asia pacific it market predictions 2011[1]

8/7/2019 Asia Pacific IT Market Predictions 2011[1]

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INTRODUCTION

ThisSpringboardResearchdocumentpresentsananalysisofkeytrendsintheAsiaPacific

ITmarketin2010,alongwithapreviewof thetoptrends thatSpringboardbelieveswill

shape the regional market in 2011. The analysis is based on Springboard Research’s

continuoustrackingofthemajortrendsanddevelopmentsintheAsiaPacificITmarkets.

This tracking includes substantial ongoing primary research conducted throughout the

year with CIOs and other IT and business decision makers, briefings with leading IT

vendors, and analysis of publicly available information on IT companies, countries,products,technologiesandservicesintheregion.

2010PREDICTIONS:AREPORTCARD

Beforeweprovideourkeypredictionsfor2011,accountabilityisservedbylookingbackto

evaluatehowweperformedwith ourpredictions for2010. Springboard predicted key

market trends in our 2010 Asia Pacific IT Market Predictions document, published in

December2009.

Table1presentsareportcardofhowwebelievewefaredinourpredictions.Plussigns(+)

representpredictionswebelieveprovedthemselvestobeaccurate,equalsigns(=)reflect

predictions that were neither fully right or wrong and negative signs (‐) represent

predictionsthatwebelievedidnotprovetobeaccurate.

Overall,marketconditionsandtrendsmatchedourexpectationsin2010relativelyclosely.

One areathat did not develop asquickly aswe predicted last yearwas the growth of

desktop virtualization. Although gains were made andmore organizations tilted their

clientstrategies towardvirtualization,most organizations didnot considerthe business

ASIAPACIFICITMARKET

PREDICTIONS2011

TheTimesTheyArea‐Changin’

Authors:SpringboardAnalystTeam

Date:

December15,2010



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casecompellingenoughtoprioritizethisareaforinvestmentin2010.Forthemostpart,however,ourpredictionshelduprelativelywellastheyearunfolded.

Table1:2010Predictions:HitsandMisses

WhatWePredictedfor2010 HowWeFared

Analytics,andtheEvolutionTowards'IntelligentSolutions'more

Broadly,EmergesasaKeyDriverofNewBusinessValue +TheConvergenceofComputingPlatformsAccelerates +CloudComputingMomentumIncreasesDramatically +VirtualizationPlaysanIncreasinglyCriticalRoleontheDesktop ‐MobileDevicesandApplicationsAreCrucialforOvercomingthe

DigitalDivideinEmergingMarkets +CollaborationContinuestoShineasOrganizationsLeverage

InitiativesPutinPlaceDuringtheEconomicCrisis +AWaveofInnovativeNewPaymentTechnologiesEmerge +OnlineDeveloperPlatformsandCommunitiesAretheNew

EcosystemBattleground&EpicenterofApplicationInnovation +

SocialNetworkingBecomesasAccessibleandCommercializedas

theInternetItself +ITAbstractionForcesCIOstoChangeorFallbytheWayside =

Source:SpringboardResearch,December2010

2010ASIAMARKETAWARDS

Aswereviewedourpredictionsfor2011,ouranalystsalsoassignedawardsforthekey

dynamicsintheAsianITindustrytheydeemedmostnoteworthy.Resultsarehighlighted

inTable2below,followedbybackgroundoneachselectionwemade.



