Automation InfoTech and cloud computing futures
Information technology is still a dominating influence in many large manufacturing and process automation companies. But computer expertise is no longer just the domain of a select few and responsibility is shifting away from centralised IT departments. Change is here. Computer savvy is no longer just for the geek squad. The number of manufacturing and process automation companies that have no official IT department is growing quickly.
The old IT will not just disappear. It will change and fragment into different arenas. It will actually grow as extensions of every other department.
The cloud is coming. Cloud computing is one of the hottest technology fields today. In manufacturing, clear targets for cloud computing include IT-related applications, such as manufacturing execution systems (MES) and production planning systems (PPS). The market is projected to soar from $40,7 billion in 2011 to $241 billion in 2020, according to Forrester Research.
The cloud minimises the need for in-house IT people. There will be no need to make big investments for local computers, hardware, software and personnel. Information technology will evolve from a world that is server-centric to one that is service-centric.
By 2020, cloud computing will look radically different. Computing will become invisible; software will be modular and divorced from hardware; low-power, low-cost commodity hardware will be standard; including storage, servers and switches with low-cost, high-speed information connects.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon – the Everything Store
I’ve gotta tell you – I’m addicted to buying online and I buy anything and everything on Amazon.com. I have very little inclination to buy things by visiting a store. I’d have to go to several places to view limited choices. It would take time (I have very little patience); energy (expensive gasoline and walking wherever); viewing a limited number of choices (no one has more than a few choices on their shelves); price (one is never sure of getting the best price).
I’ve done other on-line shopping, but Amazon.com is by far the best, the easiest, the fastest. The search is quick – I simply type in what I need and get lots of choices. If I’m interested in a specific item, I can review feedback from other buyers till I’m satisfied.
When I’m ready to buy, Amazon already knows me: my preferences, credit card, shipping and billing address (or the address of anyone I’ve shipped to before). I often click in and out in under a minute. In nothing flat, there’s an acknowledgement in my e-mail inbox. If I have second thoughts, I can cancel the order within a couple of hours with no penalty.
I’m on prime, so shipping is free. The item arrives on my doorstep within a day or two, always on or before the promise-date. If I don’t like it, I can simply send it back. Getting a replacement or credit is easy-breezy.
Journalist, Brad Stone, has just published a new book, The Everything Store. This has lots of interesting insights into founder Jeff Bezos and the explosive growth of his company, which he named after the river That ‘blows all other rivers away’. In less than two decades, Amazon employs 90 000 people and sells $61B worth of almost everything.
Jeff Bezos is a limitless spring of enthusiasm and new ideas. After graduating from Princeton in 1986, he joined a computer-driven hedge fund and then walked away before bonus time to found Amazon – he calls this his ‘regret-minimisation framework’. What will be important when you’re 80? And what will you regret? The futurists at Amazon are tasked with thinking seven years ahead.
Jeff Bezos is a polarising figure, inspiring many people but traumatising others. Some of his ideas are so crazy that employees call them ‘fever dreams’. Like Apple’s Steve Jobs, he is notoriously confrontational. He can be kind, but is also volatile and unsparing of those who make mistakes, “Are you stupid? Or just lazy?” He believes that truth springs forth when ideas are banged against each other.
While Jeff Bezos seems monomaniacal about his company, he also has other absorbing interests. He made an entirely separate fortune as one of the first investors in Google. He recently bought The Washington Post for $250M, saying that he’s eager to start asking questions and conducting experiments in the quest for a new ‘golden era’. He wants to see what Amazon’s relentless customer service can do for the news business.
Jeff Bezos has a public e-mail address, [email protected]. Not only does he read customer complaints, he forwards them to the relevant Amazon employees, with a one-character addition: a question mark.
Hey, you don’t need me to tell you these interesting tidbits about Jeff Bezos. Go buy Brad Stone’s new book – on Amazon.com
Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and commentator, writer, technology futurist and angel investor. His popular e-mail newsletter, JimPinto.com eNews, is widely read (with direct circulation of about 7000 and web-readership of two to three times that number). His areas of interest are technology futures, marketing and business strategies for a fast-changing environment, and industrial automation with a slant towards technology trends.
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