Adopt New Technologies for 2011 and Beyond
Pick the right technologies to move ahead of the competition.
- To maintain parity with competitors and especially to exceed their capabilities, IT must take advantage of the ongoing introduction and evolution of exciting new technologies, while discarding obsolete ones.
- IT Management is often hesitant about taking new directions because of the number of unfamiliar technologies competing for attention, budgetary constraints, fear of change, and skepticism about which new direction will actually provide value.
- Readers of this set will understand which technologies are important for them and which are not, where their value lies, and what progress they should achieve in 2011.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- The trends that IT leadership should address in their planning for 2011 go well beyond continuing evolutionary changes in software, servers, storage, networks, and development methodologies. These developments represent a major challenge to the traditional role of IT as the key organizational driver and provider of IT services.
- The major trends that make new technology planning in 2011 non-optional include:
- Consumerization of IT: staff are now often ahead of the organization in their familiarity with technology. These employees and their organizational units will not wait for IT to initiate change, but rather will push for the implementation of technologies they find useful.
- External cloud: The external cloud creates an opportunity for the organization but challenges IT’s traditional role.
- Remote and mobile workers: Organizations are experiencing a reduction in the number of employees who work exclusively from the office. This shifts IT’s focus from equipment on the desk (telephones, personal computers) and private networks to other alternatives.
Impact and Result
- We see the following as key technologies ready for prime time in 2011:
- Use of simple analytic tools
- Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
- Virtual desktops
- Selective use of cloud services
- Leveraging smart mobile devices
- Social media for marketing and collaboration
- There are technologies that may have reached the end of their lifetimes. Organizations should consider evolving alternatives to the traditional desktop computer, the physical phone set, and the private network.
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
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Contributors
- The Hospital for Sick Children
- Professional Engineers of Ontario
- Earth Rangers
- 240 clients who participated in Info-Tech's survey