The future of technology for small businesses -- ho-hum

I'm a big fan of the work of the futurists at the Institute for the Future, but... I have to say that their new report on the future of SMB technology (PDF) is stunningly mundane. Not a single surprising prediction. But it's not their fault. The fact is that small businesses, as late adopters, will simply be catching up to Big Business in the decade ahead. As the report says:

Despite the positive contributions technology has made to small businesses over the last decade, the hype surrounding the benefits of new technologies often exceeded the reality. In many cases technology was not mature enough, technical infrastructures required for success were not in place, and new technology was simply too complex to be easily deployed or used.

The next decade will see the reality of technology catch up with the hype of the last decade. Broadband and wireless networks will become ubiquitous. Increasingly advanced, yet cheaper, computing power will greatly improve the collection, analysis, and sharing of data and information. The Internet will become a platform that provides small businesses with a wide range of new tools, services, and capabilities. Technology will become cheaper, easier to deploy and use, and pervasive.

As the digital infrastructure matures and becomes widespread, small businesses — traditionally late adopters of technology — will need to aggressively use new technologies to create, build, and market their products and services. Small businesses that fail to embrace technology will be under increasing competitive pressure from more technologically savvy firms.

The megatrends:

The Connected World: Small Business Management On My Time, On My Terms. Advances in technology will result in a connected world where networked digital intelligence, mobile devices, and analytical tools support and augment small business operations and management. This digital infrastructure will allow greater flexibility around when, where, and how work is done, allowing small business managers to run their businesses on their time and on their own terms.

Beyond Web 2.0: Technology Fuels Small Business Formation, Operations, and Innovation. Leveraging the emerging digital infrastructure, inexpensive and easy-to-use Web services and tools will extend the ability of small businesses to build complex online applications and create, communicate, and share information. The emergence of this Web platform — in both the real-life physical world as well as emerging virtual landscapes — will drive small business formation, operation, and innovation.

Small Business Marketing: The Mindset Shifts from Push to Pull. Small businesses will need to shift their marketing methods to provide customers and prospects with the right information, in the right context, at the right time.

I say this is ho-hum stuff because these are trends we've been seeing for several years now. But it will be exciting when mainstream (i.e. Main Street) small busineses can actually take advantage of them.

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Related blog:
Small Biz Labs