In the recent past, only large enterprise organizations were able to invest in large scale IT solutions. However, with the rapid development of affordable cloud based offerings, companies no longer have to invest millions in order to develop a sophisticated infrastructure, and with the lowered cost comes a lower barrier to entry, effectively leveling the playing field for organizations of all sizes.
Innovations in IT allow small and medium sized businesses to compete with larger players in their respective industries and as a result, more and more companies are finding themselves interacting with major vendors and partners, regardless of size.
Specifically, when it comes to trends in IT that are moving the needle, we can point to the rising number of cloud-based solutions that enable citizen integration. These solutions democratize the integration process by allowing business users to perform tasks like data transformation and new partner onboarding, and being cloud-based, don’t require massive investments in hardware and software.
So how will this affect business users and companies as a whole?
At the highest level, businesses no longer have to be a Fortune 1000 company to interact with large suppliers and partners, as the technology is now readily accessible to small and mid-sized players.
Small companies without IT departments can leverage these cloud solutions to affordably add IT capabilities without having to invest in hiring an entire IT department. Combining cloud-based solutions with the nimble nature that characterizes any startup company results in SMBs being able to roll out products faster, onboard suppliers more quickly and scale as they grow; adding incremental capabilities organically as the company grows.
Bottom line: the playing field is more even that is has ever been to date.
The reality of small businesses competing with larger, less agile organizations is more evident than ever. Currently, there is a trend of major vendors looking to offer boutique or niche products to their customers, and securing the interest of large industry vendors has long been the dream of smaller companies.
With solutions that securely enable citizen integration, business users can onboard desired clients and partners much faster, and as smaller companies increasingly have the ability to distribute their product or service faster than large companies, this trend will only continue.