My final comment on Gartner's '08 predictions.
This will come to pass just as purchasing software as a service is becoming more common place. This change will impact how we run I.T., how we deploy our resources and who we hold accountable for service.
By 2011, early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service. Increased high-speed bandwidth makes it practical to locate infrastructure at other sites and still receive the same response times. Enterprises believe that as service oriented architecture (SOA) becomes common "cloud computing" will take off, thus untying applications from specific infrastructure. This trend to accepting commodity infrastructure could end the traditional "lock-in" with a single supplier and lower the costs of switching suppliers. It means that IT buyers should strengthen their purchasing and sourcing departments to evaluate offerings. They will have to develop and use new criteria for evaluation and selection and phase out traditional criteria.
See all of Gartner's prediction in my earlier post (Gartner's 10 Key Predictions) or at http://gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=593207.
Showing posts with label Gartner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gartner. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Subscription Service Software Spending
Gartner's 4th prediction..
By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license. With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use. This is fundamentally different from the fixed-price perpetual license of the traditional on-premises technology. Endorsed and promoted by all leading business applications vendors (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft) and many Web technology leaders (Google, Amazon), the SaaS model of deployment and distribution of software services will enjoy steady growth in mainstream use during the next five years.
While I believe that this prediction represents on "pendulum" item - 1/3 of business application spending for service subscriptions vs license is reasonable. The trend greatly increases financial flexibility and for those buyers who require limited flexibility in the configuration of an application it could be an ideal way to add capability or increase efficiency.
This change will create another challenge for I.T. as we add capabilities including governance to manage these arrangements. It is an opportunity for us to grow a certain segment of our staff and to improve services to the business and potentially to our customers.
By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license. With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use. This is fundamentally different from the fixed-price perpetual license of the traditional on-premises technology. Endorsed and promoted by all leading business applications vendors (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft) and many Web technology leaders (Google, Amazon), the SaaS model of deployment and distribution of software services will enjoy steady growth in mainstream use during the next five years.
While I believe that this prediction represents on "pendulum" item - 1/3 of business application spending for service subscriptions vs license is reasonable. The trend greatly increases financial flexibility and for those buyers who require limited flexibility in the configuration of an application it could be an ideal way to add capability or increase efficiency.
This change will create another challenge for I.T. as we add capabilities including governance to manage these arrangements. It is an opportunity for us to grow a certain segment of our staff and to improve services to the business and potentially to our customers.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Traveling workers - more changes
The next Garter prediction (below) is a bit more mainstream from a technology standpoint. Many of us were experimenting with Citrix and other server based remote desktop technologies in the early part of the decade. But this is a final push to acceptability of these technologies - outside of the firewall.
As a consultant (at least in my current incarnation) I will truly welcome this if I can find a workable solution from a service provider (inexpensive solution - please). I have used blackberry's for years but am not interested in a $50/month solution if I can find a workable answer that uses hotspots securely and can grab my mail off my providers web site. A friend - James Lee - is experimenting with an iPod touch as an answer to this problem and if successful I may go the same route at least for a time.
As a CIO I would welcome the opportunity to provide users with access to services inside the firewall without the burden of hauling a laptop on their regular excursions. The added benefit being the lowered possibilitiy of the loss of that laptop and the information it contains.
Gartner's second prediction.
By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, traveling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips. Vendors are developing solutions to address these concerns: new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level; and server and Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere. There is also a new class of applications: portable personality that encapsulates a user's preferred work environment, enabling the user to recreate that environment across multiple locations or systems.
As a consultant (at least in my current incarnation) I will truly welcome this if I can find a workable solution from a service provider (inexpensive solution - please). I have used blackberry's for years but am not interested in a $50/month solution if I can find a workable answer that uses hotspots securely and can grab my mail off my providers web site. A friend - James Lee - is experimenting with an iPod touch as an answer to this problem and if successful I may go the same route at least for a time.
As a CIO I would welcome the opportunity to provide users with access to services inside the firewall without the burden of hauling a laptop on their regular excursions. The added benefit being the lowered possibilitiy of the loss of that laptop and the information it contains.
Gartner's second prediction.
By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, traveling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips. Vendors are developing solutions to address these concerns: new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level; and server and Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere. There is also a new class of applications: portable personality that encapsulates a user's preferred work environment, enabling the user to recreate that environment across multiple locations or systems.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Change is coming - blame Steve Jobs and Company
Continuting the discussion of Gartners 2008 Top Ten Predictions for I.T.
