ChannelTrends: The Consumerization of the Business World

Just a few years ago, I was looking at a booth filled with the latest “consumer-oriented” products from Apple and several other manufacturers, when a solution provider friend of mine noted how odd it was that this company was displaying at an IT distributor event. While iPods and similar devices seemed out of place at a conference filled with IT resellers, the traffic through the booth was strong and the sales team seemed to be deeply engaged in discussions with attendees all day long.

So why would a consumer product company spend their money at a channel event? Quite simply, the market doesn’t end at a business’ front door. As one of their executives told me, “end-users not only want these devices, but they’d rather purchase them from someone they trust.” That philosophy not only continues today, but it’s gaining traction with more consumer technology and services.

The latest business trends include BYOD (bring your own device) policies, cloud services adoption and social network use. Each originated in the consumer market and is becoming prevalent in most verticals, with the approval of management and the support of the IT teams. That’s an extreme departure from the past, where external device usage was frowned upon and corporate networks were as hard to access as Fort Knox.    

One of the key drivers in the consumerization of the business community is mobility, particularly the passion with which users are adopting the latest technologies. A plethora of new devices are introduced each year, offering a variety of innovative operating systems that the manufacturers are using to push the limit. The benefits of this cutting-edge technology aren’t lost on the business community. They want to leverage it to improve their employees’ productivity and overall organizational efficiencies, but they often can’t do it alone and often look to the IT channel for help. It’s often left to solution providers to implement the consumerization strategy for the business community—and to secure and protect their infrastructure and data.

Enabling the Social Enterprise

Despite the prevalence of business Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, social tool adoption is still in its infancy in the corporate world. CompTIA research shows that, while social marketing is beginning to gain momentum, few companies are building and executing an effective strategy. That’s the basis for two new tools the association created to help channel partners successfully navigate and implement these media: the CompTIA Quick Start Guide to Social Media for Marketing and the CompTIA Quick Start Guide to Social Enterprise.

These free resources were designed for solution providers (and vendors) who want to either develop these strategies for their own business or to offer to their clients. These platforms can improve communications between the company’s mobile workforce and its corporate staff, as well as their customers. The guides include simple steps to build and execute a business’ social media plans, including how to improve efficiency with the use of mobility devices.

While learning the finer points of Twitter and LinkedIn may not appeal to every solution provider, their value in the corporate world is growing. Just like mobility, your clients may want to add social media components to their business, but aren’t sure how to go about designing a plan that meets their needs and minimizes their legal exposure. This specialty is also similar to a backup and data recovery practice, with the company strategy and employee policies as critical to its success as the technology used to run it.

And social networks are just the beginning, with a number of other platforms available to mine information and identify patterns. Monitoring and analytics tools help to track and observe streams of social data to recognize important trends, including Radian6, Visible Technologies and Crimson Hexagon. Aggregators such as Gist and Gigya collect information threads pertaining to key company criteria, while publication platforms like HootSuite and TweekDeck make it easier to distribute messages across multiple social media sites. These are more than “consumer-oriented” networks, with a number of tools that help businesses improve their communications and marketing efforts.

Are you interested in doing more than “kicking the tires” on social media? Then download the resources CompTIA created for companies just like yours.

Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at [email protected]