Organizations in China are expected to spend $140.6 billion on technology products and services in 2014, according to Gartner’s latest forecast.
The research firm and advisory firm recently released a report that identifies the top 10 strategic technology trends that highlight the current state of technology adoption in China, as well as the maturity and traction of the technologies.
Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. It may be an existing technology that has matured and/or become suitable for a wider range of uses, or an emerging technology that offers an opportunity for strategic business advantage.
“China is a large IT market full of potential and competiveness,” said Amy Teng, principal research analyst at Gartner. “China's technology trends align with other regions worldwide - but with some variations because of unique market conditions. Enterprises in China are in various stages of adoption, with some mature organizations being early adopters of technology and some still in the early stages of evaluation.”
Gartner's top ten strategic technology trends for China in 2014 include:
1. Mobile device diversity and management
Through 2018, the growing variety of devices, computing styles, user contexts and interaction paradigms will make managing this diversity a priority strategic initiative for enterprises CIOs. In China, CIOs experience an even more serious situation because the region exhibits a faster device replacement cycle due to the popularity of low-tier smartphones. Another distinct differentiation is created by the culture of Chinese employees, who tend to work longer hours and increasingly mix work with life, a trend that extends to their digital "self."