Gartner's first prediction will make life interesting for many I.T. shops that have standardized on Windows - successfully standardized. For many of these shops there have always been islands of Mac. But those islands have remained isolated (read easily contained).
In the past several years (perhaps a decade) Apple has moved closer to Unix (via Next). With the introduction of servers that could be better integrate with the rest of our infrastructure began to find advocates. Apple can clearly serve those shops that have been Mac based for some time. Apple is now poised to extend it reach into new areas with the support of advocates that have found bridges between the Windows or perhaps Unix/Linux and Mac worlds.
With regard to change - this is an opportunity and a challenge - it is an opportunity to better serve a segment of our user population that has been under served today. It is a challenge because it requires new skill sets and resources that have to be fit into already stretched budgets.
Here is Gartner's first Prediction.
By 2011, Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in Computers. Apple's gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple's success. Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility; continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software; and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices (such as iPod and iMac cross-selling).
Gartner's first prediction will make life interesting for many I.T. shops that have standardized on Windows - successfully standardized. For many of these shops there have always been islands of Mac. But those islands have remained isolated (read easily contained).
In the past several years (perhaps a decade) Apple has moved closer to Unix (via Next). With the introduction of servers that could be better integrate with the rest of our infrastructure began to find advocates. Apple can clearly serve those shops that have been Mac based for some time. Apple is now poised to extend it reach into new areas with the support of advocates that have found bridges between the Windows or perhaps Unix/Linux and Mac worlds.
With regard to change - this is an opportunity and a challenge - it is an opportunity to better serve a segment of our user population that has been under served today. It is a challenge because it requires new skill sets and resources that have to be fit into already stretched budgets.
Here is Gartner's first Prediction.
By 2011, Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in Computers. Apple's gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple's success. Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility; continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software; and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices (such as iPod and iMac cross-selling).
Friday, March 7, 2008
Green Criteria - a big change
The most striking single thing about Gartners 2008 predictions is that three of these "top ten" are about "green" initiatives. Something that we in I.T. have seldom, if ever, consider. We will be buying equipment with the intent of reducing cost but with added rationale of improving our company's green credentials. We'll be buying I.T. products with the intention of reducing our "carbon footprint" and then looking to our suppliers to do the same.
The Gartner Top 10 are about change. These will be a very interesting type of change one that we will be doing for reasons that are somewhat different then other types of corporate driven intiatives - one potentially for the greater good. One that our organizations and our staff should feel good about.
See the full top 10 in my previous post - but here are the green predictions.
By 2009, more than one third of IT organizations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods. Initially, the motivation will come from the wish to contain costs. Enterprise data centres are struggling to keep pace with the increasing power requirements of their infrastructures. And there is substantial potential to improve the environmental footprint, throughout the life cycle, of all IT products and services without any significant trade-offs in price or performance. In the future, IT organisations will shift their focus from the power efficiency of products to asking service providers about their measures to improve energy efficiency.
By 2010, 75 per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria. Most technology providers have little or no knowledge of the full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint of their products. Some technology providers have started the process of life cycle assessments, or at least were asking key suppliers about carbon and energy use in 2007 and will continue in 2008. Most others using such information to differentiate their products will start in 2009 and by 2010 enterprises will be able to start using the information as a basis for purchasing decisions. Most others will stat some level of more detailed life cycle assessment in 2008.
By 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. Those organizations with strong brands are helping to forge the first wave of green sourcing policies and initiatives. These policies go well beyond minimizing direct carbon emissions or requiring suppliers to comply with local environmental regulations. For example, Timberland has launched a "Green Index" environmental rating for its shoes and boots. Home Depot is working on evaluation and audit criteria for assessing supplier submissions for its new EcoOptions product line.
The Gartner Top 10 are about change. These will be a very interesting type of change one that we will be doing for reasons that are somewhat different then other types of corporate driven intiatives - one potentially for the greater good. One that our organizations and our staff should feel good about.
See the full top 10 in my previous post - but here are the green predictions.
By 2009, more than one third of IT organizations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods. Initially, the motivation will come from the wish to contain costs. Enterprise data centres are struggling to keep pace with the increasing power requirements of their infrastructures. And there is substantial potential to improve the environmental footprint, throughout the life cycle, of all IT products and services without any significant trade-offs in price or performance. In the future, IT organisations will shift their focus from the power efficiency of products to asking service providers about their measures to improve energy efficiency.
