Ignition

It's a great time to be an optimist

It's a great time to be an optimist. Even right now, as we bear witness to what is being called a once-in-a-lifetime global economic reset that will take a number of years to fully run its course, I remain profoundly optimistic about the future we can carve out together.

This has been a challenging time for many companies, including Microsoft. While no one wants economic uncertainty to persist forever, the idea of change and even of rapid transformation is a comfortable one for Microsoft and its partners. After all, companies such as ours like change because we know it brings opportunity with it. Opportunity to innovate. Opportunity to win market share. Opportunity to leapfrog the competition.

The most innovative companies know that the changes underway today run deeper and are more profound than just a recession, no matter how long or short, deep or shallow, it turns out to be. At Microsoft Canada, these are some of the most important trends and transformations we are watching:

1. Canadian companies continue to under-invest in ICT, spending only 63 per cent as much as the US per worker. This is a huge gap, and is wider still at the level of small- and medium-sized business. There is tremendous opportunity to help Canadian companies modernize their IT infrastructure to better compete as the recession wanes.
2. Canadian workforces are transforming before our eyes. It is well known that Canada faces a skills shortage, especially in the areas of technology, math and engineering. However, a consequence of this skills shortage is that older workers are staying in role longer and are working side by side with young, Gen Y graduates. These cross-generational workforces are new and create a whole host of challenges, many of which are technology related, from the challenge of technology transfer from generation to generation, to finding ways for email-challenged older workers to co-exist with Twitter-obsessed younger ones.
3. The quickening pace of technological transformation. Bill Gates is famous for declaring that the innovation that will take place in the next 10 years will dwarf that of the past 50. It's a statement that people often find difficult to comprehend, but I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that we're on the cusp of transformational changes that will define Canadian business and culture for years to come, including:
   1. The convergence of "three screens." Canadians typically use three screens that almost always work in silos - computer screen, television screen and smartphone screen. In the very near future, these three screens will all be able to deliver the same content, whether entertainment or business focused, creating amazing opportunities to work and play wherever and whenever you want
   2. Personalization of our technology experiences. Whether through the popularity of "app stores" to personalize software applications, or through new design and form factor options from OEM hardware suppliers, this shift is transforming how we integrate technology more into our lives.
   3. The transformation of business solutions. The impacts of CRM and Unified Communications in the workforce can only be imagined, while other transformational business solutions like ERP are ripe for another massive leap forward.

When I think about the pace of change all around us, I am excited by the opportunities that I see. While there are undoubtedly choppy waters ahead and companies of all sizes and shapes must remain cautious and pragmatic, I believe that the companies who remain focused on innovation have an opportunity to be the market leaders of tomorrow.

Eric Gales is President of Microsoft Canada.