At the IT & Business trade fair, which recently ended, mobile applications and cloud computing determined many innovations, from medium-sized IT manufacturers. Experts made demands on the industry to ensure more security in cloud use.
The double trade fair comprising IT & Business and DMS-Expo recorded around 11,000 trade visitors at its third appearance. The organizers are very satisfied with this. After only three years, IT & Business has already established itself as an “important industry get-together to complement the leading CeBIT trade fair,”. “IT & Business is a platform for medium-sized companies, which are particularly strong.”
The good mood in the ICT industry is what Pols see in the Info and its Bitki index. Demand was also high in the third quarter, especially from industry and the service sector. “The investment backlog of the crisis year 2009 will be reduced here.”
The VDMA recently confirmed its production forecast of plus 14% made in April and is expecting growth of 4% for next year. The IT penetration of the sector has increased by 5% in the last two years so that statistically, nine out of ten mechanical and plant engineering employees now have a computer workstation.
Cloud Computing: A Trend Towards “Mobile” At Work: Travel Expense Accounting On iPhone And iPad
His finding that almost a third of the company employees now use a mobile workstation is reflected in the innovations that the exhibitors are showing. IFS presented the first two touch-sensitive applications for its operational (ERP) software. Travel expense accounting runs on the Apple iPhone and iPad; other platforms are likely to follow suit. CAS Software from Karlsruhe showed its customer management apps for Android, iPhone and iPad. My factory offers its ERP package completely online and mobile.
Internationalization and integration are still in demand in medium-sized companies. For small and medium-sized companies that want to expand, Sage offers the Standard Edition of its X3 ERP package, a commercial solution from € 50,000 that can be implemented in 35 days instead of the usual 80 days, as Christopher Canterfield from Sage assures.
Mobility, Data Analysis And Cloud Computing Are Trending Topics In Medium-Sized Companies
In addition to mobility and data analysis, Stephan Wiper man from IBM sees cloud computing as another trending topic in medium-sized companies. IFS, for example, has built its cloud-based on Microsoft Azure, which is known to be held in Microsoft’s data centers. This should also ensure the related security of the applications and customer data. Sage does not operate a cloud for its customers but instead offers partners, so-called cloud providers, for this purpose.
For cloud providers and operators, Wiper man considers an “intelligent IT infrastructure” to be indispensable to be able to flexibly and efficiently handle different workloads in a company and to be able to provide IT services quickly.
Security Standards Required For Cloud Computing
However, there are still concerns about security in the cloud. The need for security standards, not least for cloud providers, and improved interoperability of cloud services. “Every user should be able to change providers as easily as possible without having to fear any loss of service quality.”
The Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaad also raises demands. “We also need clear criteria for cloud services, with regard to the technological security standard and with regard to data protection. We need clear contractual regulations between cloud providers and cloud users that meet the requirements of data protection law. And we need control structures that guarantee and monitor compliance with data protection. ”
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