Top Software Innovations for 2013

Most Promising Software Innovations or Products for 2013 While 2013 is still six months away, it’s an interesting time to look at the current state of the market and try to foresee what are going to be the “big deals” in software next year. So here are seven software packages and services that should get a lot of attention. In addition, there are two “gaps” — software innovations that will probably be big, but we haven’t seen any contenders yet.

Business Software

Business software is about content, collaboration, and data. Businesses continue to try to get all their stored documents under control. Additionally, enabling groups to collaborate on single documents or groups of documents will be a high priority. “Big Data” is going to be on the forefront in 2013, and software that makes it easier to work with large amounts of data is going to gain high interest.

Google Docs

Google Docs makes it very easy for a business to post content on the internet, either for public consumption and downloading, or for secure collaboration. In addition Google Docs makes it very easy for any users to work on the same document at the same time. While Google Docs does have some limitations in formatting compared to traditional office software, for most documents, spreadsheets and presentations it’s very capable.

WordPress

WordPress has become the standard for blogging software. Due to the growth of complex themes and plug-ins, it is becoming a contender for the number one software for internet sites in general as well as content management. While it may not make a “big splash” it will continue to generate a steady roar.

Microstrategy and PerformancePoint

Microstrategy is the industry standard for bringing large amounts of structured data under control, and will gain momentum riding on the interest in Big Data. PerformancePoint is part of SharePoint, and the popularity of SharePoint alone may make it a serious contender for business intelligence.

Consumer Software

Consumer software is going to be about mobile and cloud integration. Consumers don’t care if the information they need is “in the cloud” or on their device. They simply want it available when they need it, and they want it easy to share.

Windows Phone

Windows Phone 8 should ship either for Christmas 2012 or in early 2013. Nokia’s investment in the Windows Phone software is helping Windows Phone gain attention and market share. As iPhones become passe and Droid gains a reputation for being “clunky,” the easy integration and usability of the Windows Phone could catapult it into being the top choice for new phones.

Windows 8

Microsoft is investing heavily in the overhaul of the desktop in Windows 8 and the “Metro” interface. Coupled with the new Surface tablet and Windows Phones, Metro will be everywhere. Coupling the unique interface with deep integration with cloud services such as Music and Picutures will make Windows 8 a “must have” upgrade.

Presence

Connecting instant messaging to email to text to Facebook is making where a person is fairly irrelevant to their friends. However, when driving or walking around a city, geographic location is very important for finding your way or finding a restaurant. There are a number of different websites that will return restaurant or movie info based on where you are currently located. In 2013 we’ll see a new breakthrough software that unifies presence the way Facebook unified our online social experience.

Media Management

Streaming media will continue to grow in importance. But if data networks get saturated we could see a consumer pushback on streaming media in favor of digital media files on home entertainment devices or home computers. Hard drives are routinely over 1TB in size, which translates to hundreds of TV shows or movies. The right software that can provide management of these files with show descriptions, actors, and other shows you might like could be the new “Netflix” for the living room.