As respected members of the Tech community, we are often asked our opinion regarding what we think will be touted as “the Next Big Thing,” or “NBT”. The list of things attributed to being the NBT is longer than the hours of daylight the North Pole receives during the Summer, and just keeps growing longer all the time. A perfect example is the ability for customers to handle many of their daily responsibilities remotely, using a website or app. This might seem like something “new,” created for the sole purpose of Social Distancing during a Pandemic, but in truth, there’s nothing new about any of this – except for the virus part, of course!
To the uninformed or those simply failing to pay attention until just a few months ago, remote access might seem like it’s new, when in fact it has been around for many years. Those of us with awareness of the typical product’s lifecycle can tell you something you may not have considered regarding that NBT. Ready for a revelation? By the time something is publicly lauded as being the NBT, it’s quite likely that to the intended target audience, it’s not the NBT, but the LBT – or Last Big Thing!
By the time something “new” reaches the mass markets, it’s likely been available to “select markets,” and therefore used, for some time already. Tried, tested, and thought well enough of to be spoken of in a positive light. This is the point when the creators/manufacturers feel comfortable enough to release it to a worldwide audience. But if you factor in the earliest days when the idea was gestating in the minds of the Creators, and the time it was in the hands of R&D, it’s already been around sufficient time to almost be “outdated” – just in time for the NNBT to be released!
As much as we in the IT support & solutions industry do know about technology, even the team at Shock I.T. battles over what we believe will play anything more than a cursory role in the future of managed network design or cloud-based services, data backup & disaster recovery, or even the IT consulting services industry – and that is the core of our I.T. support services in Bucks County, Pennsylvania business! However: we do have our opinions on these things, so please allow us to share some of our staff picks for what might be the NBT in IT and related technologies.
5G Standalone New Radio Software: Currently, 5G networks rely on the signaling support they receive from the same 4G networks they are trying to replace. Ericsson’s June rollout of its 5G New Radio (NR) software allows communications service providers to operate without the need for any signaling support from the underlying LTE network. All of the benefits of a 5G network – faster network connection times & simpler mobility management among them – are about to be available for all.
“No Code” Software: Seen as a way for business users to benefit from the functionality previously the sole domain of technical users, “No Code” will allow for greatly improved connectivity between different software providers’ products. No Code platforms will streamline the time & efforts that engineering & IT teams currently deploy towards integrating different “coded” platforms. Less translation time directly increases productivity time, and this “No Code” is seen as a green light in a world filled with yellow & red lights.
Browzwear: Traditionally, the world of fashion & garment design has been a “hands-on” one along every step in the process, and has required physical prototypes to be sent back & forth between the design houses & production facilities – many of which are located in the Far East. But with the onset of COVID-19, this physical exchange is anything but safe. Browzwear, in a partnership with Adobe Substance, a leader in the textile design software, are now able to achieve the same degree of accuracy virtually that has always required physical involvement. Welcome to the new normal.
Hopefully for us, you will be able to read this piece on our staff picks for the NBT before any of them become the dreaded LBT!
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