Note: You are experiencing only the raw content of this site, without the intended layout and design. Either your browser has ignored the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files for this site, or you are using an outdated browser which does not support Web Standards. Learn more.

EDS' Next Big Thing Blog: Read and Respond to What the EDS Fellows Say About Technology

Read and respond to what the EDS Fellows have to say about the future of technology on EDS' Next Big Thing Blog on eds.com.

Elevator speech about the next big thing

by Charlie Bess

I was asked the other day for a short description about what I thought would constitute the next big shift in IT.

So...

Being able to proactively manage the complexity created by massive change through the application of new levels of automation. We live in a world of exponential change. It is overwhelming our ability to absorb and comprehend what’s going on. Automation and context aware computing techniques will be used to focus on managing our attention, bringing the information to us in a way we can both comprehend and taking appropriate action, wherever we are in the world. With this approach, organizations will be able to efficiently and effectively manage their business. More importantly though, they will be able to recognize new opportunities and reduce risk through simulating the business using models. Changing from an “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” perspective to one of gaining first mover advantage by being the first to break the mold.

I think it gets down to being more context aware and having the environment that knows what to do with it. Or is there something I am missing?

Published Tuesday, January 24, 2006 3:49 PM

Subscribe to this post's comments using RSS

Comments

Posted by Matt Tuesday, January 24, 2006 9:54 PM

Charlie,

Sounds interesting. Can you provide an example? I think you're right about automation being key and depending on the application, obviously there are degrees of impact upon efficiency.

Posted by Graham Shevlin Tuesday, January 24, 2006 11:23 PM

A quantum leap in automation requires the I.T. industry to adopt the following:

1. Higher-order modelling approaches for modelling and evolving application portfolios.
Managing application architectures and large. complex "legacy " portfolios in the distributed computing age cannot successfully be done using manually-constructed diagrams, spreadsheets etc. It requires industry-strength tools operating on higher-order models.

2. Business Process and Service Orchestration
As we move into the era of applications constructed from sets of inter-connected services, these collections can only be effectively managed by tools operating on higher-order models.

The biggest current challenge for the I.T. industry is that there is insufficient attention being paid to elevating everything to a higher level of abstraction. Indeed, I still hear industry practitioners scoffing at modelling tools and approaches such as code generation. Bluntly, the industry needs to grow up.

Posted by James Taylor Friday, January 27, 2006 7:34 PM

Great elevator pitch Charlie. I think that you have it right and that this kind of change is going to drive decision automation across the board.

Posted by Alan Metcalfe Thursday, February 09, 2006 4:39 AM

I agree with Graham Shevlin's comment, but would add that higher order modelling, getting IT to the highest level of abstraction is not only the next bing thing, but indeed the "holy grail" - the ultimate goal. I've believed this and have been working in this area for many years and invite you to visit my Web site at www.safeworld.bz (username: safeworlds, password: welcome2006) that deals with such an approach.

If we are to conquer the current confusion and achieve real system integration and interoperability and reap the benefits of ubiquity that this will deliver, there is no alternative to this approach.

Posted by Charlie Bess Saturday, February 11, 2006 3:49 PM

One of the areas that I believe is poorly understood is the role of process modeling and Assembly of software.

I agree with Graham's comment about some in the industry scoffing at modeling. Frankly I think it is the case of those who are the most successful with today's technology can turn into the Luddites of tomorrow, providing inertia for an inevitable change.

The value based discussing with a business person using models and workflow is quite different than one sweating over code and requirements documents. Having all of that remain in sync is also a different environment than what most are used to. This will impact our processes, our tooling and probably more importantly our contracts.