© 2011 Apptivo Inc. All rights reserved.

Technology trends that’ll help business move forward in 2012

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Maya Pillai

Tablets and Smart phones were the hottest technologies in the year 2010 and 2011. At the same

time, small/medium businesses recognized the potential of cloud-based technology and

collaboration services this year. In the year 2011, more and smaller business owners took

initiative to use cloud-based services to boost the growth of their business. With the year almost

coming to a close, it is now time to look at the top technologies and trends in 2012.

Cloud Computing is here to stay– Small/medium business have started to recognize the power

of cloud computing. For the next few years, cloud-based technology will rule the world. The

reason is that cloud computing has made it possible to share resources with ease and lesser cost.

Cloud and collaborative technologies have made anytime, anywhere computing and accessibility

possible. There are cloud-based services which are available for managing your projects, human

resources, invoicing and even for document storage and sharing. Industry analysts opine that

shortly businesses will ‘rent’ their servers instead of maintaining an in-house one. Therefore,

year 2012 will be known as the ‘Year for cloud-based services’.

Mobile Technology – With more and more small businesses conducting business transactions

using mobile application, this is going to be another technology which will be much used in the

near future. Mobile apps for social networking, product search, games, video and commerce are

widely used by people around the globe. Mobile devices such as ipad, iphone and more are

widely used by not only small and medium businesses, but also by the student community.

© 2011 Apptivo Inc. All rights reserved.

Smart phones – A study conducted by Forrester in 2010 showed that 49 percent of small

business owners conduct business through smart phones; 35 percent of the small/medium

business owners use Blackberrys; 25 percent own Androids, 33 percent have iPhones while 7

percent own Windows Mobile devices. The small business owners use Smart phones to check

and respond to emails, schedule calls and tweet on the go. In brief, they use Smart phones to stay

on top of their business. Android and Apple devices are used by many small business owners and

have shown an upward curve. Industry analysts believe sales of Smart phones will exceed those

of PCs in 2012.

Hybrid between a Laptop, Smart phone and Tablet – There is a market for hybrid between a

laptop, Smart phone, Tablet and PC. Though the sale of PCs is down, there will be a huge market

for cross over device that consists of all the technologies a small business owner would require to

run his business efficiently.

Talking about the top technologies to look forward in the year 2012, Internet Television is an

upcoming trend. Though it may not be used for business purposes, it will be one of the

technology trends to look for in 2012. The big players in the market include Logitech, Apple and

Sony.

In short 2012, is clearly an exciting time to watch out for nascent, evolving and revolutionary

technologies, which will clearly run the roost.

If you think there are other hot technology trends to look for in 2012, write to us. We welcome

your comments and feedback.