50 Years of Working with Technology!

As long as businesses have used computers, there have been IT professionals helping companies use them. Technology has dramatically changed over the past fifty years, and IT service companies have been there to help organizations with each transition. Let's take a look back at the past fifty years of business technology!

1960s & 70s: The Introduction of the Computer
In these early days, a single computer took up an entire room. During this time, only major companies could afford these behemoth machines, yet medium-sized companies still wanted to utilize this new technology. Therefore, the practice of time-sharing was invented where smaller companies essentially rented out, on a per-hour basis, a computer that they could not afford on their own.

Time sharing allowed businesses to use a computer without having to worry about maintaining the room-sized machine with all of its vacuum tubes and circuit boards. Little did our computing forefathers know, this model of business would come full circle fifty years later.

1980s: Computers Hit the Workplace
The 1980s was a computer revolution led by IBM, Macintosh, and Xerox. These technology companies made computers smaller, capable of doing more, and affordable for businesses. To the IT service industry, there are three events that stand out as the most notable milestones of 1980s computing.

• 1981: IBM launched VisiCalc, one of the first Personal Computers. VisiCalc had a spreadsheet application that revolutionized accounting, and it helped lessen the workload of CFOs.
• 1984-1986: PCs found their way to the small business market.
• 1988: IBM released the PS/2 and 286/386 Revolution models which expanded the appeal of computers beyond accounting, thanks to the addition new business apps like WordPerfect and Lotus 123.

1990s: PCs Hit the Mainstream
The 90s were a boom time for the PC as computing expanded from the office to the home. Microsoft released popular Windows operating systems and the Internet began to change everything. This PC boom saw IT service companies expanding their coverage to help consumers with their home PCs, and many IT companies were heavily invested in selling computer equipment like monitors, speakers, dial-up modems, and CD-ROMs.

• 1990: Hard disks made memory management easy and Ethernet rollouts are introduced on a large scale.
• 1994: The Lotus Organizer made it possible for businesses to take advantage of email.
• 1995: The easy-to-use interface and multimedia capabilities of Windows 95 was an instant hit and revolutionized the PC experience.
• The Late 1990s: Popular operating systems like Windows 98 and NT pulled ahead from Novell NetWare to capture the market. PDAs make computing portable, consumers take advantage of email, and BlackBerry Enterprise Server was launched.

2000s: Welcome to the Modern Office
Much of the technology we use in the office today was introduced during this time. Operating systems like Windows XP, Vista, and 7, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and video conferencing was introduced and widely adopted in the 2000s. During this time, IT service companies helped businesses manage all of their new technology, as well as protect them from the host of Internet threats that exponentially grew.

• 2001: Windows XP launched, becoming Microsoft's most widely used OS. It's still going strong today, despite the fact that XP's end-of-support date is coming up in April of 2014.
• 2004: SaaS was introduced by Salesforce.
• 2006: Apple launched the iPhone and began its domination of the mobile device market.
• 2009: BYOD became popular as laptops outsell desktops.
• 2010: Microsoft released Windows 7.

Today: Cloud Computing is the Next Big Thing
As technology continues to change, you can rest assured that k_Street Consulting, LLC will be there to help your business profit from the industry's dynamic new advancements. The current money-saving opportunity for businesses is found in the cloud. Cloud computing is a revolutionary technology that allows businesses to safely host their data and applications to a data center. This service is affordable because other businesses also take advantage of the same cloud service, allowing businesses to do more with their technology then they could ever do if they had to maintain their own data center. It's interesting how much cloud computing sounds like the old time-sharing service from the 1960s!

Whatever your computer needs are, k_Street Consulting, LLC will search the corridors of history to find your organization the solution, and introduce you to amazing business technology tools of the future! Call us at (202) 640-2737 and let's make history together!