Convergence: This Time Its Personal
We’ve seen convergence before, but nothing like this. Today’s convergence is sweeping across infrastructure and engulfing
the entire spectrum of services and technology at a rapid pace. For IT leaders, it is sculpting an increasingly complex
landscape, which flows in unexpected ways. If you’ve been caught in the wave but are still unsure which way to flow, let us
bring you up to speed on your future in the age of convergence.
Convergence is sweeping across infrastructure to connect more people, processes, data, and things than ever before. As it
does, it is spurring collaboration that is resulting in new markets and greater efficiencies while creating exciting new experiences
for users. But this change is happening fast. In response, IT leaders must embrace a new model, making themselves more
strategic and more nimble. They must become a source of innovation and transformation across their entire public sector
organization.
What exactly is convergence?
Where information lives and how it is accessed is changing dramatically. Some have called it the third platform or nexus of
forces. We call it convergence. Simply put, it is the connecting of several technologies, such as cloud, mobility, data, and
network programmability. This blending of technologies into a larger organism is responsible for the birth of the Internet
of Everything (IoE) in the public sector. As it evolves, convergence is producing the need for radical change in technology
deployment, IT culture, processes, and even organizational structure.
What does convergence mean for your organization?
Convergence is already a critical pivot point in your public sector organization’s history, whether you realize it or not. It is
estimated that 25 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2015 and 50 billion by 2020 (Source: Cisco® Internet
Business Solutions Group [IBSG]). Yet, despite the rapid growth in connected devices, it is estimated that 99.4 percent of
physical objects are still untethered. This signals a massive wave on the horizon, a wave that will require the complete focus of IT
leaders today, who are able to prepare for such a tomorrow. As a result, ensuring the implementation of successful convergence
strategies is critical to the future health and prosperity of your organization.
How should you approach convergence?
It is critical that today’s IT leaders begin assessing how their platforms and specific business trends may be integrated and
converged. Public sector organizations must implement strategies and technologies that allow them to become increasingly
simple, smart, and secure. These strategies are necessary to help your organization ensure rapid new-service deployment,
compelling customer experiences, and organizational agility.
The primary driver for adoption of convergence technologies by public sector organizations is the need to reduce costs. Yet, at
the same time, the trend towards convergence requires that IT be increasingly dynamic and user selected. This may have side
effects, including the need for security that is more agile and proactive. But as convergence takes hold in your organization, it
can also increase transparency and improve your team’s efficiency, all beneficial.
Convergence: This Time Its Personal
What are the next steps?
As an IT leader, you must first ask yourself: Is my organization really ready for such a monumental shift? Seek out senior
leadership in your organization and begin discussing convergence and the many ways it may have an impact on your group.
Also, learn more about the role convergence plays in the IoE by reviewing the new interactive convergence white paper “Are You
Ready for the Future of IT?” and check out Cisco’s ground-breaking study about how IoE generates value in the public sector:
“Internet of Everything in the Public Sector: Generating Value in an Era of Change, Top 10 Insights.” To stay up to date on trends
in convergence and IoE, join our ongoing conversations on Twitter at #FutureOfIT and #InternetOfEverything.
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