Unit 1 overview of IT Industry
Unit 1 overview of IT Industry
Concept Learning
IT Industry Outlook
The term technology commonly refers to society’s application of scientific knowledge to solve
practical problems in industry or commerce. Technological innovation, or the application of
technology, takes many forms and often involves the interplay of expertise across multiple
five distinct groupings, namely, information technology (IT), life sciences, advanced
manufacturing, advanced materials, and energy & environmental sciences.
Each segment of this technology framework has contributed to economic growth and the
manufacturing, agriculture, media and communication are almost difficult to comprehend. Since
the turn of the millennium though, the one segment that arguably has had the greatest impact on
businesses, consumers and other industry sectors is information technology (IT).
services and infrastructure to create, store, exchange and leverage information in its various forms
to accomplish any number of objectives. Additionally, the term encompasses the workers that
develop, implement, maintain and utilize information technology directly or indirectly.
At a macro level, the year ahead will once again feature the usual mix of optimism, progress,
uncertainty and regressions. The amazing pace of innovation over the past five years will deliver
new benefits to untapped users around the world, small businesses and other non-early adopter
segments. Businesses and users of all types will continue to seek value from technology in the
form of capabilities, but also in its ability to reduce complexity rather than add to it. In the
backdrop sits the ever-present hand of government policymakers. In an increasingly interconnected world the stakes have never been higher for tech policy.
From a technology standpoint, many of the trends from previous years will enter a new phase of
maturity in 2015. Businesses will begin using cloud and mobile to build advanced systems. The
ability to manage data will become a critical and highly demanded skill. The potential of many
connected devices and sensors will lead to new areas of opportunity. And over it all, security will
have to change as technology evolves to drive new business prospects.
For the IT channel, 2015 stands to be the year to really up its game. Business transformation will
remain the buzz word of the moment as channel firms of all stripes continue to assess the direction
Unit 1 overview of IT Industry
of their companies in the age of cloud computing, mobility, managed services, big data, social
media and other market and technology forces. Navigating new routes to market and evolving
customer buying habits will challenge channel firms to focus just as much on their own branding
and marketing as they will on elevating their tech skills.
Globalization, driven largely by technology, becomes ever more pervasive and influential with
each passing year. The number of people with access to the Internet recently crossed the 3 billion
threshold, representing 42% of the global population, according to Internet World Stats. Less than
two years ago, U.S. websites accounted for 9 of the top 10 slots worldwide. Estimates now suggest
the list includes far more international representation with sites such as Alibaba, Baidu and
Tencent capturing huge market shares. Similarly, U.S. technology companies maintain a hold on
many of the top slots in hardware, software and IT services. Although this too may change as new
generations of global-minded entrepreneurs seek to make their mark.
Since the Great Recession, the “do more with less” mentality has dominated corporate strategy.
This undoubtedly led executives to pursue strategies such as simplification with the end goal of
cost cutting in mind. It should be noted that while simplification often goes hand-in-hand with cost
cutting and the elimination of waste, it is not always the case. Simple, elegant solutions that are
embraced by workers and customers alike typically require much more than trimming fat at the
margins. Another factor driving the renewed push to simplify stems from innovations, such as
cloud computing, mobility, business process automation (BPA), managed services, big data and
other developments that have given businesses unprecedented access to tools to support
simplification efforts. For IT companies, opportunities lie not only with implementation, but also
with providing a true consultative experience to their customers. Simplification may take the form
of helping CIOs shift from maintenance mode to innovation mode, helping to balance the security
needs of the organization and the needs of workers or helping customers navigate the sometimes
overwhelming number of technology options.
