Top 10 enterprise technologies for 2009: Arun Gupta

MUMBAI, INDIA: There is no universal list of top 10 technologies that can be applied to all industry segments. Though some broad trends do emerge, which could be of benefit to most. Having said that, the list below has an influence from the current economic situation, which makes it difficult for companies to experiment with or adopt new technologies.

10.  Virtualization: Not new really, but adoption has been slow. As more applications get certified on virtualized environments, the curve should move up rapidly. This will also be driven by technology refresh within the company.

9.  RFID: Possibly the oldest amongst the lot, but now beginning to make a difference across industries. If you are not already experimenting, it’s never too late to start.

8.  Unified communications and mobile applications: I put them together as applications need to converge on the same devices to bring the benefit of unification. In the Indian context, to me it makes sense though not in the same way as currently vendors are offering.

7.  Social networks: while the western world appears to be heavily betting on Second Life and plethora of networking sites, corporate and business benefit appears to delude itself in India. This is primarily constrained by the lack of stable and ubiquitous broadband services.

6.  Software as a Service: It has become a fashion statement, and also a trend worth watching. With more vendors offering flexible models using SaaS, CIOs should evaluate this model for better TCO.

5.  Cloud Computing: Over the last one year, it’s created more buzz than any other term with the exception of green. Amazon cloud has the anecdotal usage stories, beyond that, everyone has one, but who is using it ?

4.  Work At Home: When cost cutting brings down your office space, work at home really works. The real issue is not with technology, but with the “control” mindset. If I cannot see my employee, I do not know how productive she is.

3.  High bandwidth connectivity: Whether it is 3G, WIMAX, or any other technology, users out there will want to connect to the corporate network on a high speed link and have a rich experience. This will also happen with your customers who will demand similar experiences. The likelihood of such reality is minimal but better keep yourself prepared.

2.  Green IT: Are you green with envy of others who claim “We are Green” ? Well if it’s not part of your IT framework, then you will probably have some uncomfortable questions to answer to your CEO. Green is not a separate project, it’s part of everything you do.

1.  Business intelligence: When nothing else works, go back to the data you have and start analyzing it for insights. That’s what everyone is likely to do when other investments are not likely to be available. It can help you align, be a winner and make your users feel better.

Is this a finite list ? Well this is my list on which I will keep a watch and hope that at least 7/10 will give me the edge over others.

The author is Customer Care Associate and Group Chief Technology Officer, Shoppers Stop