2011 Technology Trends

By John Duckgeischel

As we say "goodbye" to 2010 and "hello" to 2011, there is an annual tradition of projecting the technology trends that will be most prevalent in the coming year.
In keeping with this tradition, consider the following....

1) In 2011, Senior IT Managers will continue to look at budgets that will stay tight for the coming year. That means doing more with less. In other words, how can technology be leveraged to provide more functionality while reducing cost? The strong growth trends utilizing cloud computing, virtualization and business analytics will continue into the New Year. New products that enable these technologies have become more sophisticated, easier to use and less expensive in 2010. Further enhancements and cost reductions can be expected in the coming year.

2) Mobile devices will be even more prevalent in 2011. New mobile devices and technologies make personal access to business and individual information easier than ever. Better mobile networks and device technology and apps means that more companies will join this trend in 2011, which already has strong momentum.

3) The model for improving unified communications continues to evolve. Advances in technology continue to enhance business communications, team workflows and accessibility of personnel and data. Add to this paradigm the new levels of accessibility to enterprise data on private or hybrid clouds via tablets and smartphones and it becomes easy to see how the implications for real life scenarios begin to explode. The bottom line is that we are still learning the best way to make use of all of this emerging technology in an integrated model that provides the maximum leverage.

2011 looks to be a great year. Enjoy the ride.