I note interesting debates about the need for a next-generation EA framework. However I am disappointed by the less than radical nature of debate that, at least I, have observed. I submit a good place to start is with the fundamental nature of business and how it is evolving and to consider what the enterprise of the future looks like. There are many indicators that we are entering a new phase of IT exploitation that will represent a real paradigm shift. Paul Krugman suggests IT is at last becoming significant, enabling a technology revolution to rival previous technology revolutions. Krugman cites driverless cars as an example of the technology moving into the physical world that has the potential to power growth. I will also instance a wave of disruptive technology delivering high bandwidth always on connectivity for billions of workers and consumers, mobility, BYOD, social networks, Big Data and next generation analytics, robotics and Cloud. And the widespread adoption of Agile methods is also highly significant.

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The growth of cloud services for business has been a hot topic for years now, but 2012 was the year when the cloud went from market hype to mainstream deployment. Most organizations have now adopted a private cloud of some kind, but caution is preventing them from taking full advantage. Exploring the potential benefits of new tools is vital if IT departments hope to see real performance gains.
Recent Gartner research highlights the importance of digital technologies for CIOs in the coming year. Gartner’s Mark McDonald described the problem succinctly, “IT needs new tools if it hopes to hunt for technology-intensive innovation and harvest raised business performance from transformed IT infrastructure, operations and applications. Without change, CIOs and IT consign themselves to tending a garden of legacy assets and responsibilities.”

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The growth of Big Data has, in many ways, come as a result of changes in the way we use the Internet. Today’s Internet is as much a repository of data as it is a way for individuals and organizations to connect with others. As this change has taken place, changes have also come to how businesses keep up with storing all of that data and making it available wherever its personnel need it.
Not that long ago adding storage space to an enterprise meant adding devices and adding media with larger capacities. Hard drives, tape drives, optical media, USB drives and even the old faithful floppy disk provided additional storage. The tech has improved over the years, adding to capacity – as well as demand.

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The growth of Big Data has, in many ways, come as a result of changes in the way we use the Internet. Today’s Internet is as much a repository of data as it is a way for individuals and organizations to connect with others. As this change has taken place, changes have also come to how businesses keep up with storing all of that data and making it available wherever its personnel need it.
Not that long ago adding storage space to an enterprise meant adding devices and adding media with larger capacities. Hard drives, tape drives, optical media, USB drives and even the old faithful floppy disk provided additional storage. The tech has improved over the years, adding to capacity – as well as demand.

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Some cloud-based file sync vendors tout their solutions as viable alternatives for the online backup of business information stored on laptops and desktops. But existing sync products lack a variety of critical backup capabilities, including those required to secure enterprise data. Understanding the differences between cloud-based sync and cloud-based endpoint backup is critical to properly protecting sensitive business information.
In his session at the 12th International Cloud Expo, Andrew Renz, Principal Enterprise Engineer at Code 42, will define cloud-based sync and cloud-based endpoint backup, and provide recommendations for which solution type best meets your data needs. He will share wisdom gained from his experience selecting and/or deploying enterprise backup solutions for Apple, Oracle, Expedia and Intuit.

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Reading an article by Cloud prognosticator David Linthicum, we were very happy to see another market move aggressively towards the cloud.
According to the research collected by Markets and Markets, the cloud computing market in the health care sector is expected to grow to $5.4 billion by 2017.
While privacy and security are still cited as reasons to be cautious, users of the cloud are finding security models and technology that they can use today in the cloud.

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The cloud is often touted as the answer to all our problems. The cloud broker model can give service providers the chance to avoid commoditization by repackaging their own offerings together with cloud services and selling these to customers. But cloud brokers beware. There’s a risk of being a jack of all trades and master of none. It’s crucial to ensure that a cloud offering is designed to meet the needs of a specific market.
But cloud brokers beware. There’s a risk of being a jack of all trades and master of none. It’s crucial to ensure that a cloud offering is designed to meet the needs of a specific market. For example, enterprises and small/medium sized businesses (SMBs) will hardly subscribe to all cloud services from a single provider. So which approach is best for which target market?

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BYOD has quickly transformed IT, offering a revolutionary way to support the mobile workforce. The first wave of BYOD featured MDM solutions that controlled the entire device. In the next wave, BYOD 2.0, control applies only to those apps necessary for business, enforcing corporate policy while maintaining personal privacy. The #F5 Mobile App Manager is a complete mobile application management platform built for BYOD 2.0.

As more smartphones, tablets, and other types of mobile devices make their way into employees’ hands, requests for corporate access from those devices are increasing, which represents a huge challenge for IT departments. Not only has IT lost the ability to fully control and manage these devices, but employees are now demanding that they be able to conduct company business from multiple personal devices. Initially resistant to the idea due to security concerns, IT teams are slowly adopting the concept, but hesitantly, still concerned about the inherent risks of allowing personal devices to access and store sensitive corporate information.

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As public cloud computing gains greater adoption across enterprises, there’s an increased level of spending occurring on infrastructure-related services including Infrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS).  Enterprises are prioritizing how to get cloud platforms integrated with legacy systems to make use of the years of data they have accumulated. 

From legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, integrating legacy systems of record to cloud-based platforms will accelerate through 2016.  I’ve seen this in conversations with resellers and enterprise customers, and this trend is also reflected in Gartner’s latest report on public cloud computing adoption, Forecast Overview: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2011-2016, 4Q12 Update Published: 8 February 2013.  Below are the key take-aways from the report:

• Global spending on public cloud services is expected to grow 18.6% in 2012 to $110.3B, achieving a CAGR of 17.7% from 2011 through 2016. The total market is expected …

In what will be one of its last quarterly reports as a public company – if
shareholders can be persuaded to accept the $24.4 billion deal on offer to
take the PC maker private – Dell’s fiscal Q4 sales and earnings topped Wall
Street estimates.

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