By 2010, 75 per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria. Most technology providers have little or no knowledge of the full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint of their products. Some technology providers have started the process of life cycle assessments, or at least were asking key suppliers about carbon and energy use in 2007 and will continue in 2008. Most others using such information to differentiate their products will start in 2009 and by 2010 enterprises will be able to start using the information as a basis for purchasing decisions. Most others will stat some level of more detailed life cycle assessment in 2008.
By 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. Those organizations with strong brands are helping to forge the first wave of green sourcing policies and initiatives. These policies go well beyond minimizing direct carbon emissions or requiring suppliers to comply with local environmental regulations. For example, Timberland has launched a "Green Index" environmental rating for its shoes and boots. Home Depot is working on evaluation and audit criteria for assessing supplier submissions for its new EcoOptions product line.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Gartners 10 Key Predictions for 2008 and Beyond
Gartner, Inc. has highlighted 10 key predictions of events and developments that will affect IT and business in 2008 and beyond in a January press release.
Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and Gartner Fellow noted - "These areas of focus imply a significant groundswell of change that may in turn change the entire industry."
According to Gartner "The predictions highlight areas where executives and IT professionals need to take action in 2008. The full impact of these trends may not appear this year, but executives need to act now so that they can exploit the trends for their competitive advantage."
I'm going to spend the next few posts on these predictions because I believe that several of them are critical to the broad trends that we will see in I.T. over the next several years.
These predictions include:
By 2011, Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in Computers. Apple's gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple's success. Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility; continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software; and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices (such as iPod and iMac cross-selling).
By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, traveling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips. Vendors are developing solutions to address these concerns: new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level; and server and Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere. There is also a new class of applications: portable personality that encapsulates a user's preferred work environment, enabling the user to recreate that environment across multiple locations or systems.
By 2012, 80 per cent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology. Many open-source technologies are mature, stable and well supported. They provide significant opportunities for vendors and users to lower their total cost of ownership and increase returns on investment. Ignoring this will put companies at a serious competitive disadvantage. Embedded open source strategies will become the minimal level of investment that most large software vendors will find necessary to maintain competitive advantages during the next five years.
By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license. With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use. This is fundamentally different from the fixed-price perpetual license of the traditional on-premises technology. Endorsed and promoted by all leading business applications vendors (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft) and many Web technology leaders (Google, Amazon), the SaaS model of deployment and distribution of software services will enjoy steady growth in mainstream use during the next five years.
By 2011, early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service. Increased high-speed bandwidth makes it practical to locate infrastructure at other sites and still receive the same response times. Enterprises believe that as service oriented architecture (SOA) becomes common "cloud computing" will take off, thus untying applications from specific infrastructure. This trend to accepting commodity infrastructure could end the traditional "lock-in" with a single supplier and lower the costs of switching suppliers. It means that IT buyers should strengthen their purchasing and sourcing departments to evaluate offerings. They will have to develop and use new criteria for evaluation and selection and phase out traditional criteria.
By 2009, more than one third of IT organizations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods. Initially, the motivation will come from the wish to contain costs. Enterprise data centres are struggling to keep pace with the increasing power requirements of their infrastructures. And there is substantial potential to improve the environmental footprint, throughout the life cycle, of all IT products and services without any significant trade-offs in price or performance. In future, IT organisations will shift their focus from the power efficiency of products to asking service providers about their measures to improve energy efficiency.
By 2010, 75 per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria. Most technology providers have little or no knowledge of the full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint of their products. Some technology providers have started the process of life cycle assessments, or at least were asking key suppliers about carbon and energy use in 2007 and will continue in 2008. Most others using such information to differentiate their products will start in 2009 and by 2010 enterprises will be able to start using the information as a basis for purchasing decisions. Most others will stat some level of more detailed life cycle assessment in 2008.
By 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. Those organizations with strong brands are helping to forge the first wave of green sourcing policies and initiatives. These policies go well beyond minimizing direct carbon emissions or requiring suppliers to comply with local environmental regulations. For example, Timberland has launched a "Green Index" environmental rating for its shoes and boots. Home Depot is working on evaluation and audit criteria for assessing supplier submissions for its new EcoOptions product line.
By 2010, end-user preferences will decide as much as half of all software, hardware and services acquisitions made by IT. The rise of the Internet and the ubiquity of the browser interface have made computing approachable and individuals are now making decisions about technology for personal and business use. Because of this, IT organizations are addressing user concerns through planning for a global class of computing that incorporates user decisions in risk analysis and innovation of business strategy.
