Without doubt, Apple’s current success ‘high’ is a phenomenon.  But is its success also its biggest growth barrier?

Let’s consider just three things:

1.  Apple’s tablet products cannibalising their own desk and laptop market in extending the post-pc era

2.  Apple’s iPhone evolution and refresh cycles

3.  Apple’s iPad evolution and refresh cycles

Without question, Apple like its laptop and desktop competitors is seeing sales erosion in their figures as more and more consumers opt for a tablet over that of a replacement PC.  Although this is not necessarily a terrible thing for Apple, it is still an issue as to how they continue to pursue growing shipments in their PC products.

Everyone lusts after an iPhone – well almost everyone.  When I stepped on the tube the other day, except for one Blackberry, everyone was toting an iDevice of some description.  And as significant as each new iPhone is, I find myself like countless others passing on the option to get the next update to my own phone, and instead looking out two a second year wait when I feel I’ll have got a good run for my immediate money, and our friends at Cupertino will have made more justifiable change-out reasons for me to upgrade. 

There are of course fanboys who will buy every new version and trade up or sell-on their older one through the usual secondhand markets.  But for many like myself, the 4s just wasn’t enough of a compelling argument to ditch my iPhone 4.  Tell you what though, I reckon the iPhone 5 will be pretty awesome, and I fully plan to go grab that one.  See what I did there?  Yep, leapfrog.  And this should be news to no one, not least Apple.  And this basically means that there is an army of Apple lovers out there that are starting to trend towards buying every other release, or put another way, something like 25-30% of Apple’s customer base.  Now that’s an interesting problem to have.  Just ask RIM or Samsung…

And it’s the same story with the iPad too.  I for one am passing on the opportunity to impoverish myself again on a new iPad this week, and instead will somehow manage to struggle through the coming year with last year’s poster boy.  Oh the horror of it all!  No, not really, but you get my point.  As wonderful as a better processor and higher resolution will be, it’s not something that I believe will change my inner geek’s thinking.  I, like many others, will wait a little longer for something more to come out of the Magic Mountain in Cupertino.

To sum up, whilst it may be true that Android & Windows are more popular than IOS & OSX, it is clear that Apple is still head and shoulders above its nearest brand rivals.  So much so, that its very success is shaping consumer demand and behaviour to the point that one of its biggest issues now seems to be how to get consumers to rotate their purchases more regularly.

Things, as they say will one day change, but not for a while yet.  Now get back in that queue, the new iPad (3) goes on sale in just 4 days..

Fortunately, most companies do seem to have been cautious in their approach to cloud, holding back from putting critical systems in the cloud until worries are overcome. However, some of these applications are most suited to the application of cloud computing. CRM systems, for example, are accessed more frequently during significant sales drives, and HR systems, storing highly confidential customer details, are much busier when recruiting new employees – or when opening an entirely new office.

This kind of scalability perfectly suits the cloud computing ‘pay as you go’ model, as companies can grow their infrastructure when needed, without paying for extra capacity during quiet periods. In the wake of the ‘cloudwash’ and subsequent fear of cloud, it is important that customers choose to put the right systems into the cloud, rather than being deterred by the concept.

As we have discussed, it is often the systems that organisations least expect to put in the cloud which are most appropriate for it. However, as long as they keep the end goal in mind and do not neglect vital concerns such as security and performance, cloud has the power to radically transform the end user experience of IT.

However, before then, we may have another technological challenge to address. According to some sources, we may have snow in October. Most years, snowfall disrupts our working lives during the winter, but it usually has the good manners to wait until the New Year. Snow – as well as other factors such as illnesses in the family, travel problems and other weather conditions – will have an impact on our travel and working arrangements, forcing organisations to reconsider their remote working strategies.

Remote working has been a part of our lives for many years and although most organisations recognise the benefits that it can bring, the majority still struggle to get the workforce to use it effectively. Mobile solutions can maximise an employee’s time available for work, greatly reduce cost overheads and reduce hassle when snow or other factors make travel difficult. However, knowing when and how to use it properly makes the difference between a positive experience and an outstanding one. After all, we should not struggle to arrange a videoconference when children and teenagers can talk to people on the other side of the world via their Xbox and PlayStation whilst texting and surfing the web – all at the click of a button!

The byword here is preparation; organisations should think about these solutions sooner rather than later. IT doesn’t have to take a long time to implement, or be painful – it can be intuitive and a pleasure to use. If you’d like to talk to us about remote working, drop us an email at sales@block-solutions.net or a call on 020 3005 3005.