The enterprise technologies to watch in 2014

The article says enterprise technology adoption is getting easier and cheaper, but organizations still need scarce resources to turn new tools into usable business solutions. It frames 2014 as a year when companies must focus on technologies that can change how work, products, and business models are built.

Reading notes

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• Enterprises face an uphill battle when adopting new technology, but the cost of experimenting has fallen.
• Decentralized IT is presented as one of the modern CIO’s tools.
• The article defines the next-generation enterprise as one that changes how it assimilates, architects, applies, and maintains technology.
• The purpose of new enterprise technologies is to transform how business gets done.
• The list includes older trends now reaching mainstream, such as open APIs, cloud, and non-relational databases.
• It also highlights newer areas such as the quantified enterprise, the collaborative economy, and the Internet of Things.
• 3D printing is described as a force that can reshape supply chains and move business emphasis toward design.
• IoT is presented as a need for a connected-everything strategy in products and internal operations.
• Mobile business applications are rethought for sensors such as GPS and NFC.
• Hadoop and related ecosystems are expected to grow further as noSQL and relational databases gain new uses.
• X-as-a-Service is expanding from on-demand workforces to vertical industry data brokers.
• BYOT is broadening the consumerization of IT beyond devices.
• Gamification platforms are becoming better and more embedded in business applications.
• Wearable IT is starting to enter the workplace in enterprise-class forms.
• The quantified enterprise links wearables, big data analytics, and wireless micro-instrumentation.
• Virtualization is being discussed through software-defined IT and converged infrastructure.
• Cloud computing is expected to have its best year yet, with hybrid cloud losing prominence as public cloud comfort grows.
• Integrated customer experiences will draw investment across mobile and web channels.
• Digital learning and MOOCs are expected to influence workforce skills and digital transformation.
• Open APIs are presented as a strategic technology for supply chains, composable enterprises, and digital ecosystems.
• Big data is still early, despite privacy backlash.
• Social business is becoming a standard way of working in large enterprises.
• Global solutions networks are emerging as platforms for large-scale collaboration.
• The collaborative economy is described as a major shift in business models built around participative networks.