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Table2:2010MarketAwards

Award 2010

ITBuzzwordoftheYear PrivateClouds

ITTrendoftheYear Everything‐as‐a‐Service

AsianITCompanyoftheYear NTTData

AcquisitionoftheYear IBM/Netezza

Source:SpringboardResearch,December2010

PrivateClouds–ITBuzzwordoftheYear

Privatecloudsemergedin2010astheleadingindustrybuzzword.Infrastructurevendors

promoted private clouds as ameans to steer cloud investments toward their existing

offerings.Somepure‐playSaaSvendors,ontheotherhand,havetriedtosuggestthat

privatecloudsare“falseclouds”andsomeindustryleadershavegoneasfarasreferring

topubliccloudsas “sacredthings”. At theheartof thedistinction isa battlebetween

industryplayersfordominantmarket(andmarketing)positions.Unfortunatelytheshort

term impact of this debate has been an increase in the amount of confusion and

uncertaintyamongITdecisionmakers.Thereislittledoubtthatbothprivateandpublic

cloudswillcoexistforalongtime,asoutlinedinourpredictionsbelow.

Everything‐as‐a‐Service–ITTrendoftheYear

Ascloudcomputingcontinuedtogainmarketprominence,everythingisincreasinglybeing

packagedasaservicetodrivedownCAPEXinfavorofmorevariableOPEX.Vendorshave

revampedtheirofferingstopackageandpositionthem“as‐a‐service”.Thismovehasbeen

drivenacrosstheindustry:storage‐as‐a‐service,testing‐as‐a‐service,security‐as‐a‐service,

businessintelligence‐as‐a‐service,softwarelifecycle‐as‐a‐serviceandsoon.Perhapstooeasilydismissed as a cheapmarketing ploy, this dynamicis really a reflection of client

demands for far greater flexibility, predictability and time‐to‐marketwhen investing in

informationtechnology.

NTTData–AsianITCompanyoftheYear

In2010,NTTDataembarkedonanaggressiveexpansionprogramoutsideofJapanand

into Asia Pacific. This expansion is reflected by a number acquisitions during 2010

including Shanghai Synergy Software, (a China‐based system integrator focusing on

financialcustomers);FirstApex,(aSingapore‐basedITsolutionproviderfortheinsuranceindustry); and Business Formula SdnBhd, (a Malaysia‐based SAP consulting firm). Its



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parent company, NTT madeone ofthe industry’s largest investmentsin 2010when itacquiredDimensionDataforUS$3.2billionincash,whichcapturedhighattentionamong

theinternationalmediaastheindustry’slargestinvestmentmadeinAfricabyaJapanese

company.Inadditiontoacquisitions,NTTDataestablishedajointvendor,YuchengLian

Rong Data Technologies Limited with Yucheng Technologies to expand IT services

targetingthefinancialindustryinChina.

NTTDatahaswonmilestoneprojectsinChinainthepast,suchasanationalautomated

payment system, the postal saving systems, an intelligent building system of Shanghai

Metal Exchange, and the first IC card system in Beijing. The company is a deserving

winnerof thisyear’s award,but itsintegrationof itsacquiredcompanies andability to

successfullymarketitselfoutsideofJapanwillgreatlyimpactthedegreetowhichtheNTT

groupisabletobuildasuccessfulbusinessandbrandoutsideoftheJapanesemarket.

IBM/Netezza–AcquisitionoftheYear

Itwasmoredifficultthisyeartoselecttheacquisitionoftheyearthaninpreviousyear‐

ends.Aftersomeinternalreviewanddebate,weselectedIBM/Netezzaastheacquisition

oftheyearnotbecauseitwasthelargest,butbecausewebelieveitbestepitomizessome

ofthe keytrendsshaping themarketaswe look ahead: theconvergenceof hardware,

softwareandservicesintosingledevicesorappliances;smartcomputingandtheneedto

bringanalyticsoutoftheboardroomexclusivelyandintothehandsofdecision‐makersin

thefield.

2011:TOPPREDICTIONS

Thetop10trendsthatwebelievewillshapeenterpriseITintheAsiaPacificregionin2011

areoutlinedbelow.

#1)CloudComputing–FromSilverBullettoJustAnotherSourcingOption

Throughout2011,thecloud‐relatedhypeof2009andmostof2010willsteadilygiveway

toamoresober,andrealisticunderstandingoftherelevanceandapplicabilityofcloud

computing among CIOs andother senior ITdecision‐makers. Springboard Research has

long argued that atits core,cloud computing isnothingmore than a sourcingoption.

