In the business IT landscape, there has been a shift in decision making over the last few years. Traditionally, a handful of technology professionals in the know would be responsible for testing and deciding what new hardware and software should be invested in and deployed. They were the gatekeepers, and it made sense because the rest of the workforce was not well versed in the latest technology trends. Essentially, it was a "we tell you what to use" kind of relationship.

However, the power has shifted and now employees are starting to speak up and say, "this is what we want." The reason for this is a movement known as the consumerization of IT. In a nutshell, this means workers have started to increase their knowledge of the technology landscape in their personal lives and are asking to use systems like mobile devices and applications to accomplish work tasks.

In a recent article from Manufacturing Business Technology, Greg Goodwin of LNS Research, explained that the manufacturing software marketplace is no different. This is being pushed by the rise of "bring-your-own-device" strategies. There is a good chance that your employees are using better hardware in their personal lives than in the office. This makes complete sense as upgrading an entire company's IT strategy is significantly more expensive than having one person buy the new iPad when it comes out.

He cited an IDG Enterprise study which surveyed over 1,100 professionals, 12 percent of which represent the manufacturing sector, it was the second highest industry sector percentage-wise.  It found that corporate IT support for personal mobile devices is expected to increase significantly over the next 12 to 18 months. This will be an increase from 43 to 55 percent for tablets and 52 to 55 percent for smartphones.

The problem with this is that it adds more complexity to what CIOs and CTOs need to manage. With personal devices connecting to company data, it opens up the network and data to any number of security issues. This is causing IT departments to create a more detailed policy when it comes to managing these these devices and the software that is used on them.

The consumer landscape is also effecting how manufacturing software looks. This impacted is called "gamification" and it is how consumer tastes and expectations have evolved to crave a more in-depth user experience that can be found in video games. This includes things like 3D visual displays, avatars and competitive.scoring elements.

"While the full potential of BYOD and gamified solutions is still down the road, it's clear that these trends of consumerized IT applications will continue across both manufacturing and the broader enterprise IT landscape at large as software manufacturers and end-users alike devise newer and more involved ways of incorporating the most practical and popular functionalities of what is happening in today's consumer market," Goodwin concluded.

All of this is added a new layer of things to think about when it comes to selecting new manufacturing software systems. An experienced solution provider can help any organization wade through all options to find the best one for their business.