_t_Ignore_Consumerization_of_IT
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_ZA/za/insights/press-releases/0603e80244fc8210VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm
http://www.daynesoft.com/the-negative-aspects-of-using-cloud-hosts/
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
http://www.gartner.com/technology/research.jsp
http://www.ngopulse.org/article/impact-technology-children
http://www.parent24.com/Teen_13-18/care_nutrition/SA-teens-on-social-sites-20110406
http://ramonthomas.com/download/mxit/
http://www.sap.com/southafrica/solutions/sme/newsletter/2011_05_story1.epx
http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/south-africa
http://www.springboardresearch.com/default.aspx
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hiner/five-technology-trends-to-watch-in-2010/3473
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hiner/video-top-cios-speak-out-on-hottest-it-trends-and-2010-spending/3323
http://www.webaddict.co.za/2010/10/22/mxit-africa-largest-social-network/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX9B-YPvBC4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aL3H8SsNQc