Forrester chief outlines game-changing challenges facing IT leaders

Forrester: Time for IT to shine

The changing consumer attitudes to the web will dictate most of the key challenges for business leaders in the post-recession era, according to experts at this week’s Forrester IT Forum in Berlin.

Forrester chief executive George Colony outlined the analyst firm’s view of the most significant technology trends that will shape businesses and said: “It is time for IT to shine.”

Colony told delegates we are in a “gateway recession” – a term used to illustrate two different eras in business management. He said going digital will be mandatory and crucial to the way products are sold and how companies and customers connect, and also in reducing costs.

Colony added that engagements between customers and businesses will also change and brand loyalty will decline, due to the rise of social technology that empowers customers and allows them to scrutinise and discuss brand value.

The technology imperatives will also reflect on the quality of the workforce in the coming years, said Colony, when a war for high-calibre, web-enabled staff that can make a difference will take place even more intensely.

Forrester’s chief also warned decision-makers to rethink their sales strategies and used the newspaper industry as an example of a market that is being forced to quickly change in response to the increasing flow of news available over the web.

The last challenge was related to the way businesses innovate. According to Colony, “standard” innovation is dead and the new model will be based on social technology, as well as collaboration with partners and even peer companies to specify how products and services should be developed.

“As the recession ends, it is time for IT to shine. It is similar to 1987, when companies started embracing desktop computers or to 1997, when companies began to welcome the internet,” he said.

“But what will happen in the years ahead is that IT will become looser, not tighter.”