Moretothepoint,itisoneofmanyvalidsourcingoptionsITorganizationsmustconsider

alongside traditional approaches, including both on‐premise deployments as well as

hostedsolutions.Farfromexpectingcloudcomputingtoreplaceallotherapproachesto

applicationdeployment/servicedelivery,ITdecisionmakersmustdeterminetheoptimal

sourcingoptionforvariousservicesbasedoncriteriaincludingusagescenario,scalability

requirements,ITskillsavailability,andtypesofworkloadsbeingenabled.



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Thedebateoverpublicversusprivateversushybridapproacheshasledtofurthercloud‐relatedmarketconfusionoverthepast12months.Ironically,however,through2011this

debatewillactuallyservetohelporganizationsbetterunderstandandthereforeposition

cloud‐based approaches relative to existing IT initiatives. As IT (and many business)

decisionmakerseducatethemselvesonthedistinctionbetweeninternalversusexternal

service deployments, and between dedicated and shared access, they will better

understandhowthevariouscloudapproachescomparewithother,existingapproaches

within their organizations. Over the next 12 months, we expect cloud computing to

increasingly be considered alongside (and often compared to) other, related sourcing

approaches,includingthoseofferedbymoretraditionaloutsourcingvendorsandhosted

serviceproviders.

In terms of overall spending, the public cloud market in AP remains dominated by

software as a service (SaaS) solutions. SaaS demandwill remain strong, particularly in

scenarioswhereconnectivityisrequired(email,webconferencing)orlimitedexistingon‐

premiseinvestmentsexist(CRM). However,weexpectinfrastructureas a service(IaaS)

offerings from bothcloud providers (e.g.,AWS, Rackspace) aswell asmoretraditional

telcoproviders(e.g.,Singtel,Telstra)togrowrapidly.Forscenarioslikeappdev/testand

sourcingofexcesscomputingcapacity,cloudcomputingistypicallyfarmoreflexibleand

costeffectivethantraditionalsourcingoptions.

For CIOs and IT decision makers, cloud related security concerns will subside slowly

throughout2011astheapproachismorefullyunderstood.Instead,concernswillcenter

around interoperability and integration of systems, data and processes likely to be

accessedacrossmultipleinternalandexternaldeploymentscenarios.

#2) Demand for Mobile Reporting Services Transforms “Business

Intelligence”

Previously bundled as “Business Intelligence” (BI), reporting andanalytics will begin to

bifurcatein 2011,largelyasa resultof anincreaseddemandfromend‐usersformobile

reporting services.With a strong initialfocuson role‐based reportdelivery, lightweight

navigation, simple drilldown and basic user‐driven interactivity, mobility will begin to

moveBIoutofITandintothehands(literally)ofbusinessdecisionmakers.BIvendorswill

initially differentiate their offerings on ‘pre‐packaged’ mobile reporting solutions.

However,organizationswillquicklydiscoverthatusersrequiremorecontextuallyrelevant

reporting and analytics, including more social, collaborative and geo‐location driven

reporting.Thiswillprovide vendorsan opportunity toseparateoutBI functionality into

various ‘layers’, including specific products optimized for particular mobile platforms.



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Customizablereportgenerationatthemobiledeviceforexample,willbeakeyfeatureorend‐userrequirement.

This will have a significant architectural impact for the majority of enterprise IT

organizationsthatspansapplicationdelivery,applicationlifecyclemanagement,security,

dataintegration,datawarehousingandtelcoservicesamongstothers.Whileitwilldrive

confusion and consternation within IT, the majority of larger organizations will

nonetheless be forced to support ever‐increasing levels of reporting and analytic

complexityatthemobile device level –primarily asa resultofdemand from themost

seniorofbusinessusers.

