cloud computing

Hopefully IPX can get a good slice of the I/T evolution.



THE RUST BUCKET

IT's evolution



In the last few years we have created a sea of changes in information and communication technologies as the Internet brought people around the world together over distance and time. The implications of these changes have yet to be fathomed or understood. We all live in an evolutionary period with newer and newer technologies emerging into the marketplace daily and changing the way we conduct our lives.



While our policymakers are focusing on driving broadband adoption as a key factor in Australia's future economy and growth, little research is available to support such claims. The flow of comments is ceaseless and mesmerising Gaze too long on the daily blow-by-blows and you'll miss the deeper story of the longer term trends.



Rapid transformation and consolidation in the technology and communication sectors are challenging marketers to anticipate, address, and pre-empt new competitive threats, market intrusions, and sector contenders. Upstarts, innovators, and offshore entrants are increasingly disrupting established markets or defining new opportunities by bringing improved efficiencies, value propositions, user experiences, and cost structures to the marketplace.



The ICT industry has always grown in cycles. Over the past 30 or more years we have experienced periods of growth and stagnation. From a forecasting perspective the key is to understand what forms of usage will comprise the next driver of ICT demand. Consider when transaction processing and databases drove the mainframe era, just as word processing and spreadsheets spurred the PC business, and then e‑mail, search, and Web surfing created much of the initial Internet boom.



Today, with more and more companies moving their applications and data to cloud providers, the number of companies that own IT assets will decline, according to IT analyst firm Gartner, which predicted that by 2012 some 20 per cent of all enterprises will own no IT assets but will "rent" IT services and infrastructures.



New business realities are requiring units within businesses not only to "do more with less" but also to prove value to the enterprise. New application architectures, such as Web services and cloud computing, combined with other business models such as outsourcing and Web-based collaboration, require that quality assurance and testing transform themselves into industry partners, working with business users, developers, and others within and outside the organisation to champion quality and user benefits.



Technologies have had a serious impact on our lives. How far it will go and what will be the impacts on our collective societies? This is just one of the many important questions of our time that we need to address.

Technologies are becoming legion and all persuasive to those who have the funds to pay and the wherewithal to utilise the evolving products and services. This is just the beginning of another change cycle that will continue as our society evolves into new ways of thinking and acting.

-- Len Rust [email protected]