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technology trends in business
Garter, Inc analysts highlighted the top ten strategic technologies and trends for 2008. 1. Green IT
According to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, e-waste is the fastest-growing part of the waste stream, and the Environmental Protection Agency estimates e-waste accounts for 2 percent of the municipal solid waste stream in the United States. IT departments spent 17 cents per dollar to power and cool servers in 1996. It is no wonder that e-waste and Green IT are topping the charts as the primary initiative for technology and trends in 2008.
What company is setting the pace with Green IT initiatives? 2. Unified Communications
Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP, is also known as IP Telephony, Broadband Telephony, and Voice over Broadband. A single network can carry voice, data, video, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks. Get ready to rethink networks as completely integrated communication of voice, video, and data. You will be surfing the Internet, accessing data, and sharing video on your cell phone. Hardware is interchangeable, it is just a matter of the adoption rate for new technology.
3. Business Process Modeling
In IT, business processing modeling requires system and application architects to work with programmers, designers, and analysts to coordinate the design theory, the development, and the institutionalizing of the systems and applications. 4. Metadata Management
Metadata management is critical to a information infrastructure, it is the relationship and usage of data. There are three primary segments of data in Enterprise Information Management (EIM) strategy. These three segments are customer data integration, product information management, and product management. Simply defined, metadata management uses data from complex structured data sources and databases to create models (schemas) and mappings. Import data to rapidly identify patterns, commonalities, differentiators, and create models. Use design patterns, solution templates, and operators to simplify development of metadata applications.
Metadata captures customer registration to model buying habits, returns, peripheral purchases, and warranty extensions. What company is setting the pace with metadata management? 5. Virtualization 2.0
Virtualization technologies are infrastructure improvement enablers to improve IT resource utilization and increase flexibility. Automation technologies can improve resource efficiency and automate flexibility based on requirements and services managed holistically, with high levels of resiliency. IT resources adapt automatically to changing workloads and reduce cost. Expect to hear more about virtualization as technologies and trends impact the holy grail of Green IT, better management of resources, and lower costs.
6. Mashup & Composite Apps
Composite Applications are the assembly of existing components in IT with Web based applications, typically using older generation program language languages and developed by professional programmers. Mashups simply gather existing data from multiple web resources to either present the data together, assemble and calculate the information to create new data, or create new functionality. Mashups are small pieces of data, loosely joined. i. Presentation Mashup gathers data from multiple sources and lists the data together.
ii. Client-side Data Mashup gathers data from remote web sites or data feeds and processes the data in a client database or application to analyze it or create a new result.
iii. Client-side Software Mashup uses code in the client side web browser to create distinct new capabilities for gathering and utilizing data captured through the browser.
The server collects data from the client.
v. Server-side Data Mashup is the linking and connecting of data between servers. As client-side applications enable users to access data with web browsers and to mashup data without professional programmers, the evolution changes from how to gather diverse data into how to compare, analyze, and use the data. Once immediate access to mashup data from diverse web resources becomes commonplace, metadata management becomes even more crucial to identify trends, recognize commonalities, and develop predictive applications for accurate forecasts and customer-centric customization.
7. Web Platform & WOA
Emerging web applications provide Software as a Service (SaaS) as a viable option to access infrastructure services, information, applications, and business processes though simple and easy to use web browsers. The web based "cloud computing" environments may access a single source for data, applications, or resources for client queries and reporting. However, as metadata management and mashups become more sophisticated and commonplace, web platform Software as a Service will increasingly enable the recombination of data from multiple data sources, applications, and resources. This evolution enables real time data collection, comparison, analysis, application and resource allocation through web portals, reducing direct data or service connectivity, and allowing significantly greater user flexibility.
What company is setting the pace with Web Platform, API, and Software as a Service initiatives? 8. Computing Fabric
In the evolution of servers as storage devices, we witnessed the progression of big iron from tape drives to hard drives, and the management of all data on one drive to storing data on an array of drives as a means to expand storage and recover from catastrophic failure. In other words, multiple devices shared access and resources to store data. This concept evolved into blade servers, enabling the networking of multiple efficient devices. Managing the computing fabric will take the smallest measurable pieces of the networked hardware and recombine resources to achieve Green IT low cost power consumption, better use of hardware resources, and treat hardware combinations in much the same way that mashups converge diverse small pieces of data into single serving results on demand.
9. Real World Web
The value customer would receive a web based calendar alert to unexpected flight delays, enabling your valued customer to occupy time with other important tasks while you are still in flight. The directions, navigation, reservations, and customer clients updates can be managed automatically with real world web.
Another use for real world web integrates posted gasoline prices with GPS navigation devices. This enables the user to identify and select from gas stations with lower posted prices using the real world web.
What company is setting the pace for delivering Real World Web applications? 10. Social Software
The term social software is typically associated with a wide range of web applications that enable users to interact and share with other users. Social software reflects the asymmetrical traits of social networks, and a mutual link between users. Social software and social networks are evolving at an astounding pace, and are as diverse as human interests. What companies are setting the pace with Social Software? YouTube, MySpace, and LinkedIn
Green IT seeks to identify the components of hardware and resources to maximize efficiency, reduce e-waste, and reduce power consumption. Unified communications is breaking down data, voice, and video into streams that can be shared by mobile and web based devices. Business Process Models organize the small bits of data, applications, and resources to design future architecture and integrate analytics are users and clients become a part of the development process. Metadata management identifies commonalities and creates smaller models to organize the data. Web platforms and Software as a Service empower mashups and data access. Real World Web integrates all of this with our environment and surroundings. Social software makes individuals a part of the process, identifying and connecting smaller pieces of personal interests with individuals that share similar experiences or interests.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."