Will the Browser be the only Application you need?

Gaining access to data is key for every employee across the globe. If you think about your role at work you need to gain access to data to perform your duties, without it we would be highly inefficient.

Over the past decade we have seen a shift in the way that we access data evolve, adapt and grow. No longer do we have to be tied to our desks with an old-fashioned PC plugged in with a length of Cat5 cabling. We can gain access to information we need from anywhere on anything from our personal smartphone to our personal home computers.

We have hardware and the connectivity to access all our applications from any location, but how is that information presented? We use an application, we open it and we have access to the data we need. The application is delivered to us from the IT department and in most cases, we have a large number of applications at our disposal, this enables us to be productive. However, productivity is changing and people don’t realise it.

Reflecting back to 2008 we see when the change started to occur. In 2008 13% of Enterprise CRM applications were hosted in the cloud and accessed via a browser, the rest were delivered as traditional locally installed application connecting to a database somewhere in the one or more of the companies Datacentres’. However, if we fast forward to the modern day, we can now see that figure has turned on its head and now is at a staggering 82%. This change is occurring with all types of business applications, it isn’t slowing down its only gaining momentum.

Gartner predicts that WebApp’s are going to continue to grow at a rate of 400% Year on Year. So, this brings me back to the title of my article, Will the Browser be the only Application you need? OK it is a bold statement and of course not every application will have the ability to be migrated to the cloud, but the vast majority will be and how do we access the cloud from our PC, yes, the browser. The point I am making is that the browser is no longer a viewer for some applications, the Intranet or personal browsing, it is a critical line of business application and needs to be treated this way. 

Too often I hear IT departments talk about browsers in the wrong way, they don’t treat it as an equal to their other line of business applications it is like the runt of the litter. The trouble is the runt of the litter is going to be the King in the litter and you need to make sure you know how you will control and manage it.

Dan O'Shaughnessy - Business Development