Through 2011, the number of 3-D printers in homes and businesses will grow 100-fold over 2006 levels. The technology lets users send a file of a 3-D design to a printer-like device that will carve the design out of a block of resin. A manufacturer can make scale models of new product designs without the expense of model makers. Or consumers can have models of the avatars they use online. Ultimately, manufacturers can consider making some components on demand without having an inventory of replacement parts. Printers priced less than $10,000 have been announced for 2008, opening up the personal and hobbyist markets.
See Gartner's January 31 Press Release...
Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and Gartner Fellow noted - "These areas of focus imply a significant groundswell of change that may in turn change the entire industry."
According to Gartner "The predictions highlight areas where executives and IT professionals need to take action in 2008. The full impact of these trends may not appear this year, but executives need to act now so that they can exploit the trends for their competitive advantage."
I'm going to spend the next few posts on these predictions because I believe that several of them are critical to the broad trends that we will see in I.T. over the next several years.
These predictions include:
By 2011, Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in Computers. Apple's gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple's success. Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility; continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software; and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices (such as iPod and iMac cross-selling).
By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, traveling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips. Vendors are developing solutions to address these concerns: new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level; and server and Web-based applications that can be accessed from anywhere. There is also a new class of applications: portable personality that encapsulates a user's preferred work environment, enabling the user to recreate that environment across multiple locations or systems.
By 2012, 80 per cent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology. Many open-source technologies are mature, stable and well supported. They provide significant opportunities for vendors and users to lower their total cost of ownership and increase returns on investment. Ignoring this will put companies at a serious competitive disadvantage. Embedded open source strategies will become the minimal level of investment that most large software vendors will find necessary to maintain competitive advantages during the next five years.
By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license. With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use. This is fundamentally different from the fixed-price perpetual license of the traditional on-premises technology. Endorsed and promoted by all leading business applications vendors (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft) and many Web technology leaders (Google, Amazon), the SaaS model of deployment and distribution of software services will enjoy steady growth in mainstream use during the next five years.
By 2011, early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service. Increased high-speed bandwidth makes it practical to locate infrastructure at other sites and still receive the same response times. Enterprises believe that as service oriented architecture (SOA) becomes common "cloud computing" will take off, thus untying applications from specific infrastructure. This trend to accepting commodity infrastructure could end the traditional "lock-in" with a single supplier and lower the costs of switching suppliers. It means that IT buyers should strengthen their purchasing and sourcing departments to evaluate offerings. They will have to develop and use new criteria for evaluation and selection and phase out traditional criteria.
By 2009, more than one third of IT organizations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods. Initially, the motivation will come from the wish to contain costs. Enterprise data centres are struggling to keep pace with the increasing power requirements of their infrastructures. And there is substantial potential to improve the environmental footprint, throughout the life cycle, of all IT products and services without any significant trade-offs in price or performance. In future, IT organisations will shift their focus from the power efficiency of products to asking service providers about their measures to improve energy efficiency.
By 2010, 75 per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria. Most technology providers have little or no knowledge of the full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint of their products. Some technology providers have started the process of life cycle assessments, or at least were asking key suppliers about carbon and energy use in 2007 and will continue in 2008. Most others using such information to differentiate their products will start in 2009 and by 2010 enterprises will be able to start using the information as a basis for purchasing decisions. Most others will stat some level of more detailed life cycle assessment in 2008.
By 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. Those organizations with strong brands are helping to forge the first wave of green sourcing policies and initiatives. These policies go well beyond minimizing direct carbon emissions or requiring suppliers to comply with local environmental regulations. For example, Timberland has launched a "Green Index" environmental rating for its shoes and boots. Home Depot is working on evaluation and audit criteria for assessing supplier submissions for its new EcoOptions product line.
By 2010, end-user preferences will decide as much as half of all software, hardware and services acquisitions made by IT. The rise of the Internet and the ubiquity of the browser interface have made computing approachable and individuals are now making decisions about technology for personal and business use. Because of this, IT organizations are addressing user concerns through planning for a global class of computing that incorporates user decisions in risk analysis and innovation of business strategy.
Through 2011, the number of 3-D printers in homes and businesses will grow 100-fold over 2006 levels. The technology lets users send a file of a 3-D design to a printer-like device that will carve the design out of a block of resin. A manufacturer can make scale models of new product designs without the expense of model makers. Or consumers can have models of the avatars they use online. Ultimately, manufacturers can consider making some components on demand without having an inventory of replacement parts. Printers priced less than $10,000 have been announced for 2008, opening up the personal and hobbyist markets.
See Gartner's January 31 Press Release...
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