How Big Will Android Get?

While there are other mobile operating systems that shouldn’t be ignored (Blackberry for one), there are two that seem to get the most attention, and that may end up competing most for user and marketer attention above the rest in the foreseeable future. These are of course the iPhone OS and the Android OS.

Obviously the iPhone OS runs on iPhones, and now on iPads. These are very popular devices, but in the smartphone market Android is gaining a great deal of ground, and in the tablet market, Android hasn’t really arrived yet, but it is expected to soon.

The smartphone Space

At Google I/O last month, Google announced that Android activations had passed 100,000 a day. Also last month, a report from the NPD Group found that in the first quarter of 2010, Android devices actually outsold iPhones in the U.S. The legitimacy of this has been disputed, but I don’t think anyone’s disputed the fact that Android use is gaining significant momentum.
The Tablet Space

A recent study from Retevo found that over half of consumers surveyed would buy an Android tablet over an iPad if it were cheaper. $100 Android Tablets are expected to arrive this year. Now that’s not to say that this version of the Android tablet would be the iPad killer. You have to consider that Android will likely be implemented across a wide range of devices, as opposed to the iPhone OS, which will operate on Apple’s devices.

One reason Android has been able to grow so much in the smartphone market because of pricing deals. For example, Verizon has offered buy-one-get-one-free deals on Android phones. The tablet market could see a similar scenario – pricing playing a major role.

At Google I/O Google unveiled Google TV, a platform that merges the web experience with the television experience. Launch partners include Adobe, Intel, Sony, Logitech, Best Buy, and Dish Network. Sony will sell TVs and Blu-ray players which come with the platform. Logitech will make set-top boxes, and Dish Network will provide its customers with it.

This week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs implied that it is destined to fail, mainly talking about the lack of success of set-top boxes in general and the lack of nationwide cable services as the main barriers. However, Dish Network is nationwide, and is making moves that could net the company more customers away from competitors, even before Google TV arrives this fall. That could mean good things for Google TV.

What does this have to do with Android? During the announcement, Google demonstrated some of Google TV’s Android integration. You will be able to use Android devices to control Google TV, for one. You will also be able to send apps from your Android device to Google TV to interact with them on your television, effectively turning your TV into an Android device. Google TV users may find Android devices useful.

Not To Take Anything Away from iPhone OS

None of this is to discount the importance of reaching Apple’s users. They are consumers too, and there are a lot of them. However, when resources are limited, businesses may have to do some prioritizing. Ideally, you want to get in front of as many potential customers as possible. It just looks like at this point, that Google is positioning itself to get Android in front of a whole lot of people. But still, a lot of this is forward looking.

Quick Tips

1. If you can find an angle that makes sense for your business, and you can afford the resources, develop a mobile apps for mobile platforms.

2. Regardless of whether or not you have your own apps, look for ways that you can get be found in other mobile apps.

3. Look at the most popular apps and find angles for how your business can take advantage of some of them.

4. There may be a great deal of creativity involved in finding the right angles, but there are so many apps out there already (and the number will continue to grow rapidly), there will continue to be more unique and innovative opportunities. Just explore them. By the way,Google is putting apps directly in its mobile search results now for both Android and iPhone users.

5. Advertise. There is also a growing number of mobile advertising opportunities, including various forms of in-app advertising. Watch for Google to offer more interesting formats, now that it has acquired AdMob and Invite Media.

“What’s important for marketers to realize is that it’s a similar redux of the Mac PC wars in the 80s/90s where Apple puts out a great product but constrains the market with its controls & dictation while Android with its openness & no licensing costs allows it to flurish,” Michael Martin, who founded GoogleAndBlog (often cited as a top Android site), and currently runs MobileMartin tells WebProNews. “Case in point, the iPhone is self constrained to AT&T for some time while Android is available on all 4 major US mobile providers as well [as] pre-paid service Cricket along with 50+ other carriers around the world amounting to over 100,000 activations per day – this provides greater marketshare.”

He continues, “Next is mindshare, which for smartphones is predominantly based on the quality and number of applications (as welll device specs & usability)…While Apple allienates developers with its cryptic & arbitrary acceptance rules for the App Store which people had to bite their lip to endure due to both marketshare & mindshare, they are relieved of this with OPTIONS that include the Android Market while they are FREE to provide their applications through other venues.”

