Emerging technologies in ICT business uses An overview

Emerging technologies in ICT – business uses An overview of six emerging technologies Teacher File

Cloud By renting processing or storage capacity from service providers with massive external servers, using cloud technology eliminates the cost of purchasing and supporting additional in-house servers. Cloud computing also releases some of an organization's existing infrastructure, freeing it for projects focused on innovation and growth, rather than day-to-day operations. Renting software that users can access online rather than installing it on their PCs or laptops reduces purchasing, support and upgrade costs.

Programming for cloud computing only Although cloud computing gives organisations immediate access to unlimited processing and storage power when they need to scale up their operations, the applications to fully exploit cloud have not yet caught up. Currently, developers are converting existing programs to run on cloud, rather than creating new types of applications that could only work in the cloud environment.

Social Social-media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are well established in the consumer sector. These networks are now emerging as powerful business tools for applications such as marketing, customer-relationship management, collaboration, recruitment and product development.

Mobile The launch of increasingly-powerful tablet PCs and smartphones is making mobile working a strong emerging trend. As IT managers develop enterprise-strength security solutions for these devices, organisations are allowing employees to use them to access corporate data and applications. Smartphones are beginning to feature 3 -D imagery. Special software converts images from 2 -D and allows users to view them without needing special glasses. Think of the Nintendo 3 DS.

Search The sheer volume of data from social media is creating a challenge for search-engine providers and users. Data from social networks, blogs and news feeds can provide useful information for companies, helping identify and monitor trends and attitudes. The problem is how to categorise and rank that information while it remains fresh and useful. Developers are working on real-time search techniques to overcome that challenge and make social media useful for research.

Analytics The search for greater business insight from the vast amount of available data is generating interest in analytics, in other words what could all this data mean? Cloud computing gives organisations the ability to collect, store and distribute greater volumes of data. Using analytics will enable organisations to differentiate themselves by creating more value from that data. Analytics help organisations build a more detailed understanding of customer needs, enabling them to develop customer-focused solutions and improve the precision of marketing communications. That ability can accelerate revenue growth and improve profitability.