It is common knowledge that mobile tech has completely changed the consumer-facing internet. Smartphones are now the dominant trend in the way that consumers buy. Similarly, the IT industry is wide open to disruption from mobile technologies. In this article I want to talk about a few of the key ways that mobile technology is affecting the IT industry.
User-Interface Design
A huge change brought about by the increasing influence of mobile tech on IT is the way user-interfaces are now designed. Prior to the smartphone and tablet, touchscreen technology was more of a novelty or a gimmick. Now, a touchscreen is the norm, and mouse and keyboard are taking a backseat.
This has had a profound impact on the way software is designed, with an increasing emphasis laying things out in such a way that they favour tapping with fingers as opposed to clicking with a mouse or typing on a keyboard. This has lead to cleaner, simpler designs, and the avoidance of design elements like dropdown lists, which are a nightmare on touchscreens. We can only expect this trend to continue as more and more of the internet and products are streamlined for mobile use.
Gamification
One of the fascinating upshots of the mobile revolution has been the way in which the IT industry now presents many of its solutions. While at one time you may have thought that leaderboards, avatars, and health bars were only present in online video games and casinos (like this recommended site for online casino games), increasingly we are seeing these design elements showing up in corporate IT products. We see this in the way that mobile technology and apps have blurred the lines between work and play.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Smartphone ownership is so ubiquitous at this point that most companies can assume all their employees will own one. This means that every one of your employees has a powerful computer that they bring into work every day, at no cost to the company. If you can leverage employees devices, you can actually cut down on the amount of computing infrastructure you need to provide.
Furthermore, employees are so proficient at using their smartphones that often they can use them more efficiently than they could use desktop hardware. Obviously, this depends on the task, but in certain areas, this represents a real opportunity.
The IT industry is adapting to this idea that employees bring their own device to work, instead of a company providing hardware to everyone.
This places greater strains on security than traditional hardware, because you have less control over people’s personal devices. For example, you cannot be certain that every employee is running the most up to date operating systems. Similarly, if your company keeps sensitive data, it is important that this data is never present or stored on people’s personal devices. This kind of data control and security is central to much of the work currently going on within the IT industry.
GPS and Location Tracking
One huge development that came with the advent of smartphones was en masse access to GPS technology. This has completely revolutionised the way people navigate, as well as the way that services are tailored to you based on where you are.
The IT industry has harnessed this in all kinds of ways, from the way that delivery companies can run everything through an app through to the having smart cities that continually update routes and navigation information based on traffic.
Also, for those who worry about this kind of tracking as an invasion of privacy, we have seen and will continue to see all manner of innovation in the area of disguising where devices are.
Internet of Things
Finally, the next great mobility revolution will be the continual rise of the internet of things. This is essentially the idea that computing power and internet connectivity is embedded into all kinds of smart devices around the home, the workplace and the city. We are already seeing all kinds of developments in this field, from smart home appliances to smart warehouses that automate all aspects of logistics.
This means that the IT industry is moving its focus away from ‘traditional’ computers (laptops and desktops) and more towards these kinds of connected, embedded devices that are in constant communication with each other as well as with users.
Featured article by Emily Peyton
