New IT trends, including cloud computing, bring your own device (BYOD) and the Internet of Things (IoT), could kill off swathes of stack vendors as numerous start-ups emerge to cash in, one software development specialist has warned.
"When we look at business competition, each wave of these trends and changes brings about huge numbers of start-ups and new competition that we’ve never seen before," said Charles Race, SVP EMEA, Informatica.
"Then you get this consolidation where everyone makes their millions and billions and heads off into the sunset. And the big stack vendors are left licking their wounds because that’s what they have to do to survive.
"Then the next big thing happens and a whole new set of start-ups comes along. But this most recent set of changes seems so big and so diverse that I can see some of the stack vendors dying, although I don’t want to start killing off our competition and technology friends."
If stack vendors are to remain in existence, they will need to adjust their attitudes towards their customers, according to Race.
"It’s an attitude thing in some of these organisations," he commented. "They’ve got to understand they can’t just sell on their name. They can’t just sell on maintenance streams and assume that previous value is what’s going to keep them afloat. They’ve got to innovate and provide new value.
"Customers often tell us that they’re trying to get themselves away from single vendors. They feel strangled and in handcuffs."
But refocusing of the wants and needs of customers could provide a lifeline, said Race.
"Every company that becomes more customer focused rather than ‘themself’ focused stands a chance of surviving."
