Bring on SaaS

We know what is coming!!!

2012 is going to be a fascinating year for all of us – especially in terms of how technology can help us all.

As someone who runs a company I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and hate IT.

When everything is working all is good. When things break down – usually of their own accord and not due to changed settings, then life is not great. For example I have spent the weekend battling problems with Microsoft Outlook, my ISP who doesn’t provide support on weekends, and a major update to Windows and Office. I have put most of the weekend into solving IT issues.

Should I hire someone to sort through it. Yes, I should. Are they available at low cost whenever I need them, not a chance. Startups don’t have much cash.

Back to 2012. There are a number of trends converging in 2012 which will rewrite the way we think of and deal with IT issues.

1. Software as a service (SaaS) – imagine never having to install and maintain software releases again. I have been using Bullhorn – an online recruiting database/CRM/Email solution from the opposite side of the world, and continue to be amazed that I can touch type as fast as normal with absolutely no lag in what displays. Google Apps, the Zoho suite and Microsoft Office 365 are all the ones to watch.
2.  The Cloud is coming of age – get rid of the need for running your own servers and only pay for what you use. Online storage will become the norm – and even better, if they have RAID2 or better backups, then recovering data just got that much better too.
3.  Lawyers are finally recognising that we buy and use things as an individual or a family. A good example is Amazon allowing you to read your Kindle books on all your devices, after all how many sets of eyes do you have. For example, book publishers don’t genuinely expect everyone in a family to buy a separate copies of the same book do they. Likewise on an individual level you can have a desktop, a laptop, a smartphone and a tablet. These devices change regularly, but the one constant is the person or peoples using them.
4. Windows 8 is coming. I know a lot of people hate Microsoft, but I am not one of them. I value what they do, and as a businessman I look in admiration and envy at the same actions that thy call ruthless. If you are like a lamb in a lions den, expect to get eaten. From what I have seen of Windows 8 and its implications they are taking all of the above trends and combining them in a way that will be great for those of us who want to do business and not do IT. To put it more forcefully – I live on my iPad2 right now, but I will switch to a Windows 8 tablet and smartphone quicksmart if it allows it all to be integrated. I’ll even pay a decent amount for a Windows 8 tablet if I can use it as a real computer too.

Next year will be exciting.