The consumerisation of IT is no longer a trend, but a reality we’ve all helped to cultivate.  More and more employees are bringing their own devices to work; blurring the line between consumer and professional IT.  I am fairly new to technology PR and I was struck by the way in which we keep consumers at the heart of our work at every step, regardless of whether a client is B2B or B2C focused.

Of course big consumer-facing companies like Google and Apple are bringing technology to mainstream audiences and even giving it a veneer of “cool”, as evidenced by glossy magazines such as “Wired”. However, even those companies that operate in the “background” such as payment security companies, app developers and cloud providers, find themselves forced to shift towards more consumer-focused communication.

IT used to be exclusively reserved for ‘the geeks’ tucked away in a quiet area of the office, but today the sector is more popular than ever and the influencers are gaining a more prominent place in our society.  Where once announcements from companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft would only excite ‘techies’, now their news hits the headlines and the CEOs of those companies have been catapulted into the spotlight.

Society is consumed by technology. We make payments online, keep our friend updated via Facebook, store our pictures in the cloud and entertain ourselves on a tablet and the complexities have been removed so we can do this almost without thinking. The consumerisation of IT is creating a shift in the market, now consumer demand feeds the desire for technology growth and it’s not simply large companies driving the market.

Now consumers want to remain informed about tech developments and employees have more influence on IT-decisions, therefore we need to consider our approach as technology PR professionals. It is our remit to guide these companies so we cannot pander merely to the IT-literate, our value lies in simplifying the language to democratise the space. It is our duty to inform our clients on how to adapt their messaging to appeal to the ever growing consumer demographic, as I see it this is an opportunity to greatly improve client satisfaction.

The tech PR industry needs to find the balance between giving professionals the information they need and also speaking to a growing audience of engaged amateurs. One thing is for sure, the consumerisation of tech PR is happening, whether we like or not.

Ingrid Hamers, Junior Account Executive at AxiCom Benelux