Next-Generation
Analytics.Analytics is growing along three key
dimensions:
- >From traditional offline analytics to
in-line embedded analytics. This has been the focus
for many efforts in the past and will continue to be
an important focus for analytics.
- From analyzing historical data to explain
what happened to analyzing historical and real-time
data from multiple systems to simulate and predict the
future.
- Over the next three years, analytics
will mature along a third dimension, from structured
and simple data analyzed by individuals to analysis
of complex information of many types (text, video,
etc…) from many systems supporting a collaborative
decision process that brings multiple people
together to analyze, brainstorm and make decisions.
Analytics is
also beginning to shift to the cloud and exploit cloud
resources for high performance and grid computing.
In 2011 and
2012, analytics will increasingly focus on decisions and
collaboration. 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.
Big Data.
The size, complexity of formats and speed of delivery
exceeds the capabilities of traditional data management
technologies; it requires the use of new or exotic
technologies simply to manage the volume alone. Many new
technologies are emerging, with the potential to be
disruptive (e.g., in-memory DBMS). Analytics has become
a major driving application for data warehousing, with
the use of MapReduce outside and inside the DBMS, and
the use of self-service data marts. One major
implication of big data is that in the future users will
not be able to put all useful information into a single
data warehouse. Logical data warehouses bringing
together information from multiple sources as needed
will replace the single data warehouse model. (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1826214)
Gartner, Inc. recently highlighted the
top-10 technologies and trends that will be strategic
for most organizations in 2012. Gartner defines a
strategic technology as one with the potential for
significant impact on the enterprise in the next three
years. Factors that denote significant impact include
a high potential for disruption to IT or the business,
the need for a major dollar investment or the risk of
being late to adopt.
A strategic technology may be an existing
technology that has matured and/or become suitable for
a wider range of uses. It may also be an emerging
technology that offers an opportunity for strategic
business advantage for early adopters or with
potential for significant market disruption in the
next five years. These technologies impact the
organization's long-term plans, programs and
initiatives.
The top-10 strategic technologies for 2012
include:
1. Media tablets and beyond. Users can choose
between various form factors when it comes to mobile
computing. No single platform, form factor or
technology will dominate and companies should expect
to manage a diverse environment with two to four
intelligent clients through 2015. IT leaders need a
managed diversity program to address multiple form
factors, as well as employees bringing their own
smartphones and tablet devices into the workplace.
2. Mobile-centric applications and
interfaces. The user interface (IU) paradigm in place
for more than 20 years is changing. UIs with windows,
icons, menus and pointers will be replaced by
mobile-centric interfaces emphasizing touch, gesture,
search, voice and video. Applications themselves are
likely to shift to more focused and simple apps that
can be assembled into more complex solutions. These
changes will drive the need for new user interface
design skills.
3. Contextual and social user experience. Context-aware
computing uses information about an end-user or
objects environment, activities, connections and
preferences to improve the quality of interaction with
that end-user or object. A contextually aware system
anticipates the user’s needs and proactively serves up
the most appropriate and customized content, product
or service. Context can be used to link mobile,
social, location, payment and commerce. It can help
build skills in augmented reality, model-driven
security and ensemble applications. Through 2013,
context aware applications will appear in targeted
areas such as location-based services, augmented
reality on mobile devices, and mobile commerce. On the
social front, the interfaces for applications are
taking on the characteristics of social networks.
Social information is also becoming a key source of
contextual information to enhance delivery of search
results or the operation of applications.
4. Internet of things. The Internet of
Things (IoT) is a concept that describes how the
Internet will expand as sensors and intelligence are
added to physical items such as consumer devices or
physical assets and these objects are connected to the
Internet. The vision and concept have existed for
years, however, there has been an acceleration in the
number and types of things that are being connected
and in the technologies for identifying, sensing and
communicating. These technologies are reaching
critical mass and an economic tipping point over the
next few years.
5. App stores and marketplaces. Application stores by
Apple and Android provide marketplaces where hundreds
of thousands of applications are available to mobile
users. Gartner forecasts that by 2014, there will be
more than 70 billion mobile application downloads from
app stores every year. This will grow from a
consumer-only phenomena to an enterprise focus. With
enterprise app stores, the role of IT shifts from that
of a centralized planner to a market manager providing
governance and brokerage services to users and
potentially an ecosystem to support entrepreneurs.
Enterprises should use a managed diversity approach to
focus on app store efforts and segment apps by risk
and value.
6. Next-generation analytics. Analytics is growing
along three key dimensions: 1. From traditional
offline analytics to in-line embedded analytics; 2.
From analyzing historical data to explain what
happened to analyzing historical and real-time data
from multiple systems to simulate and predict the
future; 3. Over the next three years, analytics will
mature along a third dimension, from structured and
simple data analyzed by individuals to analysis of
complex information of many types (text, video, etc…)
from many systems supporting a collaborative decision
process that brings multiple people together to
analyze, brainstorm and make decisions.
7. Big data. The size, complexity of formats
and speed of delivery exceeds the capabilities of
traditional data management technologies; it requires
the use of new or exotic technologies simply to manage
the volume alone. Many new technologies are emerging,
with the potential to be disruptive (e.g., in-memory
DBMS). Analytics has become a major driving
application for data warehousing and the use of
self-service data marts. One major implication of big
data is that in the future users will not be able to
put all useful information into a single data
warehouse. Logical data warehouses bringing together
information from multiple sources as needed will
replace the single data warehouse model.
8. In-memory computing. Gartner sees huge use
of flash memory in consumer devices, entertainment
equipment and other embedded IT systems. In addition,
it offers a new layer of the memory hierarchy in
servers that has key advantages – space, heat,
performance and ruggedness among them. Besides
delivering a new storage tier, the availability of
large amounts of memory is driving new application
models. In-memory applications platforms include
in-memory analytics, event processing platforms,
in-memory application servers, in-memory data
management and in-memory messaging.
9. Extreme low-energy servers. The adoption of
low-energy servers – the radical new systems being
proposed, announced and marketed by mostly new
entrants to the server business –will take the buyer
on a trip backward in time. These systems are built on
low-power processors typically used in mobile devices.
The potential advantage is delivering 30 times or more
processors in a particular server unit with lower
power consumption vs. current server approaches. The
new approach is well-suited for certain non-compute
intensive tasks such as map/reduce workloads or
delivery of static objects to a website. However, most
applications will require more processing power, and
the low-energy server model potentially increases
management costs, undercutting broader use of the
approach.
10. Cloud computing. Cloud is a
disruptive force and has the potential for broad
long-term impact in most industries. While the
market remains in its early stages in 2011 and 2012,
it will see the full range of large enterprise
providers fully engaged in delivering a range of
offerings to build cloud environments and deliver
cloud services. Oracle, IBM and SAP all have major
initiatives to deliver a broader range of cloud
services over the next two years. As Microsoft
continues to expand its cloud offering, and these
traditional enterprise players expand offerings,
users will see competition heat up and
enterprise-level cloud services increase