Surviving Technology Extinction

The piece argues that the pace of technology change makes it hard for CIOs and IT leaders to choose tools and partners. Mobile, cloud, and big data have multiplied the number of devices, platforms, and services enterprises must support, while once-safe vendors are being displaced by mobile and cloud companies.

It proposes three tests for judging modern vendors: whether they put the user first, whether they sit inside a broad ecosystem, and whether their architecture is genuinely open. The article closes by saying enterprises can move beyond just surviving technology change and use it to drive digital innovation and new markets.

Reading notes

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• CIOs and IT leaders face the same difficulty consumers face in deciding which technologies are worth backing.
• Mobile, cloud, and big data have expanded the number of systems enterprises have to connect, adopt, support, or build around.
• Large legacy IT vendors are being overtaken by mobile innovators, cloud players, and companies like Google and Amazon.
• Useful vendors make software simple, complete, and shaped around the user’s device, identity, and access to data.
• Ecosystems matter because they bring developers, complementary products, outside validation, and skilled people who can support future development.
• True openness shows up in interoperability and in active contribution to open-source communities.
• The article says enterprises should see this period as a chance to lead digital innovation instead of only maintaining existing systems.