PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD
PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD I've had a chance over the past couple weeks to talk to lots of execs in the digital space about the technologies and products they're developing, and I've picked five that I am following. These are not necessarily the wildest, sexiest, coolest products, but they are areas that I believe will show great development this year, not 10 years in the future. I'm always looking for new candidates, reasons to take a few off the list or some remarks on just how far off (hey, or even right on) I am.
1. Cloud computing Version 2.0. Say what? How can we be at Version 2.0 when the likes of EMC, IBM, Cisco and others are still wrangling to get Version 1.0 adherents? But one of the neatest aspects of cloud computing is rapid innovation. So, here's what I think will happen.
Lots of vendors would like to see customers build a little cloud in their company and then slowly build ties to outside services. But what about the other way around? Here's what I mean: Amazon, for example, is adding service zones (the U.S. East Coast was added today) that offer zone protection—your zone stays up even if the West Coast conks out. In addition, cloud zoning overcomes a lot of the latency issues that have hindered cloud adoption, with latency times reduced to about what you'd encounter from your crosstown data center. I'm really enjoying watching the development of cloud computing, and I'm sure your company will be hooked into one or more clouds before year's end.
2. Mobility, mobility, mobility. Netbooks are neat, but the new iPhone, Palm Pre and all the other competitors are driving mobility at a pace previously unseen. Business applications are being designed for mobility from the ground up, as developers flock to the mobile device market with new apps for millions of customers. In the United States, the carriers are still the laggards at offering data, tethering and always-on application plans to match customer expectations. It's not quite the Star Trek Communicator, but mobile will be dominant this year.
3. Stimulate my spending. A little history. Remember the economy? The one that crashed and is slowly getting off the deck thanks to hundreds of billions of dollars in federal stimulus spending? Well that money is rapidly being translated into projects—funded projects. What does that have to do with smart digital technologies? There is nothing like money to make a market. The digitization of health care records has been talked about since the advent of the IBM mainframe in the 1950s, but stimulus money in the health care sector is making this technology real. The same is true for many aspects of the energy spending area and infrastructure. Follow the money and you'll find technologies ready to move from the lab to the marketplace.
4. The odd couple. On one side you've got your server rooms, IT staff and business applications. On the other side you've got your heating and air conditioning systems, electrical systems, and utilities. This is the year when the marriage between the digital world and the analog world will finally take place. The reason is partly due to money and partly due to a rise in concern over the environment and energy independence. Companies such as Schneider Electric (which bought APC) are leading the way here. I recently had the chance to spend a day with the Schneider execs who gave me a briefing on what is up for the near future. Measurement, management and control of all building systems via one management console are possible now. This is one big deal that will take a lot of competitors by surprise.
5. Well Twit my Facebook via LinkedIn. The rapid rise of social networks has caught a lot of executives flat-footed. Some execs want to wait to see how the market develops. Some just want it to all go away. Here's a clue: Social nets are not going away. When you have CNN newscasters broadcasting their Twitter handles (mine, btw, is @ESLundquist), you know the product has reached mainstream. The question now is how to manage this avalanche of information and how to incorporate these products into your marketing mix and business development strategies. I'll be diving deeper into this topic later.
Well, there are five to follow. Like I said, no dilithium crystals, just five smarter technologies that will change you and your company this year.
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