Collaborativeanalyticswillalsobegin toemergein2011butwillfailtogainwidespread

acceptancethrough2015.Collaborativeanalyticsdescribestheprocessofusersengaged

inacollaborativeanditerativegoalseekingapproachtoproblemsolving.Itisameshof

reporting, analytics, workflow and collaboration services that aids knowledge workers’

decisionproductivity.AnearlyexampleisIBM’sinclusionofLotusConnectionsinCognos

10. Increasingly, collaborative analytics will be tied to mobile devices and remote

workforces, though not exclusively. Collaborative analytics will further evolve beyond

2015andbecomeentrenchedaspartofthebusinessintelligencesolutionportfolio.

Onthedesktop,dynamicreportingcapabilitieswillalsobeincreasinglyembeddedintoa

wider range ofapplications, includingnontransactional environmentssuchasintranets

andcontent‐richportals.As reportingbecomesmore contextuallyaware (and therefore

more valuable andrelevant)evenhigherend‐user expectationsand demandsfor richer

functionalityandgreatermobilitywillalsobegintoaffectcurrentreportingandanalytics

strategies.

#3)ManagedServicesProvidersInnovatetoDriveAddedValue

Oneofthemostimportantmilestonesin2011willbetheexpansionofmanagedservices

beyondbasicinfrastructuremanagementtoincludemoreapplication‐relatedservices.Asmoreorganizationsseektoreapthebenefitsofabetterintegratedapproachtomanaged

services, there will be a clear move towards application outsourcing that combines

infrastructureandapplicationmanagementtoyieldbetterapplicationperformanceata

lowercost.Asthistrendcontinuestogainstrength,thelinesbetweenSaaSandmanaged

serviceswillincreasinglyblur.

Managed services providers (MSPs) will be forced to innovatewith new business and

delivery models based on reliable, standardized and scalable platforms and develop

specificSLAsforthemanagementoftheseextendedenvironments.Wewillseemorerisk

andrewarddealswithtighterSLAsandclientsthatarenotafraidtoenforcethecontract’s



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penalty clauses. IT automation and “non‐linearity” will fuel efficiency, productivityandhighermarginsforMSPs. Serviceproviderswill continueto adopt integratedandopen

platforms for remote monitoring and management of both infrastructure and

applications.

Managedserviceswillcontinuetobeinfluencedbycloudcomputingthroughout2011.We

expect to see further consolidation and commoditization of ITmanaged services with

services like monitoring, tracking, patching, and performance reporting increasingly

delivered via cloud. As these dynamics take hold, traditional ITmanaged services will

morphtowardthecloudandwewillseeanewsetofmarketconditions.

Therewillbeamorenotedshiftfromcostarbitrageto“next‐gencostoptimization”.In

the new environment, CIOs will ask for more performance optimization, integrated

management andproductivity improvements insteadof simply “cost savings”. Thiswill

againrequireapivotalchangeinthewaycurrentservicesarebeingdeliveredbyservice

providersandinthewayclientsinteractwithandmanagetheirserviceproviders.

#4)HTML5Boosts anApplication‐CentricWebAcrossaWideRangeof

Devices

HTML5,thenextmajorrevisionoftheHTMLstandardexpectedtobeformallyratifiedbylate2011,willgaingreaterattentionthroughouttheyearwithitsabilitytosupportvideo

playback,draganddropusercontrol,inlinedocumentediting,client‐sidedatastorageand

moreinteractivewebformcapabilities.HTML5willenableafurthersignificantleapfrom

beingdocumentcentrictobecomingmoreapplicationcentricandwillenableanewwave

ofmobileapplicationstobedeliveredtoawiderangeofdevices.

