2010 Tech Innovation Predictions

2010 Tech Innovation Predictions

2010 brings with it new ideas, innovations and technology. The New Year also brings numerous predictions from analysts regarding their view of the technology space. Here is a list of the 2010 technology predictions from the likes of Gartner, IDC, and RedMonk. Highlights of these predictions are listed below.

Part of the Gartner list of strategic technologies for 2010 which is in the public domain from this release is provided below:

“Cloud Computing. Cloud computing is a style of computing that characterizes a model in which providers deliver a variety of IT-enabled capabilities to consumers. Cloud-based services can be exploited in a variety of ways to develop an application or a solution. Using cloud resources does not eliminate the costs of IT solutions, but does re-arrange some and reduce others. In addition, consuming cloud services enterprises will increasingly act as cloud providers and deliver application, information or business process services to customers and business partners.

Advanced Analytics. Optimization and simulation is using analytical tools and models to maximize business process and decision effectiveness by examining alternative outcomes and scenarios, before, during and after process implementation and execution. This can be viewed as a third step in supporting operational business decisions. Fixed rules and prepared policies gave way to more informed decisions powered by the right information delivered at the right time, whether through customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) or other applications. The new step is to provide simulation, prediction, optimization and other analytics, not simply information, to empower even more decision flexibility at the time and place of every business process action. The new step looks into the future, predicting what can or will happen.

Social Computing. Workers do not want two distinct environments to support their work – one for their own work products (whether personal or group) and another for accessing “external” information. Enterprises must focus both on use of social software and social media in the enterprise and participation and integration with externally facing enterprise-sponsored and public communities. Do not ignore the role of the social profile to bring communities together.

Security – Activity Monitoring. Traditionally, security has focused on putting up a perimeter fence to keep others out, but it has evolved to monitoring activities and identifying patterns that would have been missed before. Information security professionals face the challenge of detecting malicious activity in a constant stream of discrete events that are usually associated with an authorized user and are generated from multiple network, system and application sources. At the same time, security departments are facing increasing demands for ever-greater log analysis and reporting to support audit requirements. A variety of complimentary (and sometimes overlapping) monitoring and analysis tools help enterprises better detect and investigate suspicious activity – often with real-time alerting or transaction intervention. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these tools, enterprises can better understand how to use them to defend the enterprise and meet audit requirements.

Mobile Applications. By year-end 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing a rich environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web. There are already many thousands of applications for platforms such as the Apple iPhone, in spite of the limited market and need for unique coding. It may take a newer version that is designed to flexibly operate on both full PC and miniature systems, but if the operating system interface and processor architecture were identical, that enabling factor would create a huge turn upwards in mobile application availability. “

According to IDC’s predictions:

“Growth will return to the IT industry in 2010. We predict 3.2% growth for the year, returning the industry to
2008 spending levels of about $1.5 trillion.

2010 will also see improved growth and stability in the worldwide

telecommunications market, with worldwide spending predicted to increase 3%.

Cloud computing will expand and mature as we see a strategic battle for cloud

platform leadership, new public cloud hot spots, private cloud offerings, cloud

appliances, and offerings that bridge public and private clouds.

It will be a watershed year in the ascension of mobile devices as strategic
platforms for commercial and enterprise developers as over 1 billion access the
Internet, iPhone apps triple, Android apps quintuple, and Apple’s “iPad” arrives.

Public networks — more important than ever — will continue their aggressive
evolution to fiber and 3G and 4G wireless. 4G will be overhyped, more wireless
networks will become “invisible,” and the FCC will regulate over-the-top VoIP.

Business applications will undergo a fundamental transformation — fusing
business applications with social/collaboration software and analytics into a new generation of “socialytic” apps, challenging current market leaders.

Other industries will come out of the recession with a transformation agenda and look to IT as an increasingly important lever for these initiatives. Smart meters and electronic medical records will hit important adoption levels.

The IT industry’s transformations will drive a frenetic pace of M&A activity. “

Here is a portion of what RedMonk had to say:

“Cloud API proliferation will become a serious problem
Data as revenue – we’re going to see datasets increasingly recognized as a serious, balance sheet-worthy asset
It’s all about the analytics – metrics can be immensely important in maximizing returns, and to an extent, profits. In 2010 business intelligence will become less about the power user, and more about democratized access to the ad hoc query. In memory databases will underpin the trend.
Location, location, location: the new frontier in app dev is location-aware applications and services
Greener business processes through deeper instrumentation, more effective automation and orchestration
Google will significantly ramp up enterprise efforts
New devices: Smart phones, tablets, toys, TVs, and other devices are now on the Internet. Software goes here.
Users no longer tolerate slow and dumb computers.
Technology everywhere and at all times changes how people go about their daily work and lives.
Identity management standards”

As one can see there are a number of predictions for technology in 2010. Which ones do you agree with? Are there any that you disagree with? Which of these predictions will impact the mortgage industry the most in 2010?

Share with us your thoughts. What predictions do you have for mortgage technology in 2010?

Michael
mhammond@nexleveladvisors.com