In 2010, as the economy begins to recover from the downturn, various information technology trends stand out for their burgeoning popularity and their ability to help businesses achieve sustainability, to boost the IT market, and to support modern lifestyles.
Business-related trends are being driven mainly by the need to save costs and boost efficiency, and the tangle of technologies in this field is a dynamic quest for killer applications - computer programmes that are so necessary, or so desirable, that they prove the core value of some larger technology. And there are many "larger technologies" that are setting the trends of 2010:
CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing is a new way to consume and deliver services. It builds on the maturation of the Web over the last decade, combining the rapid scalability and proliferation of the Internet with increased levels of self-service and elegant Web-based applications. It allows non-technical users to execute very complex computing tasks without the need to understand the underlying technology, turning data centres into the factories of the future.
Cloud computing is based on technologies like virtualisation, automation, open standards and Web-based computing. It can enable rapid business innovation by delivering easy-to-use computing services to users on demand, regardless of their location or the type of device they are using. A cloud-based service can be public, private, or a combination of the two, sometimes referred to as a hybrid cloud. It is also cost efficient.
Organisations are currently studying the technology and looking for migration paths to cloud-based services. They might build their own private cloud, or deploy a public cloud service from providers, or a hybrid. The key benefits that keep people moving towards cloud computing are reduced costs and increased agility to scale services as they are needed. Cloud computing will improve the ability of IT operations to respond to business needs faster, and in a secure way.
The key to enabling this technology is virtualisation, and Microsoft, to name just one company, has been focusing heavily on virtualisation and cloud computing.
GREEN TECHNOLOGY
Companies are feeling increasing pressure to improve their performance on environmental issues.
Water, energy and raw materials are costly and supply is often constrained. Reducing consumption and waste by improving efficiency can provide big savings, both in direct costs and in associated expenditures, while also reducing environmental impact.
Governments are adopting increasingly stringent regulations on green issues, and companies must respond proactively or face growing financial penalties, restrictions on their business operations, and negative exposure that could cause them to lose opportunities with key stakeholders. Customers and other key stakeholders such as investors, business partners and employees are also monitoring companies on a full range of green issues to decide which they will buy from, invest in, partner with and work for.
Green IT incorporates technology into efforts to save energy and find new environmental solutions. A good example of this is Unified Communications, which encourages staff to cut back on travel expenses by hosting virtual conferences.
SOCIAL COMPUTING
Organisations are rapidly realising the economic and business benefits of social computing. Gen Y workers of today and tomorrow are looking to integrate the social-networking tools they use in their personal interactions into their work networking.
Businesses, both small and large, are starting to focus on using social software and are not only developing social media in the enterprise arena, but also integrating it with enterprise-sponsored and public communities. Social networking has already begun to deliver many business benefits, from attracting and retaining the best talent and encouraging internal collaboration to spurring new ideas between different virtual communities.
COLLABORATION
Collaboration technology is a business platform. Tools are now being developed to enable workers to communicate and collaborate seamlessly with one another, with their business partners and with customers. There will soon be greater integration between the desktop phone, productivity tools on the computer and the mobile phone - and video communication is also a part of collaboration technology.
This technology can be used to improve employee productivity and reduce business costs, such as saving on travelling costs and time. Along with the increasing use of social networking, collaboration is expected to transform businesses. It will require not only a thorough understanding of the technology and of the business, but also adaptation of corporate culture and processes. But of all technologies, collaboration is expected to have the biggest impact on business.
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Business intelligence represents the next wave in IT investments in Thailand. Enterprises that have already setup their back-end automation processes will need a system that enables them to "drill down and slice and dice data", analyse it and present it as information that management can use for making decisions.
Demand for new technologies in 2010 is expected to be industry specific. In banking, for instance, a strong customer relationship management (CRM) system is needed to support banks as they push their different consumer products. Consumer banking in Thailand has become extremely competitive and CRM systems provide the enabling technology that allows banks to gain the competitive edge.
Large enterprises are also looking into governance, risk and compliance (GRC) systems. Stakeholders normally demand effective governance in an organisation, including enterprise risk management, transparency, accountability and optimised performance.
