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

2008 The year of thin-client?

Over the last couple of months SUN, Microsoft and HP have all announced hardware and/or software designed to support thin-client computing. Added to this, Gartner analysts have expressed doubts over the future of Microsoft Windows in it's current form. There are lots of buzzwords in all this: thin-client, flexible client, virtualization and so on. So is 2008 the year when thin-client computing finally catches on in the user community?

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Will Physical Media Go the Way of the Dinosaur?

According to EMC's Worldwide Information Growth Tracker, we have created more than 112 exabytes of information so far this year, with an anticipated compounded growth rate of almost 60% between now and 2011.  By contrast, it is estimated that in 2007 the British office workers printed up to 120 billion pages. This amounts to a paper mountain over 8,200 miles high!

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Gaming and Business

In reading "Wargaming, the business", one can imagine that a simulation of a complete enterprise is created that over time can model different scenarios and associated outcomes. If we take a step back and see how teenagers and pre-teenagers are working and interacting with technology (specifically simulation and gaming), we gain an insight on how corporations have to adapt in the future.

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Will Technology Become “Free”?

With Moore's Law still alive and kicking in the processor space, similar trends are taking place in the network space (Gilder's Law) and storage area (areal density law). These three technology laws, if taken at face value, would indicate that a fixed amount of money would provide you with double the amount of storage, processing capability, and network capability within an eighteen month time frame.

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Innovation and Finance - An Oxymoron?

Generally when we connect the world of innovation with the world of finance, we think of phrases like creative accounting. This term has come to be a euphemism for the misrepresentation of a corporation's financial position. It conjures up stories of accounting irregularities at corporations around the world such as Enron and Worldcom. While these financial practices may be novel, they may also be illegal and unethical.

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Meaning of Global

I've been working with a large manufacturing company that has operated internationally for a very long time. This company has been working towards being truly global across all lines of business, including functional areas, for many years. Some areas of the business have succeeded in functioning global but others have only recently become aware of the frame of reference change required for their area of the business to operate as a global function.

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Is IT becoming extinct? No, it’s just evolving.

I read Michael Krigsman's blog entry titled Is IT becoming extinct?, and had to wonder what his definition of IT really was?? If he views IT as a technology focused organization that is separate from the core business, I'd probably agree, but if we're talking about IT being the use of information and knowledge to maximize value delivery, than he couldn't be farther from the truth. Vinnie wrote a response to Michael's entry in his blog as well.

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Expanding Access to the Night Sky

A few weeks back there was the announcement of The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) by Microsoft research. It is a visualization environment that functions as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the ground- and space-based telescopes. Although it is not available publicly quite yet, there are some other sites for those who can't wait and have too much light pollution to see the sky at home.

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Opportunistic Computing in the Cloud

I've been thinking more about the entry the other day on heeding Moore's law.

I've had a few conversations with folks in other organizations about cloud computing. I am always fascinated by their almost blind focus on cost reduction. I see real opportunity for the shift in the value side. Value is what makes IT relevant. An exclusively cost focus is why IT doesn't matter.

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An example of simulation and process modeling

There have been a number of entries in this blog on the use of simulation and modeling and the effect on IT of the future. I've seen a number of modeling tools, but this week, (as part of EDS' Top Gun Program with Oracle), I was able to see some of the more recent work on the BPA Suite.

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Virtual Presence and Green IT

For centuries the workers of the world have had to locate within commuting distance of their work. It was necessary because, their work could hardly travel to where they lived. Not anymore.  The paradigm of moving work to people rather than moving people to work is being adopted more and more by progressive companies who understand that there are benefits that devolve both to the enterprise as well as to employees.

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Integration the core of the home of the future

Recently there was an article in Wired Disney Revives 'House of the Future' . If this is anything like Microsoft's home of the future display, I'm sure it will get some people excited.

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Virtual Reality and Space

NASA is looking to work with vendors on creating a virtual world to stimulate students’ interest in space. The virtual world will simulate real NASA engineering and science missions.

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Collaboration vs. meetings in the enterprise

The Wall Street Journal is making its opinion pages and commentary free. Maybe the rest of the paper will soon be free online as well? It is certainly in keeping with Rupert Murdoch’s previous public statements to that effect.

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Information security and Green IT conflicting over enterprise mindshare in 2008?

Privacy International just released its privacy protection rankings by country. It’s interesting that almost every country with widespread Internet usage is marked as low on the list. It made me wonder if there is a similar assessment of commercial (or criminal) use of personal information – this assessment was focused on government use. At least in my mind, identity theft is more top of mind than government surveillance.

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