Application server technology has previously enabled static HTML documents to be

renderedas rich,dynamicweb based content. However, additionalproprietaryplug‐in

technologies such as Adobe Flash/Air and Microsoft Silverlight were also required to

augmentbasicHTMLcontenttoprovidehighlyinteractiveandvisuallyappealing,richuser

interfaces. HTML5 will enable richeruserinterfacesand greaterinteractivity across a

muchwiderrangeofclientdevices–includingmobiles.Thiswilleventuallylessenthegap

betweenmoreproprietarymobileplatforms(suchasApple’siPhoneandiPad)andmore

openplatformssuchasGoogle’sAndroidOS‐baseddevices.

AlthoughHTML5isyettobefinalizedasaformalW3Cstandard,manycurrentbrowsers,

includingmobilewebbrowsers,doalreadysupportthemajorityofelementsintheHTML

5 standard. In additionto other functional enhancements, the cross‐device capabilities

(i.e.,renderingcontentmoreeasilyonbothmobileand desktopdevices)will also bea

strongdriverthatwillencouragegreateradoption.



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Regardless, HTML 5 will not completely replace existing rich internet applicationdevelopmentenvironmentssuchasAdobeFlash/AIRandMicrosoftSilverlight.Thesewill

maintain a strong developerbasedue to their integrated authoring environments and

additional capabilities, such as content protection, in‐built (and very robust/efficient)

videodelivery,andasimprovedSDKstotheseenvironmentsbecomemoreuser‐friendly

andpowerful.

Webelievethattowardstheendof2011therewillbeconsiderabledevelopersupportfor

HTML 5, particularly where complex user interactivity and very dynamic content

generationrequirementsexistacrossbothdesktopandmobileenvironments(e.g.,highly

collaborativeandcontent‐richwebsites).Manyoftheserequirementswillperfectlysuit

major publicly accessible web sites (e.g. social media). However, it will also enable

independent software developers to augment and extend existing web enabled

applicationswithintheenterprisetogreatlyenhancefunctionalityandusability,including

offlineuseofwebapplications.Thirdpartydevelopersofenterprisesoftwarewillalsosee

HTML 5asanattractivewayofencouragingusers toupgradeto later versions oftheir

softwarewithouthavingtorelyonproprietarytechnologiestoachievesignificantusability

improvements.

#5) IT Distribution Channel Partners Accelerate the Evolution of their

BusinessModels

Distributionchannelpartnersare in a particularly vulnerable position as the ITmarket

moves quickly toward cloud computing. The days of surviving on business models

dependentondistributinggeneralizedITproductswithrazor‐thinmarginsandlivingday‐

to‐dayoncashturnssupportedbyvendor‐providedcreditarequicklycomingtoaclose.

To make matters worse, the traditional large‐scale SI deals that supported channel

partners for years are increasingly disappearing or are being won and delivered by

vendorsdirectly.In2011,regionalsystemintegrators(SIs),value‐addedresellers(VARs)

and distributors will be forced to better develop specialties by vertical industry andbusiness solution to deliver the customervalue required to survive in a cloud‐enabled

market. Alreadybeing pushed by their vendor suppliers to invest in skillsaround high

growthsolutions,channelpartnerswillneedtoelevatetheircustomerintimacyandability

todeliverclearbusinessvalue.

SpringboardResearchbelievesthatchannelpartnerswillcontinuetoplayanimportant–

butnotadominant–roleinhelpingcustomersprocureSaaSandcloudbasedsolutions.A

recent Springboard survey revealed that 45% of Asian organizations believe channel

partners are helpful when buying cloud computing services/solutions and 23% of

respondentsprocuredtheirSaaSsolutionthroughachannelpartnerin2010.Thistrendis

likelytomoveupwardsinthecomingyearsasacloudchannelfurtherdevelopsandSaaS



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vendorsreachaceilingonhowmuchtheirdirectsalesforcesandthewebcanachieve.Areaswheredistributionchannelpartnerswillplayanimportantcloudroleareoutlined

below:

• Advisors and Integrators: Local partnerswith intimate customer relationships will

needtoplaytheroleofanintegratorbetweenexistingplatformsatcustomersites

andnewercloudofferings.InarecentSpringboardstudy40%ofSaaSusersintegrated

theirSaaSapplicationwithanotheron‐demandoron‐premiseapplication.Inahybrid

model, customerswhohavemadesubstantial investments inexisting ITassetswill

requireintegrationworkwhenacloud‐basedapplicationisadded.