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Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
Unit 1 Overview of IT Industry
Concept-learning
Technical terms
| English technical terms Chinese equivalents |
| information technology (IT) 信息技術 |
| life sciences 生命科學 |
| advancedmanufacturing 先進制造 |
| advanced materials 先進材料 |
| energy & environmental sciences. 能源與環境科學 |
| cloud computing 雲計算 |
| managed services 托管 |
| big data 大數據 |
| social media 社交媒體 |
| business process automation 業務流程自動化 |
文章參考譯文
Part One Concept Learning
IT 行業展望
“技術”這一術語一般是指為了解決工業或商業中的實際問題對科學知識
的應用。技術創新或技術的應用呈現出不同的形式，經常包含了跨越多學科
和行業的專業知識的相互作用。有一種框架將技術分為具有各自特點的五類：
信息技術、生命科學、高級制造、高級材料、以及能源與環境科學。
Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
這一技術框架中的每一個部分都為經濟發展和社會福利做出各自的貢獻。
醫藥、交通、安全、制造、農業以及媒體與通訊方面的極大進步已超越人類
的理解。而從千禧之交以來，其中的一個方面，盡管仍存在爭議，但對商業、
消費者以及其他產業帶來最大的沖擊，這就是信息技術（IT）。
信息技術的定義是： 通過硬件、軟件、服務以及基礎設施實現的計算的
應用來產生、存儲、交換和平衡不同形式的信息以實現各種目的。同時，這
一術語還包含了直接或間接的開發、執行、維護以及應用信息技術的工作者。
從宏觀的層面上來看，未來的一年仍具有以往的特點：樂觀、進步、不
確定性以及回歸的交錯。過去五年裏技術革新的驚人速度將會為全球的潛在
使用者、小公司以及其他非早期技術使用者帶來新的利益。各類公司和個人
使用者會繼續從技術中尋求功能方面的價值以及降低復雜性的能力方面的價
值。背後，政府決策者的手仍在發揮作用。在世界不斷交織的環境下，技術
政策的風險從未如此之高。
從技術的角度來看，之前數年的發展趨勢將會在 2015 年進入一個新的成
熟期。企業將開始使用雲技術與移動技術來建立高級系統。數據管理能力將
成為一種決定性的高需求的技能。許多互聯的裝置和傳感器的潛力會開拓新
的機遇。同時，隨著技術的進步而產生的新的業務要求安全性必須進行改變。
對 IT 銷售渠道來說， 2015 年註定是不平凡的一年。企業轉型仍然是這一
時期的中心。各類 IT 銷售企業將在雲計算、移動技術、大數據、社交媒體以
及其他市場和技術力量共同作用的時代繼續評估企業的發展方向。 建立新的
銷售渠道，改善顧客購買習慣是銷售企業要面對的挑戰，他們不僅要關註技
術的提升，還要同樣關註自身的品牌和營銷策略。
全球化很大程度上受技術的驅使，其普遍性和影響力隨著時間在增長。
互聯網應用統計網站的數據顯示，使用互聯網的人口數量最近已經突破 30 億
大關，占世界人口的 42%。不到兩年之前，美國網站在全球 10 大網站中占了
9 個席位。估計數據顯示這一名單包括了國際性的網站，如阿裏巴巴、百度以
及騰訊。他們擁有巨大的市場份額。同時，美國的科技公司掌控了許多排在
前列的硬件、軟件以及信息技術服務公司。當然，新生代具有全球視野的企
業家在尋求成功的時候，這一切都可能發生變化。
Unit1 Overview of IT Industry
從經濟大蕭條開始， “少花錢多辦事”的思維方式就已經支配著企業策略。
這無疑會是管理者尋求諸如簡化流程等策略，已達到削減成本的最終目的。
值得註意的是，簡化流程雖然能夠降低成本，消除浪費，但並非時時如此。
既受工人歡迎又受讓顧客滿意的簡潔的解決問題方案一般來說需要的不僅僅
是降低利潤。另一個推動簡化的因素來自於革新，如雲計算、移動技術、業
務流程自動化、大數據以及其他發展等，為企業提供了前所未有的簡化支持
手段。對於信息技術企業來說，機遇不僅僅在於技術的應用，還來自於為顧
客提供真實的咨詢經驗。簡化的形式可以使幫助首席信息官從維護模式轉向
革新模式，幫助平衡企業安全需求和工人需求之間的關系，在數量多的讓人
崩潰技術選擇面前，幫助顧客選擇。
Unit 1 overview of IT Industry