2010: The year that was

2010 marks the end of a decade in the millenium which saw technology permeating the lives and influencing it in a way never imagined. I believe three global initiatives - Cloud computing, Social platforms and Green initiatives have been the most influencing in 2010

Cloud Computing
This is one area that has quickly moved beyond conceptual hype stage to usage stage. Year 2010 saw some traction with the cloud concept evolving further identifying a need for cloud intermediaries (or what Gartner calls Cloud Service brokers – CSB ). Although the benefits of moving to the cloud services from traditional IT services are known, the concerns are still at large to be addressed. Forrester research says Integration issues with existing applications is No.1 concern after cloud adoption though security still tops the concerns list in general. Further, Cloud compliance will remain a serious concern in 2011 and beyond. Gartner predicts that by 2015, 80% of enterprises using external cloud services will demand independent certification that providers can restore operations and data. Probably this is the reason for alliances/forums like Cloud Security Alliance to gain more footholds in 2010. Be it in the introduction of best practice guidance, CCSK certification or cloud control matrix (a framework that provides organizations with the needed structure, detail and clarity relating to information security tailored to the cloud industry), cloud security is being demystified. 2011 will surely see some move towards standardization in the cloud compliance area. It is time to look for opportunities in the area of compliance

Social platforms:
Mark Zuckerberg was the “2010 Times Person of the year” and not without reason - For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives. Truly social platforms have changed the way we live our lives. From connecting to that back bencher classmate who was forgotten years ago to engaging customers using social media to brand management based on FB likes, twitter updates, LinkedIn profiles, business is getting ‘social’. 2010 has seen most businesses become ‘socially aware’, It is more about getting positive collaboration to influence the way businesses are conducted. Forrester Research says, social co-creation will enable better adoption of products and probably will lead to more relevant products. It is apt to say we can look forward to Social co-creation in 2011

Sustainability and Green initiatives
Somehow these two terms seem so inseparable. The message is more you can’t sustain unless there is an element of ‘green’ in you. How true! With IT doing its bit towards a green world, there is a lot to tackle in the data center. A typical server in a datacenter uses up 65% of its source energy doing nothing! It is more imperative now and in 2011 to take steps towards greener world than it were a couple of years ago. With strings tight on the purse and environmental consciousness, wasting resources is unthinkable. We could do any amount of improvement talks and still get nowhere unless there are solid metrics that can influence our thinking and way of doing things. The Green Grid has been striving to standardize some metrics in datacenter and IT space and in Dec 2010 has published the Data center compute efficiency metric: DCcE.. It is time to look forward to opportunities in green datacenter metrics assessments and improvements in 2011.