Manufacturing And Warehousing IT News For VARs — October 14, 2014

By Trisha Leon, contributing writer

In the news, analysts list top tech trends in manufacturing and look ahead to the need for WYOD (“wear-your-own-device”) policies. Articles also explore how businesses and supply chains can benefit from Big Data. 

Industry Analysts List Top Ten Tech Trends

At the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo held last week, analysts revealed findings as to which technology trends will significantly impact 2015. Industrial Distribution reports, “Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to the business, end users or IT, the need for a major investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.” David Cearley of Gartner says, “We have identified the top 10 technology trends that organizations cannot afford to ignore in their strategic planning processes,” adding, “This does not necessarily mean adoption and investment in all of the trends at the same rate, but companies should look to make deliberate decisions about them during the next two years.” Trends like context-rich systems, the Internet of Things, and 3D printing top the list along with other trends which VARs can encourage their clients to begin to implement. Global Manufacturing has also released with its own top ten tech watch list as well.  

Beyond BYOD Policies … To Wear Your Own Device Policies

In the article, “How’s Your Enterprise Wearables Strategy?” Information Week predicts that “the Apple Watch release in early 2015 will set the stage for wider enterprise adoption of wearables.” J.P. Gownder explains three wearables scenarios: company-owned scenarios, which will reshape the way work is done; employee-owned wearables, which will require companies to rethink their bring-your-own device policies; and customer-owned wearables, which will require businesses to design and support infrastructure for customer transactions through wearable technology. Gownder writes, “The wearables ecosystem will be built not by tech vendors alone, but by banks, retailers, hotels, hospitals, and brands.” VARs can create solutions and services in expectation of this technological trend to help their clients gain an advantage in the manufacturing sector.

Helping Your Clients Leverage Big Data

Jason Hiner, editor in chief of ZDNet, explains that though Big Data has vast potential for businesses, many are struggling with how to gain an advantage through it. Some enterprises experience difficulty in analyzing their own internal data, let alone gathering data from the web to gain additional insights, “which is what Big Data is all about”, says Hiner. In order to help enterprises gain a better understanding of Big Data, ZDNet and Tech Republic have put together a series of resources which explore the state of Big Data, challenges to harnessing its potential, and best practices through case studies of organizations that are using it successfully. Especially helpful is their “Executives’ Guide to Big Data” which can be downloaded as a PDF.

How Big Data Benefits Supply Chains

An Industry Week article, “Why Supply Chain Leaders Are Using Big Data Analytics,” reports that a recent Accutane study, “based on a survey of more than 1,000 senior executives (mostly from large global companies),” finds that though businesses have high expectations for Big Data, less have implemented in within their supply chain; in fact, only 17% of those surveyed have done so. Respondents who have managed to generate results from Big Data analytics have some commonalities. According to Industry Week, “Three key practices distinguished these leading companies from the others—and likely played a strong role in their results.” The article goes on to explain these three components in detail and ways for enterprises to follow their lead in regard to Big Data.

Manufacturing And Warehousing IT Talking Points

A new whitepaper from InfoWorld, sponsored by OPSWAT Inc., “Secure the Use of Portable Media in Critical Infrastructure,” explains how to secure critical business and data infrastructures in order to ensure enterprise practices can continue. Download here for information on developing security policies in regard to portable media that protect businesses from threats from outside sources.

For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Manufacturing And Warehousing Tech Center.