By Tash Shifrin, IDG News Service
Businesses and public sector organizations face a wave of disruption from the internet as well as enjoying its benefits, Gartner analysts have warned.
"The internet is going to disrupt business," research vice-president Kimberly Harris-Ferrante warned delegates at Gartner's ITxpo in Cannes, France.
Consumers were now readily using the internet to broadcast bad customer experiences to others, she said, citing an unnamed U.K. insurance firm which discovered its Wikipedia entry included a link to an "I hate this company" website set up by a disgruntled customer.
"The internet is not just positive, it's also going to have a negative, detrimental impact if we don't manage it properly," she said.
Harris-Ferrante said businesses could also face "many indirect impacts" from adopting new technology. Focusing on the insurance industry, she described how "black box" technology that recorded how consumers drove their cars could be used to create "pay as you drive" insurance packages, rewarding drivers who drive less frequently or mainly during the day with lower premiums.
But such systems tried out by Norwich Union and other firms had raised issues of bandwidth limitations, the need for data mining and new billing systems, she pointed out.
Andrea DiMaio, a distinguished analyst at Gartner, said the public sector faced similar issues. "Government is going through significant disruption because of the internet," he said.
Public sector organizations were increasingly delivering services online, but this created expectations from users about service levels "that government websites and portals can't provide", he cautioned.
A "much more significant" second wave of disruption was set to break as consumers took up Web 2.0 , he added.
Government portals were "going to become irrelevant" in the face of new types of internet channels.
Consumers would make use of new routes in to services, such as "mash-ups" that bring together content from a range of sources, and go through "the channels they choose," DiMaio said.
Mash-ups were "the one that's going to be really important," he said. But the new-style internet would harness "the power of integrated services and information in ways government agencies cannot predict."
There is a problem in creating a completely hedged internet. People recognize the value in truth. When you cut off any possibility of truth you de-value the source and loose credibility. The object of the internet these days has been to dump a absolute control theology on everyone, that everything you see and say should be controlled, but then they say let's leave that in the hands of 'local' authority zones (or web 2.0).
You have a situation now that will spell the death of the model if you don't correct it.
Retailers, service providers, and businesses have always relied on their ability to "control" everything seen and heard to make sure you purchase their offering regardless of whether it works or not, real or garbage. The goal is to get the money even if you have to scam, violate amendment rights, and cut people off from real information. Every one knows this is the current model. That is why it is getting worse. In the beginning it was about throwing a small amount of dis-information into the system to inflate the value of the real information. Now the channels are so controlled that people are completely denied access to information. Meaning they don't even have the ability to purchase it or even know it exists. It's gotten to the point now where a local ISP will alter all search data, websites, and information just to promote a product or make money from you, and if a 'local zone' doesn't have legal rights to sell such information/product they will just sell you fake garbage. You can't value information if you know it is all a complete lie. Even if you goto extraordinary lengths to fabricate points of view, people still know it's false and controlled. Character matters, not stupid marketing techniques. You can put "TRUST" all over your website but no one will trust it. The entire model is designed around controlling your choices and that includes denying you the ability to even make a choice.
If this is the goal, then it will fail. People will loose interest and walk away from it.
Post new comment