• Customization: ArecentSpringboardResearchsurveyfoundthat51%ofSaaSusersin

2010 customized their on‐demand application in some way, which provides a

considerableopportunityfor channelpartners familiarwith localmarketconditions

andregulatoryrequirements.

• Training: Partners can also play a role in training the end customers on how to

optimallyusethevariouscloudbasedapplications. Springboardrecentlyfoundthat

31% of respondents currently believe cloud computing is more complex than

deployingandmanagingin‐houseinfrastructure,data,andapplications.

#6) Telcos Embrace the Cloud but Are Forced to Prove Their Customer

Orientation

In2011,Telecommunicationscompanies(telcos)ofallsizes,andinmanyAsiancountries,

willformallyembracecloudcomputingasanofferingtargetedatenterpriseIT.However,

SpringboardResearchbelievesthatnotalltelcoswillbeasequallycommitted–orcapable

–of delivering the full range of cloud services demandedby customers. Infrastructure

hostingwillbetargetedatlargerenterpriseclientswithSaaSofferingstargetedatsmall‐

to‐medium sized business (SMB) customers during 2011. However, cloud “pure‐play”

vendorswillalsocontinuetogrowandbeattractive,oftenbypartneringwithtelcosto

providemorecomplete and packaged solutions (e.g., offsitebackup andmore flexible

capacityandperformanceoptions).

Comparedtocloudcomputing“pure‐plays”,telcoshaveasignificantadvantagebecause

theyhaveexistingrelationshipswithasubstantialcustomerbase.Evenasmallpercentage

of existing telco customers adopting cloud‐based value added services would be

significantcompared to themarketingmomentum(and investments) requiredby start‐

ups.

Thegoalforanycloudserviceproviderduring2011however,willbetoproveassumptionsabout exploiting efficiencies, cost advantages and the ability to productize for amass



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marketonacosteffectivebasis.Thesearegenerallykeydifferentiatorsfortelcosofferingcloud‐basedservicesversusmoretraditionalITplayers,includingenterpriseapplications

vendors, infrastructure vendors and more traditional hosted service providers.

Nonetheless, telcos are significantly constrained by their own marketing vision, their

abilityto communicate that visionandthe abilityto executeon itasamatterofdaily

businessoperations.2011willbethetimetheseassumptionsaretestedinreality.

Given the key characteristicsof the cloud (network‐based access, usage‐based pricing,

leveraging of shared resources, automated provisioning), telcos would appear to be

extremelywell‐positioned tobenefit from themassivemarketopportunities that cloud

computingwilllikelyprovide.However,significantchallengesandbarriersstillexistthat

will be difficult, even for the larger telcos, to overcome. 2011 will test telco’s own

infrastructureandsupportserviceswithresponsivenesstocustomerrequests/issues,the

ability to adequately address ‘unique’ scenarios or requirements that fall outside their

standard offerings and an overall ability to recognize and respond to the changing

demandsofsmallandmediumsizedbusinessesinatimelymanner.

SpringboardResearchbelievesthat2011willseetelcosincreasinglyprovidingcloudbased

services – whether based on infrastructure or applications – but by2012‐2013 only a

limitedrangeofserviceswillultimatelybeoffered.Thiswillbringsomemarketinstability

withenterprisecustomersunclearandunconvincedonwhichserviceswillbemaintained

long term. Organizations should therefore carefully assess their risk when short‐listing

telco providers – whether small or large – for sourcing cloud‐based solutions and/or

services.

