Top Technology Trends for 2014 | Logistics Management

According to Gartner the top ten technology trends for 2014 are Mobile Device Diversity and Management, Mobile Apps and Applications, The Internet of Everything, Hybrid Cloud and IT as Service Broker, Cloud/Client Architecture,The Era of Personal Cloud, Software Defined Anything, Web-Scale IT, Smart Machines and 3-D Printing.

Mobile Device Diversity and Management

Mobile technology has had a big impact on technology trends and have simplified logistics management by providing companies with increased control and visibility over IT processes. Logistics software has also evolved and enables companies to run transport software from mobile devices, thereby integrating a dispersed workforce and enabling increased communication and time management between companies, their drivers and clients.

The Internet and Everything

When considering the impact that the internet has made on the logistics industry, it is hard to imagine an effective supply chain without it. Logistics software has evolved to become not only accessible to a dispersed workforce but also enable 24/7 control over logistics processes. Warehouse software and transport software can be integrated and optimised with online access enabling software providers to assist and enhance their systems for their customers operations any time of the day or night. While logistics management is still tough, the internet has definitely made it more manageable.

Smart Machines

Gartner predicts that  “the smart machine era will be the most disruptive in the history of IT.” These will include the proliferation of

  • contextually aware, intelligent personal assistants
  • smart advisors (e.g., IBM IBM +1.99% Watson)
  • advanced global industrial systems
  • autonomous vehicles

Business Intelligence Software has already taken the IT world by storm. Companies are now able to predict which clients are making them money and which are actually costing them. In addition, business decisions can be calculated to ensure that they are in the best interest of the company as a whole. BI technology enables integrated reporting over all processes, such as warehouse software and transport software and enables companies to determine where fleet management and logistics management processes need to improve.

Read the Gartner Report Here.