The Change Catalyst

1. Software as Services

As the business world shifts their software away from PCs and onto mobile devices, telcos will start to eat the lunch of IT companies by moving into areas previously dominated by technology companies. Asian telecos will lead the charge and especially China Mobile and China Telecom will go on a buying spree in Europe and North America.

What that means for you?

Cloud computing and software in the cloud services will become cheaper and more widely available. Look for ways to take advantage of these services, like 37signals Basecamp (project management), mozy.com (data backup) and iContact (email marketing). Businesses that take advantage will be lean and ready for a world of continuous fluctuations and uncertainty.

2. China is not the only growth story

China will still be the beacon of hope in the world’s global recovery. China will add over 20 million new affluent middle class consumers a year over the next ten years. Government stimulus package investment in infrastructure like transportation will provide a boost in property prices and consumption in luxury brands name in cities you have never heard of like Wuhan, Dalian, Ningbo, Wenzhou, and Xiamen. These Tier 2 and 3 cities will drive China’s growth the next five years as major markets in Shanghai and Beijing saturate. But it’s not only China, India will produce more and more innovations for the developing world, as major brands repurpose their existing products for local conditions. Nokia sell more cameras (which happen to be phones as well) than Sony in India.

What that means for you?

What’s your emerging market story? Do you have a way to leverage your experience in China, India or Vietnam? Are you being creative enough in exploring new ways to package, market and deliver your ideas to the marketplace.

3. Quick Response hardlinks in marketing creates divides

Quick Response (QR) technology goes mainstream as the number of applications explodes. With mobile operating system’s, like Android, increasingly able to read QR codes without any extra software downloads, QR applications in marketing will boom. From billboard ads using scan-able codes on billboards that allow consumers to download special offers to corporations adding QR as part of employee engagement initiatives. This new shift will drive a division between consumers who are tech savvy and those that aren’t. Unlike the internet which is a private experience, this approach openly makes clear to those who aren’t in the know, that they are behind the times.

What that means for you?

How can you use this technology to create more engagement with your tech savvy audiences, like Gen Y or business users. How can you apply this technology to create buzz and intrigue while measuring the outcomes of your promotions?

Do you have a solution for the slew of people who are feeling alienated and left behind by technology advances and who don’t have or want a smartphone. How can you prevent this feeling of being overwhelmed and replace it with one of simplicity?

4. Mobile devices create opportunities

Tablet devices, like the iPad, and smartphones become de facto business tools with Android the clear market leading operating system on smartphones.

What that means for you?

Have you optimised your web site look for the new tablets coming out? What about smart phones? How can you target this segment with device specific offers? Do you have an iphone / iPad strategy and an Android one?

5. Internet freedom challenged again

Wikileaks releases further embarrassing (but nothing that is especially new) leaks about banks and other prominent global businesses that lead the business lobby to call on governments to increase regulation of the internet. Government willingly oblige and implement (previously prepared) policies that require registration of all web sites, ID for users and sales tax on all transactions. (This is probably a little drastic,and probably won’t happen but what if…)

What that means for you?

Don’t rely on the internet for everything. While everything is moving online and into the cloud, don’t neglect traditional strategies. For marketing, send a few handwritten cards and meet clients face to face. For business, back up data on at least two external hard drives and print out your most important information. As a creative thinking exercise, ask yourself how would you cope if you didn’t have access to the internet for 90 days. Scary thought, isn’t it?

6. Social media participation is the new addiction

Social media turns from being the next new thing to an integral part of business life. Facebook continues to dominate and push the border of privacy as it officially announces that all user data will be used for commercial purposes. Nobody seems to mind. Facebook becomes a portal for access to all social media (every online service will allow you to log in using your Facebook account. Life without Facebook seems unthinkable.

Mangers find it more and more difficult to relate to their younger colleagues who seems to be detached from the real world and rely increasingly more and more on the virtual world for connections with friends, instant messaging through social media sites, shopping online for everything from instant downloadable entertainment to grocery shopping. It sounds like a 1999 dot com pitch, except it’s real now and you have to deal with it!

What that means for you?

You need to have a strategy for social media that makes sense for your business and includes a way to measure the outcomes of all the time and energy you invest in social media participation. You need guidelines on how your staff will use social media and you need policy on what can and what cannot be said on social media sites built into your employee handbook and specifically stated in HR contracts.

You also need to get a sense of humour and think of new spins on how your brand can message itself through social media that thinks 140 characters is the limit of attention span. Not all social media platforms are right for you and your business, find out which ones are in 2011.

7. Virtual teams leverage independent professionals

Only the nimble will thrive. Increased use of virtual teams and outsourcing to virtual assistants and service providers. Independent professionals who operate with no teams or one or two support staff will leverage their business by using virtual teams to manage their business processes, like marketing, social media participation and increasingly core process like sales and customer service.

What that means for you?

You can be more productive, attract more clients, deliver higher value, make a bigger impact in the world and increase your income by learning how to recruit, train and work with virtual partners. Get in the game this year.

8. Augmented reality makes a play

With the boom in smartphones, augmented reality (AR) – the ability to look at something in the real world, point your camera at it which then overlaps hotspots of information, like text, pictures and sound. Which means that people are walking around with the power to become instantly smart on a topic. It’s like in the movie The Matrix when Neo is learning new skills through download. Jujitsu anyone?

What that means for you?

You are increasingly dealing with consumers who - at a click - think they know everything. How are you using their access to information to enhance your offering? Are you still trying to do everything yourself or are you asking your customers to be the leader of the experience they want from you and your company. How can you be more customer-lead this year?

9. Executive communication

Despite all the advances in technology, executives will continue to have to un-learn and re-learn how to communicate with their key stakeholders. As technical executives rise to the ranks of country heads, they will need to learn the skills of story-telling, engagement and interaction so that they can switch between data-intensive presentations to impactful, memorable soundbites.

What that means for you?

You may be a subject matter expert, but are you an engaging speaker? Take this test; tell a family member or friend who knows next-to-nothing about the essence of what you do in your job, and in sixty seconds deliver the most engaging introduction you can muster. If they want to know more after sixty seconds, then great you are on the right lines as an engaging speaker. If their eyes are glazing over, then it’s time to improve your skills.

10. Better year ahead

As the world emerges from the after-shocks of the global credit crunch and economic slowdown, it is worth remembering that we are still an amazingly lucky and privileged generation.

What that means for you?

It is worth being aware that for the most part we still have our destiny in our hands and through technology have opportunities that our recent ancestors never had. Isaac Newton said “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In 2011, stand up in this amazing world we live in and make it a better world.