“So marketers can see the tide is turning while also saving costs. If developing apps, with a cheaper Android programmer in Java vs a more expensive iPhone developer in C as well, there are now tools from Ansca & Rhomobile that allow cross mobile application development with one click instead of recoding for iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm.”

Considerations if Google TV Takes Off

It’s time to start optimizing your web content for the big screen. Here at Google I/O, as I’m sure you’ve heard, Google announced the much-anticipated Google TV. Naturally, search plays a big role in the service, particularly in the form of the Quick Search Box.

Here are a few things to think about if Google TV really takes off:
- Optimizing video content is going to be more important than ever – not just optimizing the content itself, in terms of quality, but making your videos visible in search results in Google and YouTube.

- Simply making sure your site looks good on big screen TVs. Google made the analogy of optimizing a site for mobile. This will be a similar undertaking. Basically, you want to make sure your content looks good no matter what kind of screen you’re viewing.

- Much more searching with Google. Consider how much people watch their TVs. Now Google is right there, accessible from their TV remote. If you thought Google had a great deal of market share before, imagine how many more searches Google would get from the TV set, if this thing really takes off.

- Having an Android app will be more critical than it already is. Android apps will be accessible via Google TV. This is another way to get to viewers right in their living room.

Obviously as Google TV was only announced this week, we really don’t know the full effect it will have on the industry, or on search, but it has the potential to be a huge deal. A game changer in a variety of capacities.

Google Talks Mobile Ads at I/O

Mobile advertising will continue to play a major role in Google’s revenue going forward. While the jury is still out, so to speak, on the proposed acquisition of AdMob, Google has been placing a great deal of emphasis here at Google I/O on the fact that it already knows a thing or two about advertising.

In fact, AdMob really hasn’t come up a whole lot in the discussions that I’ve been witness to. But that hasn’t stopped Google from talking about various mobile ad formats its offers. A portion of a lengthy keynote delivered Thursday morning was devoted to this.

Google VP, Engineering, Vic Gundotra had the following to say (paraphrased):
It turns out we know a little bit about advertising. This year is Google’s tenth anniversary of providing ad solutions. We’ve learned a few things. if you want a healthy ecoystem, you need advertisers and we have hundreds of thousands of them. we’re not new at this game…

He reminded everybody that Google has Doubleclick, AdWords, AdSense, and Analytics. He then revealed some new expandable ad formats for mobile. More info about Google’s mobile ad formats can be found here. Google is expanding its click-to-call ads to mobile content and apps as well. More on this here.

Gundotra said in a Q&A that the company is being careful about ads so they span both apps and mobile sites.

When it comes down to it, mobile ads mean money for developers. More importantly, they mean motivation to innovate with mobile apps, which of course is critical to Android’s success.

Apart from monetizing the apps themselves, mobile ads can greatly contribute to the discoverability of mobile apps themselves.

Author: Chris Crum

Not to my surprise, I find mobile marketing has both a digital and traditional definition. The digital definition is as one would expect, marketing your business message through mobile devices.

In the traditional definition there are moving billboards that are associated with mobile marketing. We are going to be talking about mobile devices.

The mobile industry certainly has grown quickly the past three years. The iPhone coming to market was only the beginning. It didn’t take long for mobile applications to make these devices more useful to the consumer.

With the flood of mobile applications consumers were able to find many different uses for their mobile device. Games and entertainment were only the beginning. More useful applications like tools, utilities and resources also found their way to the mobile device.

As of December 2009 there were 285,610,580 mobile devices in the United States against a population of 308,505,000.

Basically 91% of the population has a mobile device. Feel free to look at the Wikipedia article for more statistics worldwide.

With 91% of the U.S. population having a mobile device, and these devices having considerable capabilities, it is undoubtedly the next significant source of information for consumers and businesses alike.

Using it as a phone is only the beginning. Email, Games, Entertainment, Texting, Instant Messaging, Browsing, Photos, Camera, Calculator, Calendar, Maps, Voice Recognition, News, Banking, Weather, Finance, Social Communities, and Radio are only a small fraction of what mobile devices are used for. Their capabilities will continue to grow as this mini-computer finds more use in our daily lives.

As an Internet and digital marketing agency we’re going to focus on how a business can use mobile marketing. We’ll focus on four specific areas and describe a starting point and a planned progression for the next few years. Each area has many details and this information is designed to be in summary.

Messaging Services

This is known as “texting” and includes SMS Texting (Short Message Service) as well as MMS (Multimedia Message Service).

