TechMarketView Theme for 2016: Surfing the Waves of Disruption

Each year TechMarketView presents a theme for the following 12 months that sets the tone for the key trends that will determine the shape of the UK tech market and the fortunes of its players.

This time last year we announced that our theme for 2015 would be Joining the Dots. The theme reflected not just the need for businesses to be able to interconnect their IT systems, networks and devices, but to interconnect their organisation too. Internally and externally.

Today we see an even greater sense of urgency for organisations to ‘join the dots’. Why? Because the disruptive forces that are prompting businesses to ‘de-silo’ (if you want to put it that way) and, especially, to smooth the path along their ‘digital journeys’, have become potentially even more destructive.

We believe that the defining challenge facing our industry in 2016 – and therefore TechMarketView’s theme for the year – will be Surfing the Waves of Disruption.

Just think about it.

A year ago Bitcoin was mainly seen as a high risk crypto-currency. Today, many think that the underlying ‘blockchain’ technology may completely rewrite the future for the global payments industry – and put many traditional financial services companies out of business.

The same applies to other vertical markets – not least of which, Public Sector. The UK Government’s digital agenda has arguably seen as many shortcomings as successes. Yet progress on major policy initiatives depends on making the IT work. This, as Government faces possibly the biggest disruption to its relationship with Continental Europe should Britain vote next year to leave the EU.

The technologies and services that industry looks to in order to mitigate this disruption are themselves being disrupted, forcing pricing – and therefore profits – down. The lines between applications, infrastructure and business processes are becoming increasingly and more rapidly  blurred as organisations seek suppliers that can provide ‘business outcomes’ rather than ‘IT outputs’. Traditional solutions no longer cut the mustard. ‘Intelligent Automation’ – and the huge amount of data it consumes – has moved from nice-to-have’ to can’t-survive-without’.

And what will this mean for the IT industry? More consolidation – not all of it rational. More partnerships – not all of them successful. More crazy valuations – not all of them sustainable.

The waves of disruption are crashing against the shore. The smart surfer knows you have to ride them, control them, master them, use the force of the waves to set you in the right direction before they drag you back out to sea.

To read any of the Predictions by sub-sector, click on the stream links below:

•  PublicSectorViews, Georgina O'Toole - Predictions 2016: Pulibc Sector

•  FinancialServicesViews, Peter Roe -  Predictions 2016: UK Financial Services 

•  BusinessProcessViews, John O'Brien - Predictions 2016: Business Process Services

•  InfrastructureViews, Kate Hanaghan - Predictions 2016: Infrastructure Services

•  ESASViews, Angela Eager - Predictions 2016: Enterprise Software and App Services

•  Richard Holway - TechMarketView's Theme for 2016 - Surfing the Waves of Disruption

Next up in January, TechMarketView Foundation Service subscription clients will be able to read our Predictions 2016 Report which will expand on the these views.

We hope you have a restful break over the festive season – because 2016 looks very much set to disrupt that peaceful calm.

Posted by: Anthony Miller at 08:07

Tags: predictions  

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