Gartner’s prediction about top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2009

Gartner, Inc. analysts today highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations.

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.

These technologies impact the organization’s long-term plans, programs and initiatives. They may be strategic because they have matured to broad market use or because they enable strategic advantage from early adoption.

Virtualization. Much of the current buzz is focused on server virtualization, but virtualization in storage and client devices is also moving rapidly. Virtualization to eliminate duplicate copies of data on the real storage devices while maintaining the illusion to the accessing systems that the files are as originally stored (data deduplication) can significantly decrease the cost of storage devices and media to hold information. Hosted virtual images deliver a near-identical result to blade-based PCs. But, instead of the motherboard function being located in the data center as hardware, it is located there as a virtual machine bubble. However, despite ambitious deployment plans from many organizations, deployments of hosted virtual desktop capabilities will be adopted by fewer than 40 percent of target users by 2010.

Cloud Computing. Cloud computing is a style of computing that characterizes a model in which providers deliver a variety of IT-enabled capabilities to consumers. They key characteristics of cloud computing are 1) delivery of capabilities “as a service,” 2) delivery of services in a highly scalable and elastic fashion, 3) using Internet technologies and techniques to develop and deliver the services, and 4) designing for delivery to external customers. Although cost is a potential benefit for small companies, the biggest benefits are the built-in elasticity and scalability, which not only reduce barriers to entry, but also enable these companies to grow quickly. As certain IT functions are industrializing and becoming less customized, there are more possibilities for larger organizations to benefit from cloud computing.

Servers — Beyond Blades. Servers are evolving beyond the blade server stage that exists today. This evolution will simplify the provisioning of capacity to meet growing needs. The organization tracks the various resource types, for example, memory, separately and replenishes only the type that is in short supply. This eliminates the need to pay for all three resource types to upgrade capacity. It also simplifies the inventory of systems, eliminating the need to track and purchase various sizes and configurations. The result will be higher utilization because of lessened “waste” of resources that are in the wrong configuration or that come along with the needed processors and memory in a fixed bundle.

Web-Oriented Architectures. The Internet is arguably the best example of an agile, interoperable and scalable service-oriented environment in existence. This level of flexibility is achieved because of key design principles inherent in the Internet/Web approach, as well as the emergence of Web-centric technologies and standards that promote these principles. The use of Web-centric models to build global-class solutions cannot address the full breadth of enterprise computing needs. However, Gartner expects that continued evolution of the Web-centric approach will enable its use in an ever-broadening set of enterprise solutions during the next five years.

EnterpriseMashups. Enterprises are now investigating taking mashups from cool Web hobby to enterprise-class systems to augment their models for delivering and managing applications. Through 2010, the enterprise mashup product environment will experience significant flux and consolidation, and application architects and IT leaders should investigate this growing space for the significant and transformational potential it may offer their enterprises.

Specialized Systems. Appliances have been used to accomplish IT purposes, but only with a few classes of function have appliances prevailed. Heterogeneous systems are an emerging trend in high-performance computing to address the requirements of the most demanding workloads, and this approach will eventually reach the general-purpose computing market. Heterogeneous systems are also specialized systems with the same single-purpose imitations of appliances, but the heterogeneous system is a server system into which the owner installs software to accomplish its function.

Social Software and Social Networking. Social software includes a broad range of technologies, such as social networking, social collaboration, social media and social validation. Organizations should consider adding a social dimension to a conventional Web site or application and should adopt a social platform sooner, rather than later, because the greatest risk lies in failure to engage and thereby, being left mute in a dialogue where your voice must be heard.

Unified Communications. During the next five years, the number of different communications vendors with which a typical organization works with will be reduced by at least 50 percent. This change is driven by increases in the capability of application servers and the general shift of communications applications to common off-the-shelf server and operating systems. As this occurs, formerly distinct markets, each with distinct vendors, converge, resulting in massive consolidation in the communications industry. Organizations must build careful, detailed plans for when each category of communications function is replaced or converged, coupling this step with the prior completion of appropriate administrative team convergence.

Business Intelligence. Business Intelligence (BI), the top technology priority in Gartner’s 2008 CIO survey, can have a direct positive impact on a company’s business performance, dramatically improving its ability to accomplish its mission by making smarter decisions at every level of the business from corporate strategy to operational processes. BI is particularly strategic because it is directed toward business managers and knowledge workers who make up the pool of thinkers and decision makers that are tasked with running, growing and transforming the business. Tools that let these users make faster, better and more-informed decisions are particularly valuable in a difficult business environment.

Green IT. Shifting to more efficient products and approaches can allow for more equipment to fit within an energy footprint, or to fit into a previously filled center. Regulations are multiplying and have the potential to seriously constrain companies in building data centers, as the effect of power grids, carbon emissions from increased use and other environmental impacts are under scrutiny. Organizations should consider regulations and have alternative plans for data center and capacity growth.

My recent visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium

After taking graduation walk from University and having fully fledged Gujarati thali(plate served with different traditional items) from Kokila’s kitchen in Cupertino, we decided to visit Monterey Aquarium for fun this weekend just before Christmas holidays. Here is the video where I am touching different sea animals such as Starfish and Crabs.

Importance of Masters

During my childhood, I was always attracted towards Computers and their applications. My dream came true when I got admission in one of the Nation’s finest colleges at back home. I was pretty thrilled and excited to delve into this amazing field with endless opportunities so I decided to paddle this ship on my own which fulfills my destiny.

I learned a lot during my under graduation and had a chance to walk through all latest computer programming languages and their technologies. During some point of time during my study, I suddenly realized that this is the place I always wanna be!!! So I have decided to pursue my Masters in this field. During my exhaustive search process for the universities for the opportunities in Software Engineering, I found US universities the best in the world. I also got to know that getting degree from US Universities will give you International exposure and will help you to stand on Latest Technical Hubs where Multi National Companies are fighting to build the Human future with technical innovations.

Masters program is generally structured on latest cutting edge technologies with advanced thoughts and ideas. In undergraduate program, we only get an opportunity to explore basic courses which help to create solid base and fundamentals for the same. These courses are only useful to create platform but limited to more practical exposure and projects. Pursuing MS will give you insight regarding the specific topics of our choices which facilitate us to dive into completely. It also gives you an opportunity to become proficient in special areas. For e.g. during my MS, I was always focused on Software Development and Software lifecycles. By virtue of this, I was able to walk through entire SDLC from starting phase like Understanding Client requirements to ending phase like Testing products on different platforms. This facilitates you to understand each and every phase of product development lifecycle so you can have deep ideas which help you to think in systematic way from manufacturing to production.

Along with gaining deep knowledge and practical exposure, my ultimate goal is to become entrepreneur and start my own firm. In order to establish any new technical venture, you have to have complete ideas and plans regarding the product. One has to possess mastery and deep insight for the field which can only be achieved by having higher graduation for the same field along with certain management skills. Statistics shows that in around 1997, there are around 400,000 students get their diploma from US universities so the global market has raised it platform and there are stiff competitions exist in market so in order to become prominent, we should have mastery and knack for our special areas. I understand that value of education and that’s why I have to pursue what I love to do.

I have completed my MS from San Jose State University located in the heart of Silicon Valley. You can eyeball different departments from the video embedded above. More info can be found on www.sjsu.edu