There's no shortage of new technology endeavours for organisations to adopt in the modern IT environment, but there are several that offer real benefits for operations. It's essential to consider how these new trends can affect both the day-to-day and long term objectives of an enterprise.

The Third Platform of IT is one such endeavour, and offers significant benefits for businesses. It's important to understand exactly what it encompasses and where it's being utilised, as well as the value of the appropriate training.

What is the Third Platform?

The so-called Third Platform of IT is a computing term that's been defined by a number of organisations. The International Data Corporation (IDC) explains it as a centre of innovation and growth that's built on a number of new technologies and processes. For example cloud services, mobile devices and Big Data.

In recent years it's seen stronger growth, especially as the underlying systems are so powerful. The cloud, mobile and Big Data are each able to increase the visibility of organisations, the access to previously-unknown knowledge and communication outreach.

Coupled together, it's easy to see how growth can be so significant. As each technology continues to advance, there's no doubt going to be an even larger focus on utilising the Third Platform in a number of business sectors.

A focus on the Middle East and Africa

Proliferation of Third Platform technologies ins't limited to one particular market, and in fact is certain to see a substantial uptake in developing regions. It's often here where these new technologies have the greatest impact, due to their low or even non-existent capital costs and ability to scale when required.

New research from the IDC has shown that government organisations within the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are struggling to gain support from the executive level for new technology endeavours. These are essential for growth and effective management.

In addition, the technologies are needed to meet end-user expectations as well as service delivery requirements, a task that can often be difficult with the dated systems and technologies currently in use.

"MEA government IT departments are increasingly being asked not only to 'do more with less' but also to 'do new with less'," explained Mukesh Chulani, a regional program manager for the IDC.

"Consequently, many IT decision makers are keen to evaluate new engagement and business models."

He went on to outline how the increasing rate of new demands is requiring roster expansion as well as a need to extend the reach of various services and ensure operations are governed correctly.

Business leaders not solely in the MEA need to understand the effectiveness of the Third Platform, and consider the best ways to handle integration.

The value of training personnel

As effective governance is essential for new Third Platform technologies, it's important for business leaders to consider the value of appropriate certifications and framework training. In many cases, these are able to ensure that staff have the necessary skills and understanding to both implement new solutions and manage them on an ongoing basis.

The COBIT framework is a definitive platform for enterprise IT governance, and as such is the perfect solution for handling Third Platform endeavours.

COBIT is essentially designed to interlink business and IT goals, in turn providing metrics and maturity models that are able to measure achievement. In addition, the responsibilities of business and IT process owners can be assessed.

Failing to ensure effective governance can be disastrous for organisations, especially due to the increasing dependency placed on IT systems.

Armed with the right governance framework and an understanding of how to best implement Third Platform technologies, organisations will be in the best position moving forward.