Regardless of your feelings regarding triskaidekaphobia, there is
plenty to be nervous about in the coming year ending in the dreaded
number 13. It's not just the fear of the number itself or the
superstition that surround it, rather most SMB decision makers are
fearful of the economic unknown we continue to see in the U.S. economy.
The general consensus, post-election, is that the current administration
is less than friendly towards the needs of the average small and
mid-sized business which ironically is considered to be the largest
driver of the U.S. economy. Let me be clear, my intention is not to
debate the merits or shortcomings of the government's economic policy
rather I mention it as one of the factors in trying to predict what new
technologies will be major players in the New Year. Even though the
economic outlook for growth is less than rosy, the SMB community will
still be spending on technology.
To
that end, I turn to my go-to expert of all things technology for the
SMB; Laurie McCabe of The SMB Group. McCabe provides a yearly set of
predictions on what to expect, and while her forecast for 2012 was
broad, she was right on the money with the majority of her insights. Not
surprisingly, these trends included many of the subjects I've written
about including increased cloud adoption, deeper and wider adoption of
social media tools and concepts in marketing and sales, collaboration
and widely ranging forms of communication, and the rise of mobility for a
flexible workforce.
So where will 2013 SMB technology dollars be
spent? Most likely, there will be similar movement as seen in 2012.
However, we will see a greater shift towards the cloud among the small
business segment especially in the new entrepreneur arena of start-ups.
This scenario makes sense for "micro" SMBs that are working without
dedicated office space or a large employee base. Again in 2013, mobility
is expected to be on the rise but the adoption will pale compared to
last January's explosion of tablet PCs. However, the recent introduction
of the Microsoft Surface powered by Windows 8 could change that theory.
Companies that have invested in a Microsoft-centric network
infrastructure will be able to leverage the synergies of their server
operating systems with Windows 8 creating a seamless experience across
laptop, desktop, Surface, and Windows Phone 8.
With increased
mobility will come additional requests from employees to BYOD or bring
your own device. Employees expect employers to provide connectivity for
their own mobile devices to use across personal and professional
endpoints. This expectation presents several security and network
connectivity challenges that will need to be addressed in 2013 as was
the case in 2012. The BYOD movement led to the rise of software and
services called Mobile Device Management (MDM). MDM protects the
business from insecure access and allows the organization to track and
manage corporate data on personal devices.
When thinking about
technology spend for 2013, it's important that I point out another
factor McCabe discussed; the reticence of the SMB decision maker and/or
business owner to pull the trigger on any increased IT spending. With a
polarized electorate and an SMB community that has felt left behind by
current administration policymaking, a lot of projects that would have
been perceived as good for growth and expansion are going to be left
undone by economic uncertainty. Even after the November election and the
affirmation of another four years with the same administration, the
small and mid-sized business ecosystem will collectively pause and wait
for any indication of better times ahead.
The confluence of
several other factors will also contribute to slow the optimism. Several
tax breaks and programs designed to help jump-start SMB creation and
expansion have now expired including the IRS Section 179 tax deduction
on capital expenditures. For several years, this tax deduction had given
small and mid-sized businesses tangible benefits at tax time for
purchases of hardware, software, and services. Additionally, many SMB
owners and decision makes are fearful of another governmental mandate;
the national health care plan called "Obamacare" which may well add
another expense to the bottom line. I should also mention the potential for added taxation of base revenues once
Congress gets back into full session in the New Year. This was a double
whammy that left many SMB owners and decision makers very weary of
unnecessary spending.
The
expectation for 2013, based on what was seen last year, is that there
will be spending but with continued trepidation. If the current Congress
can start to compromise more, which may be possible given the
begrudging agreement on the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, maybe more
confidence can trickle down to the business community. As with anything
revolving around the number "13" there are still superstitions that
might color our thinking.
No comments:
Post a Comment