For a business to tap into this marketing tool you have to begin by getting permission from prospects and customers to send them SMS or MMS messages. Begin by seeking out a service that provides SMS and/or MMS services. You will be assigned a text number that customers can send a subscription notice to. You can add this feature into your website, email marketing or display it in your business to promote how prospects and clients can get alerts from you by SMS or MMS. Because it will take time to build up subscribers you will want to start this sooner rather than later.

Mobile Websites

We have had discussions with clients in which they felt that as long as their website was showing on a mobile browser then they had a mobile website. Not the case. A website that was developed specifically for a standard computer or laptop monitor does not mean you have a mobile version of your website.

On a mobile version of a business website a user will not need to zoom in or out or pan left or right when viewing your website. The website will be a “lite” version of your primary website with specific call to actions that are useful to the users visiting your mobile website.

A good example is Delta Airlines. Go to their website on a standard computer. Then go to their website using a mobile device’s browser. You will see two very different websites. As a business you will want to budget and build a mobile version of your website as one of your very next steps.

Mobile Applications

At some point every business will have a mobile application and it’s even possible that mobile applications will diminish the need for domain names.

Mobile applications can be useful as a tool for your customers or you may decide to have an application for branding purposes, such as a simple game. There are certainly many possibilities for mobile applications and you will need to consult with a marketing firm to decide how to best utilize mobile applications.

Mobile application development budgets vary dependent upon creative content, interface functionality, database use and Internet streaming.

Mobile Advertising

Text advertising like Google AdWords and banner advertising is available directly for mobile devices. The difference is how they’re delivered.

For example banner ads will appear in free mobile applications and when the application is used at the bottom. You can push your mobile banner ads through mobile advertising networks like AdMob (acquired by Google) and Quattro (acquired by Apple). Development of your mobile ads requires a different approach since there is limited physical dimensions of your message.

By utilizing all four mobile marketing components for your marketing plan over the next couple of years you will be able to tap into a new marketing channel that happens to be well suited for local business marketing.

Waiting for two years to pass and then deciding to plan and adopt this technology is probably the wrong answer. You need to incorporate this process now and build it into your business marketing process otherwise you will be left behind.

Don’t Let Your Search Strategy Get Left Behind By the Mobile World

A Google exec recently said, “In three years’ time, desktops will be irrelevant.” That’s debatable, but there’s no question that mobile use will have grown much more than it already has. Based on comments in a recent keynote, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer doesn’t seem to think PC use is going to drop too much, but he did say, “Mobile queries are just going to keep going up and up and up.”

A study released last month found that the number of mobile phone subscribers is on track to increase from 4.6 billion to 5 billion globally by the end of 2010. Another study found that consumers are getting more comfortable with mobile shopping.

Mobile Search

Google has dominated the search market for a long time, and while this still continues to be the case, it’s important to note that search in general changes with mobile. People are searching in different ways than just using their favorite search engines. They’re using different apps. They’re using their voices. They’re scanning barcodes for instant access to product information. The number of ways people are finding information with their phones is only going to keep increasing. On mobile, it’s not just about Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

That’s not to say these three aren’t still incredibly important to mobile. In fact, the search share among these top search engines may even become more greatly divided as time goes on. We’re seeing different mobile carriers and manufacturers making deals with these companies, which affect the default search options for various devices. As we discussed before, mobile search engine use may be largely dictated by device popularity, which is (in my opinion) one of the biggest things Bing will have going in its favor in terms of market share – Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 phones will come with Bing hardware keys, meaning the most convenient way to search on these devices will likely be to hit a single button taking the user to Bing. If these devices become popular, it could be huge for Microsoft in search.

As far as Google indexing and mobile sites goes, Google’s Matt Cutts says, “If you can find a way where your existing site will work well in mobile browsers, we’re not worrying about supporting two completely different sites.”

To learn about this subject in more detail, read the Google Webmaster Central Blog posts: Help Google Index Your Mobile Site, and Running Desktop and Mobile Versions of Your Site.

Mobile Search Advertising

When it comes to AdWords, Google says to create separate, mobile-focused campaigns so you can optimize keywords, ad text, and landing pages for people using mobile devices. Google shared an interesting case study this week looking at Razorfish’s mobile AdWords approach. They shared the following details:

- The Razorfish team started by duplicating the existing desktop campaigns and switching the settings to target mobile devices with full internet browsers.

- Since their client had a well-known brand name, they focused on branded keyword terms with enough traffic to help them learn quickly about what was working best for their campaigns.

