Itex News
IT Innovations that rocked the world - Part two
More thoughts on innovations from the past 10 years that we could just not live without!
1. Social computing
No list of the top technology innovations in the last decade would be complete without social computing. It’s the theory behind such disruptive social tools as Facebook, Twitter LinkedIn and now Google+. Social computing has fundamentally changed the way we live our business and personal lives.
As noted by Wikipedia, “social computing has to do with supporting any sort of social behaviour in or through computational systems. It is based on creating or recreating social conventions and social contexts through the use of software and technology.”
It used to be that information was power, so people kept it under control. Now it’s the sharing of information that determines the measure of one’s influence.
Social networks are evolving
The social networks that have resulted from social computing technology are young, so exactly how they evolve remains to be seen. Suggesting a new realm of social computing discovery, leading analysts now talk about a rise in social network research “about who is talking to whom, about what, and if they aren’t talking, what can be done to bring them together.”
With the vast number of people on social networks and the immense amount of information being shared, what is gleaned is sure to be interesting.
2. Cloud computing
As the saying goes, cloud computing has arrived and cloud computing is seeing adoption among mainstream IT buyers. Companies like Amazon, Salesforce.com and Apple have all launched consumer and business-to-business cloud services.
To the consumer, a “cloud” service really doesn’t differ much from any other Web-based service or application. But to the small or even enterprise organisation, cloud computing represents a legitimate paradigm shift in how IT is sourced, delivered and managed.
“The cloud lets organisations get out of the business of IT and focus more of their energy and resources on their core business,” says Alistair Veitch, director, HP Labs. Instead of having to own, manage and maintain all the elements of an IT service—server, storage and software--organisations can effectively rent a service through the cloud.
Enabling great economies of scale
Cloud computing is typically based on virtualised resources and a “pay what you use” model. This allows organisations to achieve cost savings on raw computing. And because a cloud service can be shared easily among different business units or departments, it can enable greater economies of scale with any one service.
One of the cloud’s other biggest advantages, Veitch explains, is the speed with which it can provision an IT service. “Organisations can ‘stand up’ a cloud service literally in minutes,” says Veitch.
3. Intelligent storage
Intelligent storage is a nascent innovation that’s likely to grow, as organisations produce increasingly more information, yet require capabilities to manage it. Think of it simply as storage with built-in computational power, such as search and information analytics.
Veitch, who’s an expert in storage and information management, notes how information has become an enterprise’s most valuable asset, making it natural that computational power would migrate to storage systems. “In a few years’ time, it will be unthinkable for storage systems to not have search capabilities, especially for businesses in heavily- regulated or security-focused industries,” says Veitch.
Intelligent storage enables efficient analysis
Intelligent storage systems will allow organisations to more efficiently analyse, search for, retrieve, delete and archive information. The companies that have these capabilities built into their storage will have the advantage of being able to do these things faster and with fewer staff.
Intelligent storage will help enterprises process and analyse information faster, allowing them to take advantage of trends in “big data,” a term used to describe complex, large-scale information analytics. “Big data” involves integrating, analysing and acting on large data sets to predict retail trends, or even an earthquake.