Comprehend Emerging Trends to Retain Cutting Edge By N.K.Verma, GM (IT) & CIO, RCF

Comprehend Emerging Trends to Retain Cutting Edge

N.K.Verma, GM (IT) & CIO, RCF | Wednesday, 15 June 2016, 07:34 IST

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The future of Information Technology in enterprises is being defined by several emerging trends. Cloud computing which originally gained momentum with popularity of internet based applications has dominated the IT landscape during last few years and is undoubtedly here to stay and flourish.  Virtualization along with Cloud computing is going to proliferate further and provide level playing field to SMEs. Virtualization has already shown its value and the adoption will continuously increase in servers, networks and software services. This will enable enterprises to respond faster in case of exigencies such as threats and breakdown and provide flexibility in use of physical resources.

With mobility becoming an advantage factor, mobile devices like tablets and smart phones have become powerful enough to execute tasks that were in the domain of full-fledged desktops and laptops. As the utility of auxiliary devices gets established and acceptance grows, more and more wearable devices enter the market, making computing experience more convenient and extremely enjoyable. Miniaturization and personalization of mobile devices has a great future and even enterprises will be compelled to lean on such systems for easy adoption and quick results.

Industry is also witnessing a lot of public and private data being generated continuously from a variety of sources. Earlier, huge volumes of data were processed for highly scientific and technological applications like Meteorological and Geophysical analysis but now with the availability of voluminous data in different forms from various sources, enterprises have also started analysing them to take important decisions and plan their future course of action. Such analytical exercise would be frequently needed in coming days to stay ahead in competition.

Data Analysis and Resource Planning

The data deluge has created a requirement of real time analysis of huge volumes of complex data to get output for decision making and triggering a demand for in-memory computing which in turn has raised the demand for high end processor. This is likely to give a boost to cloud service providers offering resources for in-memory analytics. With ubiquitous computing gaining momentum and defining norms in enterprises and huge data being made available, security has never been more critical. Existing policies and mechanisms may not provide adequate security measures to deal with new exposures and vulnerabilities introduced by the pervasive computing paradigm, however major technological evolutions in the areas of data security, encryptions and leak prevention look promising and cannot be ruled out.

When it comes to resource planning, the enterprises in this continuous process industry are entirely dependent on ERP and enough technological support is provided to have business continuity plan in place. The quantum leap in technology and exponential growth in resource requirement has been stressing organizations extensively and the expertise in IT which used to be generic in yester years has branched into a wide range of skill sets. This aspect of technological advances has compelled many of us to outsource certain key activities which come at a cost.

CIO’s Chores

When the industrial environment is so highly competitive, one cannot afford to remain isolated from rest of the world. It becomes essential for a CIO to be in the know of technologies and systems evolving all around the world and be able to harness them to retain the cutting edge. Most of the CIOs keep themselves abreast of latest developments through networking with their peers in conferences, roundtables and seminars organized by technology leaders. Technology leaders acquaint CIOs with technology trends and industry peers provide valuable inputs on practical aspects from their experiences. Besides seminars and conferences, webinars have gained currency in recent times as they are very cost-effective and time saving means of learning and imparting knowledge. CIOs at times gain access to latest technologies by encouraging vendors to showcase their solutions. Being updated with the technological advancements helps CIOs to derive ways for driving innovation.

Innovations keep happening in organizations where technology adoption is a common phenomenon, but it is truly recognized and appreciated only when people interfacing with any such innovation see distinct advantages and start believing in their usefulness. Routine improvements do not influence people as they are treated as order of the day and only when the results show a marked difference either in performance or ease of operation or in presentation, the innovation gets recognition and appreciation. There is no better way of driving an innovation within the organization than natural acceptance and acknowledgement from people. Success of very first innovation plays an important role in driving future innovations as credibility and acceptability of a CIO heavily depends on how successfully he is able to showcase his first innovation. Being a tactful and popular CIO is always better for future of any innovation than being a stickler for procedures and rules of the book.

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