The New Digital Reality Are We Ready?

If Gartner’s analysis is accurate, “by 2014, 1.86 billion people will be online and 6.7 billion devices will be connected to the Internet.”  This includes mainstream mobile devices like netbooks and mini-notebooks, smart phones, pocket PCs and tablets.  I believe it also will include traditional devices like televisions, cameras and video recorders that form an active part of the Gen Y ‘Digital Ecosystem’.

To achieve the next level of digital productivity gains, all of these devices must interconnect to allow for the seamless sharing of information across multiple devices.  But will the current mobile operating system shoot-out (e.g., Apple’s iPhone with OS X, Google’s Android, RIM’s Blackberry, Windows Mobile 7.0, Palm’s Web OS) allow this to happen?

Of equal importance, what will the software companies – especially those writing apps for devices attaching to the Digital Ecosystem – need to do to enable this emerging reality?  What changes will these software companies need to make to successfully create and execute multi-device software?

One thing is for sure: with all these devices connected to the Internet, the age of Digital Marketing is taking off.  No surprise Gartner also recently concluded that “by 2015, companies will generate 50% of web sales via their social presence and mobile applications.”  The dawn of interconnected devices (mobile and non-mobile) is upon us; are we ready?

In addition to all these technical challenges, what business process enhancements will need to be made to support the new reality.  We will need to dig deep into the entire people side of the equation, including how do you optimally manage mobile personnel?

What are your thoughts on this all-important topic?