- To measure performance, they tracked several conversion metrics including whether a mobile user looked up the brick and mortar store location or downloaded a coupon from the website. Right away, they saw a 7.5% lower cost per conversion on mobile devices, encouraging them to test ways to optimize their mobile campaigns.

- Razorfish tested whether variations in the campaign’s landing page would affect conversion rates. The team hypothesized that mobile users might be looking to take a specific action, and by starting the user’s experience closer to that action, the client would see better results. As it turned out, for this client, they saw much higher conversion rates when the user was directed to a landing page that showed nearby store locations.

- Finally, they tested variations in the ad text. Four versions of ad text were tested, including the original copy used in desktop campaigns. Each of the three new versions provided over 9.3% lift in conversion rate over the strongest performing copy in their desktop campaigns.

When it comes to Yahoo and Microsoft search advertising, things are about to get more appealing here in general, and presumably, that includes mobile. Microsoft and Yahoo advertisers will have the audiences of both search engines to view ads once Yahoo and Bing get their integration done.

Wrapping Up

One of the most important things any search marketer can do with regards to a mobile strategy, is to simply keep up with the latest mobile trends and innovations. This space is rapidly evolving, and new apps are released frequently. Pay attention to hot apps, and how your target audience is engaging with them. What devices, operating systems, and browsers are hot? Monitor studies and surveys that delve into demographics. Try to stay ahead of the curve.

As a result, we’ve assembled a team of web experts to help you and your business keep on top of the most important trends on the web. Constructing a mobile website, creating social media campaigns and selling online are just some of the challenges businesses will face during 2010.

Here are top online trends for the next 12 months.

Mobile web

Every web-savvy business knows smartphone use is on the rise. But few are actively developing for mobiles by creating websites specifically used for handheld devices.

As more and more mobile users flock to gadgets with larger touchscreens and internet browsers, such as the iPhone or Google Nexus One, the mobile space will become bigger and SMEs need to get on board. If your website isn’t accessible through a smartphone or app, users will give up and go somewhere else – losing you traffic and potential sales.

Ovum analyst Nathan Burley says the number of people taking up smartphones instead of traditional handsets will require businesses to develop mobile websites.

“In our view there are two big trends that will occur in 2010. That is mobile broadband and the adoption of smartphones, and the impact of those two things on the industry. This is changing the way people access the internet, and that is in mobile.”

“The big change is that these smartphones are allowing people to use tools in the same way a laptop did in the past, which is opening more users to the internet on the go.”

Chris Thomas, chief executive of SEO firm Reseo, says 2010 will be “the year of the mobile”.

“I think mobile search is definitely here. Google is throwing a lot of money at mobile, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how businesses leverage that.”

SEO

Using search engine algorithms in order to get your site on “page one” has been a tactic used by online businesses for years. But SEO experts say the process of getting a website known will become even harder in 2010 with the rise of personalised and real-time search.

Social network Twitter sparked a trend when it designed the first popular real-time search engine. When users search for a term, the site would update that search with new “tweets” as they were being made.

Google has recently introduced a real-time search function of its own, complete with indexed tweets, while Microsoft Bing has made a deal to show tweets in search results. But Thomas says while 2010 will see a rise in real-time search traffic, businesses shouldn’t be too keen to pursue a dedicated real-time search strategy.

“I think people are still trying to figure out what to do with it. Perhaps if there’s a trending topic, such as Copenhagen or climate change, that’s where we could see real-time do some work because there’s an opportunity for someone selling solar panels to come in, using a message like “stop climate change” via solar panels or something. There is some real potential there.”

“This is where it could go, but it’s such an active industry, with optimisation and SEO changing. But I always say to our clients, stick to your knitting and don’t do anything silly.”

Jim Stewart, chief executive of Stewart Media, says real-time search will continue to grow but businesses need to be aware of the more subtle changes Google is making to its search algorithms.

“All of the normal SEO things still apply, even though Google is going forward with things like personalised search. That will surely play a part, but you still have to get on the front page at all before you get into someone’s personal search results.”

Stewart warns Google will be updating its speed-check feature, through which the engine checks how fast it takes for a user to connect to a website. If a business has any downtime, it could affect search rankings.

But Stewart also says Google could potentially lose its place as the top search engine, as users could migrate to other offerings or be wary of the company’s search power.

