Consumerization of IT with a Capital C

Consumerization is not a new concept. In 2005, Gartner defined it as "the growing practice of introducing  new technologies into consumer markets prior to industrial markets". Unfortunately, in the years since, the definition has gotten narrower - to where many primarily use to define how IT should treat a range of employee and visitor devices or what is termed BYOD policies.

As I wrote in this InformationWeek column, consumerization defined in broader terms creates significant new opportunities for IT in the form of smarter products and services:

"Many CIOs cringe when they hear the term "consumerization."...Flip that coin over and celebrate. The same employee who's a pain-in-the-rear user is also your company's new consumer, looking for more tech in everything from cars to a hotel stay. And that fact creates incredible new opportunity for IT teams to be more valuable to their companies."

I am also pleased to see this just out Oracle commerce survey which says

"B2Bs are Becoming the New B2Cs: -- B2B organizations are not just talking the talk, they are also walking the walk and adopting B2C commerce best practices as a way to drive revenue and market share. 80% of respondents agree that customer expectations have changed due to B2C retail practices.  Personalization, online catalogs and SEO continue to be the top three B2C practices that influence revenue the most for B2Bs."

Download the Oracle report - has interesting trends around CX - Customer experience.

And don't miss out on the opportunity to let Consumerization positively influence your operations across the enterprise, not just some narrow IT area.