The new disruptors

Pesce says similar services are popping up in Australia’s mining towns. These areas are usually cash-rich, but have their labour pools tied up in mining. Low friction labour services like Uber, Airtasker, and others let people who would otherwise be out of the workforce supplement their incomes with short-term tasks or gigs.

“Think of the smartphone as a recruiter, where you’re bidding for talent and services,” says Pesce.

These services can be developed in three months or less by small companies, and need a very small amount of infrastructure and capital to run - making it difficult for larger organisations to react to.

The smartphone is likewise changing the landscape for finance sector, as banking’s smallest functions have been taken up by other connected businesses, which often do a much better job says Pesce.

New Zealand businesses will face similar competition from startups and smaller, leaner palyers better able to react to the current pace of technological change.

The CIO Breakfast, sponsored by IBM, was held to mark the worldwide launch of PureSystems as part of IBM's new Expert Integrated Systems division.

PureSystems is the result of $2 billion in research, development and acquisitions over the last four years, says Alan Waite, national manager of Expert Integrated Systems in Australia and New Zealand.

The expert integrated systems combine both physical and virtual elements of IT enterprises, he says.