“I don’t believe the search engine is providing as relevant results as it did this time last year. I’m sure they know it, but it doesn’t seem to be working as well. I’d also love to think that people will begin to start using Bing more and more, but it has to become a better search engine before that happens.”

“The other thing is privacy. A lot of people already are pretty wary of Google and privacy issues, even to the point where Eric Schmidt said if you’re doing something on the web you don’t want people to know, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Social Media

Facebook and Twitter were the standout social networks from 2009, and their popularity will surge in 2010 with both introducing new features, including paid accounts for business.

But businesses need to pay attention to the trends on these sites. Creating a social media strategy is no longer optional, it is vital to the health of a company and its ability to tap into an online user-base.

Some experts say if you aren’t engaging online, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to gain new customers and fans who will effectively market for you if given enough reason.

Thomas says 2010 will be the year in which businesses must jump on social media or risk being left behind by the competition.

“If you don’t have a Facebook fan page you should get in, and if you’re in a community-minded space, where you can offer things like competitions and such, then you’re set.”

James Griffin, founder and chief executive of online reputation management company SR7, says this year will see the rise of analysts who will begin to convince businesses to study, track and move operations into social media.

“Analysts will be versed in understanding and using social media, the quantitative and qualitative reports will empower businesses to implement researched social media strategies and gather market intelligence.”

Online retail

More and more Australian businesses are selling online, but compared to the US we have a lot of catching up to do. Online spending has grown from 1% to 3% of overall spending over the last 10 years, compared to the American equivalent of 7%.

Hal Pritchard, founder and chief executive of online kitchenware retailer Everton Online, says 2010 should be the year in which businesses start to realise they cannot operate without an eCommerce offering.

“The whole market in general is maturing. I think some of the people who didn’t want to do it originally are now deciding they have to do it, because if I count the number of competitors I have now compared to last year, there’s certainly a lot more out there.”

Pritchard says the biggest trend emerging in Australia is the growth of free shipping, which has allowed retailers in the US to stand out from the crowd.

“Freight is getting lower and is free in some places, which I suspect is going to be a general trend as competition hots up. Margins will get even tighter, and affording these things will be difficult, but I think it’s one of the things that are happening.”

“We seem to be following the US as we progress, and we’re less far behind and I think that free freight is the next thing. But it’s not just about that, it’s about pushing the boundaries and staying on the edge, not just having a good website. The people who can innovate and stay ahead will do well.”

Advertising

The internet advertising industry continued to grow in 2009 and will do the same in 2010, but the next 12 months is expected to see the ongoing development of mobile advertising.

Last year the Interactive Advertising Bureau forecast the online ad market to pass $2 billion by next month, representing a 27% increase from 2008. While the downturn forced spending down in 2009, it’s safe to assume that figure will rise in 2010.

The mobile advertising scene is fairly new, so naturally few SMEs are actually investing in the sector. But Apple’s recent acquisitions of Quattro, along with Google’s purchase of AdMob, shows the big players are serious about the mobile space.

But Thomas says businesses should think about advertising on prominent sites such as social networks, in order to keep up with the market.

“In the last 12 months we have started various campaigns using Facebook ads with quite good success, and it’s getting better. Businesses should be taking advantage of the solid targeting available through sites like Facebook.”

“We’re certainly seeing more advertising on Twitter. You have sites now which are allowing companies to hire someone with a million followers to tweet their messages. I mean, it’ll cost you, but the return on investment of that tweet could be huge.”

YouTube senior product manager David King says the growth of viral content, pieces of media published online which gain popularity in a short amount of time, are opening businesses up to new advertising models.

He says if a business finds a piece of content it created on a YouTube video, it can choose to place an in-video or AdWords advertisements rather than claim a copyright violation.

“These advertising structures are really geared towards taking control of what users upload. It’s only relevant if you’re uploading content, but if you are a small business and are doing that, this could be relevant for you.”

Reputation management

Most businesses are at least operating a website, but even those rejecting the online space need to be aware of how fast rumours and allegations can fly in the digital age. Several companies have had their reputations tarnished within hours from the activities of either rogue employees, or a botched advertising campaign.

Griffin says businesses need to control their reputation by monitoring what people are saying about them.

“The answer is, companies have been pushed into conducting a social media marketing campaigns without research and without adequately addressing the risk factors associated with social media.”

“2010 will see companies embracing the need to address the inherent risks of social media, with enterprises moving towards a scientific and empirically based approach to managing risk.”

