The market for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is one of the more unusual segments of today’s information technology business. The typical IT industry pattern is that as the market for a new technology expands, it tends to become standardized. Competition emerges, prices fall, and the product eventually becomes a commodity, a service, or even an open source option. We have seen this cycle with servers, operating systems, CRM and many other hardware and software marketplaces. Identifying and anticipating these lifecycle changes is a major area of LEF research.

While it may sound a bit harsh, we think it is fair to say that over the decades the focus of Enterprise IT and most of the IT industry has been much more on the Technology than the Information. Building useful and flexible computerized systems has been sufficiently difficult that making the technology work as promised has often been the overriding concern. Happily, as modern technologies have become increasingly ubiquitous, commoditized and consumer-friendly, the process of emphasizing the ‘I’ in IT appears to have begun, with Google, the apps revolution and, most recently, Big Data being the most emblematic examples.

Over the last year, we have worked with more than 30 clients who are in various stages of rolling out a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) programme. While much work remains, our research in this area has moved well beyond the evangelism phase, and is now focused on the practical change management agenda and BYOT’s many implications for procurement, legal, finance, HR, security and other areas.

As Greece and possibly even the euro totter, the debate over the need for either growth or austerity policies has become increasingly polarized – especially in Europe. Calls for more public spending are clearly gaining public support, but the idea of resolving a debt crisis by creating even more debt makes many people wonder where such a path might lead.