MUMBAI, INDIA:Â Imagine a world without mobiles, personal computers and laptops. It is impossible for the present generation to do so. Most of us have grown up in the age of digital explosion and today it has become a part of our DNA.
Today with a click of a button we can access our favorite things, Sports is no exception. In fact, Sports fans can now access updates at their fingertips and connect with their favorite athletes and teams through social media, all without leaving the comfort of their armchairs, trains or offices. Evolution of technology has made a huge difference to the entire sports viewing experience. Earlier people would have to visit the stadium to watch the match live but now one can access content on the go from any part of the world, all thanks to this digital penetration.
With the world reeling under the football fever with the Football World Cup just gone by, India witnessed the great sporting action to catch their favorite teams live, watch matches online, get instant updates on their phones and connecting with their favorite players through social networking sites.
Consider this: India has 554.8 million mobile users out of which 23.8 million individuals accessed internet from their mobiles using a data connection such as GPRS or 3G. Interestingly, one million of them access Internet exclusively using data connection on their mobile phones, meaning they do not access Internet through any other means such as desktop or laptops.
Yes, mobility makes it happen instantly and statistics surely substantiate the fact that there lies deep internet penetration grappling the world overall. However, the flip side to the story is that it also opens doors for a serious concern.
The digital penetration exposes businesses to serious risks and security issues. Enterprises today want to ensure a smoother and safer online experience happens for their end consumers, and that would also mean newer ways of engagement, newer strategies to bring in a partner-of-choice who can ensure appropriate IT infrastructure and bring in profitable and efficient business opportunities.
To understand the context, let's take a broader look at the latest sports mania, Football World Cup's current scenario. The Football World Cup has always been a dream platform for businesses to engage with customers as more than half the world's population is tuning into the World Cup. Over years the viewership has taken steep growth, for instance as compared to the 3.2 billion users who tuned in to watch the matches in 2010, 4 billion fans are expected to watch the matches this year and its happening right there. Additionally, the broadband subscriptions have gone up from 640 million in 2010 to 2.1 billion in 2014. National teams too have garnered huge fan following on social networking sites like Facebook with Brazil leading the pack with 4.5 million followers followed by England with 3.9 million followers, Germany 2.7 million followers, France 2.2 million followers and Japan with 1.4 million followers.
According to FIFA, an estimated 909.6 million viewers watched at least one minute of the 2010 final game when Spain beat the Netherlands. A record 33 per cent people stream matches on their tablets and smartphones. From the above statistics it can be deciphered that a World Cup now plays out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and messaging apps like WhatsApp just as it progresses in stadiums from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
With so much action, The Football World Cup opens a plethora of opportunities for businesses to reach out to consumers across the globe. Today every brand wants to be online, all thanks to the global internet traffic numbers. It's the easiest way to reach out to a consumer.
But the bigger question, are we in a Secure World to fulfil our bigger desires? Is it enough for every business to be just visible onto the mobile platform with newer business needs and embrace newer threats around or does it mean an extra consciousness for them to strategize better, handshake the right partner and contribute towards a larger, safe and secure world?
Every business needs to be well prepared if it wants to gain from this IT surge. Businesses need to adopt applications and services that will help them be efficient, smarter and safer. A few of the best IT management solution providers have developed applications that enable security, management and control of mobile apps through fine-grained access control policies. With newer and faster innovations, these providers bring numerous applications to ensure security of digital transactions, multiple threats and unidentified access. Solution Providers are innovating everyday and introducing smarter technologies that are helping marketers in delivering superior viewership and engaging experience by addressing issues in a holistic manner.
So the crux of the matter is in this socially-driven world, millions of fans will interact with brands across social networks and the brands with the best recipe for success will be able to hit the right chord with the consumers. Technology on the other hand will continue to contribute to this bigger transition of business opportunities ‘going mobile' by being their biggest companion. The need is to strategize better and marry the benefits of both that will further create a ‘Socially Secure World'
(Vic Mankotia is VP- Solutions Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies.The ideas and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of CyberMedia)