Are you ready for 2013?

Now that we know that the Mayans got it wrong and there’s probably not going to be an apocalypse before next year, we can start looking at 2013 and beyond.

Technology companies and analysts the world over have breathed a huge sigh of relief. The apocalypse predicted by the Mayans has either been averted or was never a real threat. So all their 2013 predictions at least have a chance of coming true.

Predictably, once you shuffle through the various lists provided, you find that there are some common themes that run through all of them. And if you dig a little deeper, you find that there’s nothing particularly surprising in any of the predictions. 

As a CIO or key influencer in your business, chances are that you’re well through your 2013 planning and are probably already getting your head into the longer term. That’s where these prediction lists are actually useful. Not because they tell you about next year with any specificity but because they highlight longer term trends. 

We think that all of the various prediction stories can be distilled down to a few key themes that will influence the way your business approaches software development, end point management and security.

Mobility is reality

There are lots of buzzwords about mobility. BYOD, consumerisation, app stores - all of these relate to the same core issue. Technology delivery is no longer to fixed or centrally managed devices chosen, deployed and ‘owned’ by the IT department.

This has driven a thirst for greater diversity in businesses, with everyone from C-suite executives to entry-level graduates expecting to have access to corporate applications from whatever device they have from wherever they are and whenever they want. 

C-level leaders responsible for technology delivery need to start, if they haven’t already, looking at development platforms that are as platform agnostic as possible. The aim is to decouple the way you develop systems from the devices that are used to use the applications. 

The first step down that road might be the use of VDI. While that doesn’t deliver the best possible user experience to the business, it does deliver current applications to mobile devices with relative ease. We see it as a stepping stone along the path to migrating systems to more open platforms.

This transition is not going to be easy. There are already dozens of reports backed up with solid analysis suggested that we are on the cusp of a major skills shortage. In Australia, this is going to get worse before it improves as the number of students taking on IT degrees continues to fall.

Security vs openness

IT departments are constantly walking the tightrope between easy system access and security. Over the last few years we’ve seen a steady shift in the behaviour of malware developers. A few years ago, much of the malware being deployed was designed to be annoying and disruptive. Today, that picture has changed.

Malware developers are primarily motivated by two things: money and politics. 

Has your business undertaken a serious risk analysis when it comes to being the target of a malware attack? You might see yourself as not having a high profile, but what if one of your key suppliers or customers is a potential target? 

Although many malware breaches are unreported, there is clear evidence of ransomware being used to force some quite large companies to hand over money in order to either release data that malware developers have encrypted or to prevent private data from being leaked. 

As more people carry more business data on a broader range of devices, physical security will be in the spotlight more. Is the business aware of the risks as they try to sate their unquenchable thirst for mobility?

No more big data?

We recently spoke with Gartner analyst Merv Adrian who said that in a year or two we won’t be talking about big data anymore - it will just be ‘data’. We tend to agree with this but it doesn’t diminish the fact that we need to work on ways to pull together greater volumes of data and deliver it faster, to more platforms, over connections of varying quality and availability.