[LINK] strategic technologies

[Frank O'Connor]

At 1:15 PM +0000 22/11/09, stephen at melbpc.org.au quoted:
>Cloud Computing

Sorry, but the only problem cloud computing solves is the generating 
of a perpetual income stream for the providers.

Otherwise, it's a solution in search of a problem.

>Virtualization for Availability

Agreed. But virtualisation isn't very 'new'.

>IT for Green

Not really limited to IT ... covers pretty much anything that uses energy

>
>Client Computing
>
>He said technologies such as virtual desktops, thin clients and BYO IT
>are challenging this model.

Not exactly new technologies ... and ones which seem to be wheeled 
out every 5 years or so.

And BYO IT is simply a way for management to offload the IT 
acquisition costs onto the ever monstered employee ... not what I 
would have called the greatest development since canned beer.

>
>
>Mobile Applications
>Mobile applications are becoming very important to the CIO," Jones
>said. "What we're seeing is as people deliver more business to consumer
>applications, three major B2C architectures have begun to emerge."
>
>Those are SMS, mobile web and native applications delivered by an app
>store.

Not really new ... again. Just a function of the plethora of devices 
now in existence.

>
>Although expensive, Jones said developing a native application is the
>best way to reach your customers.

I'd dispute this ... smart developing using open standards and the 
server centric Web beats developing and maintaining platform 
exclusive binaries any day.

>Advanced Analytics
>"Analytics is the new face of business intelligence, not just processing
>data after the event, but analysing what's happening now to predict
>what's going to happen in the future," Jones said.
>
>Advanced analytics is about using analytical tools and models to maximise
>business process and decision.
>
>"It's about, for example, predicting fraud instead of detecting fraud,"
>Jones said.

Ahhh ... more Management Information Systems ... just what the world 
needs to be a more productive, greener, more efficient and nicer 
place.

Business Intelligence, OLAP, Analytics, MIS and the like has been one 
of the GREAT disappointments of the last 20 years, and I see nothing 
on the horizon to indicate this will change.

>Social Software and Social Computing
>According to Gartner, three aspects of social computing have grown in the
>enterprise, and therefore must be considered a strategic technology.
>
>* Internal social computing, such as wikis
>
>* Public social computing, such as Facebook and MySpace, not only through
>your employees' use, but also monitoring such networks to identify your
>company's public image.
>
>* B2B social media and customer communities

Is any of the stuff this article is predicting in any way new, 
original or NOT in existence yet.

>
>Flash Memory
>By 2012, Gartner predicts that flash memory will cost about 16 cents per
>gigabyte, which could open up the potential for technologies such as
>terabyte memory sticks.
>
>"A lot of new and interesting opportunities will be enabled by flash
>memory," Jones said.
>

See comment above. Flash memory has been around for 10 years or so, 
steadily improving in capacity and serving a miasma of devices from 
PC's, to camera's to MP3 players, to whatever.


>User Activity Monitoring (Security)

Excellent ... as if this is not happening enough already. I need more 
much more Big Brother in my life, and experience has shown that the 
big users (NSA, CIA, FBI etc) were so effective before and after 
September 2001. I suppose the only good thing about this prediction 
is that the idiots who invest in it will probably die under the data 
deluge or confusion it generates, like the idiots who used it so 
effectively in the past.

>
>Reshaping the Data Center

Another item that gets raised with monotonous regularity by big metal 
and database providers. Seems to me that it usually denotes more of 
the same, but with more effective cooling and air-conditioning.

Gartner ... as usual helpfully contributing to the problem, and 
rehashing products and ideas from the present and past. Hey, they're 
'consultants' - this is what they do.

						Regards,