Last year, Domino’s Pizza landed itself into trouble when two employees posted a video of themselves handling food unhygienically on the internet. Cotton On experienced backlash on Facebook when it continued to sell baby clothes with slogans such as “They Shake Me”.

Griffin says businesses can avoid such catastrophes by carefully monitoring who is talking about their brand, and being ready to address any situation as quickly as it appeared.

“The many and varied social media ‘fails’ of 2008-2009 will see companies and institutions take a measured, risk-based approach to these platforms.”

“Auditing, monitoring and analysing social media platforms along with risk mitigation strategies will become standard fare for those companies looking to protect and enhance their brand on social media platforms.”

Marketing

While mobile advertising may be taking awhile to heat up, many businesses are developing new and interesting mobile marketing campaigns to draw people into their stores.

Google has developed a system whereby users take a picture of a barcode with their mobile phone and use the search engine to find information. Closer to home, Hoyts Cinemas currently runs a promotion where movie goers with Bluetooth activated on their handsets sometimes receive discount offers via text messages when they walk into a lobby.

But it isn’t just big companies which are using mobiles for marketing. Peter Shipman, who owns a casual Mexican restaurant in the US, bought ads in university newspapers to advertise a barcode sent through text messages used to claim discounts.

US company Jagtag is now developing a technology used to identify barcodes through camera phones, when it is then sent via text message in order for the user to receive a discount code.

Thomas says this year will see a number of companies bring mobile marketing strategies to the forefront of their campaigns.

“There are going to be some really good creative ways people will start to get customers in store, and sending messages out like that… providing they don’t break any spam laws.”

“We’re going to see these companies start to realise how much activity is occurring through mobiles, and then we’re going to see them respond by commissioning campaigns of their own.”

Thomas also says a number of companies will begin to commission mobile apps, especially on the iPhone, purely for marketing purposes. Whether this will gain them revenue or purely open their brand to a new audience, the mobile apps market will become part of an online business’s marketing strategy in 2010.

Content

The growth of the internet has allowed businesses to publish content of their own, including blogs, pictures and even videos. King says SMEs should think about creating some sort of content on YouTube or similar sites such as a tutorial, and see a fan base grow.

“There are a lot of smaller to medium sized businesses which have really operated with a focus of specifically gearing themselves towards publishing on YouTube, and they really make a go of it – and we give them a global audience to do so.”

But King warns businesses they must be generating useful content, without the appearance of a blatant marketing pitch, and not be scared of entering a new area where they might not have experience.

“As these things become more commonplace, consumers love them, but unfortunately businesses which have been relying on older business models do not. I really think they need to get over that a little bit. Ultimately the consumer is right, and they are going to spend their time the way they spend it.”

“Businesses need to really stay focused on that consumer experience and not get hung up on the comfort of the way things used to be. The more businesses can try and anticipate where things can go as opposed to stopping it, I think that’s the best place to be for them.”

Open Source

Once upon a time, businesses wouldn’t trust open-source programs in favour of branded, more trustworthy software solutions. But now open-source has given SMEs a way of operating high-end programs without substantial costs.

With popular programs such as Mozilla Thunderbird, Open Office, WordPress and Joomla now gaining notoriety, organisations are beginning to realise open-source programs aren’t just technically inferior rip-offs, but legitimate alternatives.

A number of organisations, including the British Government and the French police force, have openly supported open-source, while Gartner research from late-2008 indicates the majority of businesses in the Asia/Pacific region took up open-source in 2009.

And with the development and popularity of open-source Android operating system continuing to grow, open-source is likely to play a major part in a business’s IT strategy in 2010.

Cloud computing

Two years ago “cloud computing” was viewed by many businesses as a buzzword with no particular meaning, used by tech-heads who didn’t quite know what they were talking about.

Now, using cloud services has become an essential for businesses. Whether they are backing up their data or using a piece of software hosted on external servers, cloud computing is now a part of everyday operations for many SMEs.

Cloud services have branched out into three main categories: applications, also known as software-as-a-service, infrastructure, used for data backups, and internal service providers for businesses with customised apps and programs.

Analyst firm Gartner recently named cloud computing as one of the top strategic technologies for 2010, saying it could be exploited in a number of different ways to customise programs and apps to a particular company’s needs.

“Using cloud resources does not eliminate the costs of IT solutions, but does rearrange some and reduce others. In addition, consuming cloud services enterprises will increasingly act as cloud providers and deliver application, information or business process services to customers and business partners.”