I often speak with customers and colleagues regarding the increasing consumerisation in our business. Or in other words, the tendency of TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) tools to enter first in the residential “private” market and then enter the business and government market. 

So far I have always referred to “consumerisation” in the workplace as something related to the usage of personal devices or the convergence of private-professional tools (using Facebook at work, addressing a private matter via your office email, checking your office email while in the midst of a dinner…you get my drift). But I see now that consumerisation has gone beyond that. It  now includes bringing the norms acquired while leading a digital life on social media into the workplace.  

Here are four signs consumerisation is faster than ever:

1. We now live both on a physical planet and in a digisphere, made up of bits and bytes that represent our global network of connections (think LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
2. Product Life Cycles are increasingly shorter due to their swift globalisation through virtual networks and incremental innovation on the first launched product by other players – a truly global marketplace.
3. Attention spans are becoming shorter and people are increasing impatient. This in turn sets increasing demands on speed and quality in end-to-end customer experience – especially since now a dissatisfied customer can now quickly express dissatisfaction to a peer group unlimited by physical boundaries.
4. Changing memes – a meme is an “idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture” and I believe that behaviours acquired via social media are going to be the new memes in the next 36 months.

This is a somewhat esoteric post in a traditional telecommunications context. But telecoms is after all, all about connectivity and communications. And connectivity and communications has rapidly acquired a whole new dimension in our lives.  The Berlin Wall came down when I was in high school and our professor said that we were living through one of the most amazing moments in history, where physical barriers were crumbling. I believe we are entering another amazing time, where we live as much in a digital world as in a physical world. With the right balance and approach, this could be a magical age where we can use the digital tools at our disposal to create a better world. The choice is ours.

Are there any memes you see spreading or any changes in your own behavior that you can attribute to our increasingly networked and connected environment? Do share!