Says Organizations Need to Master Two Dimensions of Mobility, Key Technology and Market Trends in the Mobile Space Discussed at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016
With the convergence of devices, bots, things and people, organizations will need to master two dimensions of mobility, according to Gartner, CIOs and IT leaders will need to excel at mainstream mobility and to prepare for the post-app era.
David Willis vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner said, “The future of mobile will provide ubiquitous services delivered anywhere, by any person or thing, to any person or thing. While users are constantly looking for new and compelling app experiences, the importance of apps in delivering services will diminish and the emergence of virtual personal assistants (VPAs) and bots will replace some of the functions performed by apps today. Alternative approaches to interaction and service delivery will arise, and code will move from traditional mobile devices and apps to the cloud.”
Willis presented these findings during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016, which is taking place here through Wednesday.
Willis added, “The mobile landscape has changed dramatically during the past few years; mobile is no longer a novel technology, but business as usual, for most organizations. In 2016, Gartner forecasts the shipment of 2.37 billion devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones), and that 293 million wearables will be sold in the same year. In 2017, Gartner estimates that 2.38 billion devices will be shipped and 342 million wearables will be sold. The proliferation of mobile devices means that phones, tablets, laptops and wearables are now omnipresent within the business environment, reinventing the way people interact and work.”
Much of the innovation in the mobile space isn’t taking place inside the smartphones themselves, but in the things that communicate with them. Gartner predicts that by 2018, 25 percent of new mobile apps will talk to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Willis continued, “Most IoT devices that talk to smartphones do so via an app or the browser. “Through 2018, the app will be the preferred mechanism, because it provides a better experience and allows more sophisticated interactions and data analysis, with low-level networking and background processing. However, the current dominance of apps is challenged by several trends that, together, Gartner labels the “post-app era. As new technologies grow in importance as a way to control and interact with things, app interfaces will fade. The post-app era will be an evolving process through 2020 and beyond. It has, however, already begun, and organizations should prepare for it by being agile and tactical, planning for new skills, assessing the new opportunities created by the post-app era, and developing a digital business strategy that integrates many different technologies.”
A number of global players are enabling businesses and consumers to “chat” with users on their messaging platform evolving APIs and services so that developers can create their own bots. This concept allows users to chat with organizations to get information, answer questions and transact through messaging or VPAs.
Upcoming dates and locations for Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016 events include:
October 5-7, Tokyo, Japan
October 16-20, Orlando, Florida
October 24-27, Sao Paulo, Brazil
October 24-27, Gold Coast, Australia
November 6-10, Barcelona, Spain
November 15-18, Goa, India
