Tech 'watch list' to aid CIOs stay ahead: Forrester

By SiliconIndia | Thursday, January 5, 2012

Enterprise architects (EA) should build a list of technologies to watch, for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to use to educate business peers and influence their strategy. According to research firm Forrester, such a list should also ensure that the CIO won't be caught out by other executives using case studies of the successful implementation of new technology at other firms.

Forrester said that when building their lists, firms should bring in their own specific context - from industry to market dynamics to cultural factors - as filters to determine which technologies could be significant to them, reports Silicon.com. For example, mobile applications on smartphones might not be important to a manufacturer, though they might be very interesting to a professional services firm, said the 'The Top 15 Technology Trends EA Should Watch' report by Forrester.

Forrester also published a list of the top 15 technology trends enterprise architects should watch, with 'real-time' business intelligence, packaged applications that incorporate software as a service and 'people-centric collaboration platforms' featuring high on their list of priorities.

Other technologies judged by Forrester to be increasingly important over the next few years include policy-based service-oriented architecture (SOA), mobile applications and business processes, cloud-based platforms, web 2.0-enabled business process management, the wider use of telepresence and client virtualization.