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Our relatives in other parts of the world are awash with our email photo albums; our children MMS us pictures of the first meal they've cooked at university (pasta); and we're surrounded by new high tech mobile phones and gadgets.
On the personal front, for many of us making use of the latest gizmos and gadgets is easy, fun and, like fashion, can be picked and discarded at will.
However, for organisations that rely on technology to help them run their businesses, adopting new technology is not a matter of fashion or whim. Mention the terms 'new technologies' or 'future trends' to any CIO and they might groan with concern as any new project may involve disruption, retraining of staff, many sleepless nights and quite possibly a great deal of expense for what could be variable returns.
But today there is a move lead by Oracle to make enterprise IT simpler, with easier transition paths, and measurable gain. Some 'trends' can be painless, easy to adopt and low cost. Key amongst these is the move to consolidation.
Consolidation - data, servers, software
2005 has been a year of integration and consolidation - data consolidation, server consolidation, and consolidation of vendors. The level of mergers and acquisitions across many industries was substantial, the highest level in five years according to analyst reports.
In the technology arena, mergers and acquisitions have been noticeable. In the late 90s it was the hardware industry. Now, it's the software industry's turn. Why is software consolidation happening at this time?
Well, over the past few years, particularly during the 'dotcom' explosion, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of new, often niche, software products brought to market. Many of these offered narrow point solutions, with hundreds of features, all using different data models.
The choice was confusing; sometimes choosing one product meant sacrificing some features that a customer really wanted. Many large organizations and government agencies that have to deal with dozens of software vendors are finding it difficult and expensive to maintain these different software products and to keep them working together.
These pressures have made customers request fewer strategic partners who can offer a richer and broader portfolio of products and ensure those products work together from the get-go. As a result, we are seeing a period of consolidation of software solutions, as customers demand reduced complexity, less customisation and lower costs.
Hot for 2006
Hot-pluggable architecture is another trend that is helping to make IT easier is the move towards common standards particularly in the area of middleware. If one word could encapsulate the trend in 2006, it would be hot-pluggable. This is the answer to the CIO's concerns that new implementations would be disruptive, as the hot-pluggable trend promises to take out most of the pain of making things work together.
Basically, a hot-pluggable architecture allows organisations to mix and match current and new technologies from a range of software vendors. This approach lets them connect and extend their existing heterogeneous systems and maximize the return on current and future IT investments.
Oracle Middle East
