Aldridge: Growing Businesses Risk Falling Behind if they Resist Technology Trends
Strategic use of emerging technologies can improve processes, accelerate growth
HOUSTON, March 21, 2015 – Aldridge (www.aldridge.com), a leading provider of information technology (IT) outsourcing with elite first-response support, has unveiled its five emerging technology trends that are shaping 2015 and promise to accelerate the pace of change for growing businesses. Aldridge offers insights about the direction of the cloud, security the 'bring your own service' trend, apps and outsourcing.
"We expect that the combined impact of these trends will have a profound impact on how growing businesses operate for many years to come," said Aldridge President and COO Patrick Wiley. "We expect businesses to derive greater strategic value from the cloud, frequent security breaches will signal a new normal and prompt businesses to redouble their security protocols, cloud-based services and apps driven by employee behaviors will force companies to adapt, and the advantages of IT outsourcing will grow in value due to economic realities."
Aldridge's five top trends in business technology include:
Cloud adoption is becoming more strategic and process-driven. The cloud is increasingly being integrated into business processes through file sharing, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Moving these to the cloud allows real-time data availability, which is necessary for the anytime, anywhere demands of today's workforce.
IT Security is focusing more on human behavior. The greatest security threats that a business faces will remain internal. Growing businesses must communicate a clear data policy that succinctly defines ownership and consequences of violations. Employees must know that the enterprise owns the data and stealing it can lead to prosecution, for example.
BYOD is evolving into BYOS. Most companies now allow employees to use their own devices for company work. Now these same employees are gravitating to their preferred services or apps, such as Evernote and Dropbox. As they did with BYOD, smart enterprises are adapting to this movement, rather than resisting it.
The app economy is making it easier for enterprises to experiment. By giving employees permission to try new business enabling tools, IT departments can focus on the dozen that could have broad application throughout the organization. Trying new things in an app economy typically involves low cost and low risk.
Economic uncertainty is making outsourcing IT even more attractive. The recent drop in oil prices may put the brakes on the improving economy. Outsourcing IT is an important strategic option for enterprises to effectively manage vital IT services, while dynamically adjusting to the peaks and valleys of the economy.
Aldridge offers a broad range of outsourced custom IT services, such as:
- Managed Services
- Professional Services
- Cloud Services
Outsourcing IT management provides peace of mind and access to the latest technology. Companies that completely outsource IT management are significantly more satisfied with their IT support than companies that rely solely on in-house IT management (according to an Aldridge survey of 600 Houston businesses with 25 to 250 desktop users).
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About Aldridge
Aldridge is a technology management, consulting, and outsourcing company that specializes in providing best-fit IT and cloud computing solutions to SMBs that are growing. Founded in 1984, Aldridge has offices in Houston and Dallas. The company's unwavering dedication, superior technical expertise, and keen understanding of business processes have transformed it into a trusted partner of clients across the nation. In 2014, Inc. magazine ranked Aldridge among the fastest-growing private companies in America for the fifth consecutive year.