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MCPc’s 2012 Technology Trend Predictions

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From Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technologies for business to CNN’s Top 10 Tech Trends geared more toward consumers, new and popular technology for 2012 is a hot topic. Most articles list the obvious trends: mobile, social, cloud, apps and analytics to name a few. But what do these trending technologies mean for your organization?

Our team of chief bloggers has weighed in with their own 2012 technology trends below. While many coincide to what we’re reading in IT industry publications, the thoughts listed here are from the field and based on market demand.

Andy Jones, Senior Vice President of Sales

Trends from the trenches include further adoption into virtualization and the broadening of cloud offerings, mobile device management, and collaboration with video.

• Virtualization and the cloud. As employee demand for mobility rises, we’ll see further adoption into virtual applications and virtual desktops, paving the way for the cloud. I expect we’ll also see the cloud industry gaining greater definition as adoption increases, as well as broader, varied offerings in PaaS, Saas, AaaS and IaaS.
• Mobile device management (MDM) is going to be huge. There are millions of devices out there that organizations are trying desperately to get their arms around. The need to manage, monitor and secure any device accessing the corporate network—from smartphones to Kindles to iPads—will drive growth and demand for MDM software. Expect the iPad 3’s introduction in March to fuel MDM conversations.
• Welcome the play of collaboration with video. More and more companies are starting to look at the benefits around collaboration, especially with video, and how this technology can improve organizational flexibility and mobility.
• Applications everywhere. Last year, Chris Anderson (@chr1sa) and Michael Wolff (@MichaelWolffNYC) wrote a profound article called The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet. I expect their predictions of access to information via application to come to fruition in 2012—but beyond the just the web, with heavy application development taking place for desktop, mobile and print. 

Darin Haines, Group President, Advanced Technology Group

Mobile, big data, consumerization and video will be some of 2012’s top tech trends.

• A mobile tsunami will strike in 2012, leaving no task behind. From social media to enterprise email, print and commerce, everything will go mobile or be driven by mobile in 2012. Location-based services for business and the consumer will be more highly adopted and expected.
• Big data will get even bigger. The data explosion will drive a need for comprehensive analytics to forecast business intelligence (BI) and decision-making. Having a handle on big data, via SaaS or other forms of XaaS, will give businesses a high-demand competitive advantage.
• Consumerization on steroids. Driven by consumer mobility and networking, tablets, cloud services and BYO3 (employees not just bringing one device, but three devices to the workplace) will hit the office. The ease of consumer video and social networking will spur enterprise adoption, and IT will need to manage access and security.
• Video, everywhere. Video is now 40 percent of consumer Internet traffic, according to the Cisco® Visual Networking Index. Consumers and corporations will dive into video for personal and business communications.

Ira Grossman, Vice President, Personal Systems Group

Personal system mobility, access, applications and end-user segmentation will impact IT initiatives in 2012.

• Self-service IT environments. A focus on self-service for level 0 support and deployment prevails, as organizations ready their IT environment for PC choice and employee BYO3.
• MDM and policy. IT organizations will need to review mobile policies to account for device proliferation and user demands for flexibility. Out-tasking core IT functions like PC lifecycle management can free up internal resources to focus on these more strategic and impactful initiatives.
• Application development. IT priorities driven by sales and marketing business leaders leverage the near immediate availability of apps as the new and preferred way to interact with clients—delivering content, data and BI. Apps are already being rewritten and re-factored to operate natively on tablets.
• End-user segmentation. Organizations will need to take a formal approach to user segmentation as they consider IT initiatives such as thin client computing, thick client refresh, Windows 8, and tablets as a complete replacement to traditional end points.

Jeff Goldstein, Senior Consultant, Imaging & Printing Group

For print to survive 2012, it has to be mobile, efficient, and backed by data.

• Mobile will reduce the need to print. Mobile devices aren’t equipped with built-in print drivers. As more organizations adopt mobile strategies, and as more people become hyper-mobile, the need to print will fade. Organizations will enable mobile print using middleware, such as HP ePrint Enterprise, if needed; however, the cost of the software will prompt organizations to decide if mobile printing is truly a requirement.
• Managed Print Services (MPS) will require more creative solutions. Quickly becoming a commodity, resellers will offer more than just MPS. To provide true value to their clients—helping them become more cost effective and efficient—MPS providers will consider: data that justifies software investments, print policy regulations to cut costs, business workflows that reduce or eliminate print altogether and more.

Your Thoughts?

What predictions do you have for the year ahead, and how do industry insights and those listed above compare to your IT forecasts?

This post is an MCPc blogging team collaboration.

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