#7)Real‐timeCODEEmerges:ContentManagementMeetsCollaboration

Driven by recent trials andexperiences by individuals and small workgroups, real‐time

collaborative document editing (CODE) will begin to gain broader attention in the

enterprisemarketduring2011.Themostwidelyknownexampleofreal‐timeCODEtoday

isGoogleDocs.Thisserviceallowsmultipleuserstocollaborativelyeditalivedocumentin

real time.MajorcommercialsoftwarevendorssuchasMicrosoftandIBMhavealsohad

similarsolutionsindevelopmentforsomeyearsnow.However,thesevendorshaveyetto

commercialize their offerings based on perceived market demand and they are not

expectedtobeableto generatethesamelevelof interestandenthusiasmasGoogleat

thispoint.Anumberofsmallernichevendorsalsoexisttodaythoughtheseareexpected

toeitherbeacquiredorwilldisappearvianaturalattrition.

WhileCODEisunlikelytogo“mainstream”in2011,thebenefitsofreal‐timecollaborative

online documenteditingare significant. Just as instantmessaging reduced email‐based

collaboration“cycle” times overrecent years, document centricprocesses that require



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multiple participants to edit and/or approve documents will also benefit significantly.Typicalapplicationsin theenterprisewillincludeincidentreporting,proposals,tenders,

approvals,submissions,projectplanningandcasemanagement(amongstothers).Driven

bythe substantialpotentialefficiencies andadvantagesof CODE,SpringboardResearch

expectstoseetheenterprisesformallyevaluatetheimpacttotheirbusinesses.Immediate

benefits include enhanced/multi‐dimensional version control, reduced document data

volumes,improveddocumenttemplatemanagement,superiorcontentintegrationandof

course,reducedcollaborativecycletimes.

ThoughitisunlikelyGooglewillemergeasaseriousenterprisesoftwarevendorwithinthe

next12‐18months,SpringboardResearchdoesexpectto seeamuchgreaterinterestin

(andgradualtakeup of)CODEsolutionsover thecomingdecadewith2011servingasa

transitionpoint.

#8) Information Security Becomes a Key Enterprise Priority and Sparks

ClientVirtualization

Wikileakshasdemonstratedthedamagethatcanbecausedwheninformationassetsare

notproperlyprotected.WhenrumorssurfacedinlateNovemberthatWikileakswould

releaseconfidential informationaboutBank ofAmerica, thecompany’ssharesdropped

3%. The risks to organizations when unprotected information is released can include

reputationdamage,competitive lossesandeven criminal charges,which is coming into

greater focus with every new leaked document. In 2011, governments and large

enterpriseswillinvestfarmoreintechnologies,servicesandbusinessprocessestoprotect

theirmostsensitiveinformationassets.

Improvedinformationsecuritywillbumpupagainst–andbechallengedby–anumberof

thestrongesttrendsdrivingtheITindustryin2011:

• Providing Analytics forMobileWorkers: As previously noted, growing numbers of

organizations will extend analytics content outside of boardrooms to a broader

audience of decision‐makers, which will place a greater premium on effective

informationsecurity.

• Pervasive Network Access: Growing numbers of users and devices accessing the

networkanditsassetswillraisethebarfororganizationsseekingbetterinformation

security.

• New SocialMedia:As companies and employees increasingly embracenew social

mediachannelssuchasfacebookandtwitter,theriskofthewronginformationbeing

releasedvirallyincrease.



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Webelievethatwhenorganizationsevaluatehowbesttoimproveinformationsecurity,many will embark on strategies to fundamentally modernize their entire infrastructure

managementstrategies.Oneofthekeybenefactorsofthesereviewsislikelytobeclient

virtualization.Althoughapurecostevaluationmaynotprovidetheimpetusrequiredfor

mainstreamadoption,informationsecurityreviewsmaybethetippingpoint.

#9)ConvergedInfrastructureStacksChallengeGeneral‐PurposeIT

Forthepast30years,successandgrowthintheITindustryhasbeendrivenbygeneral

purpose hardwareand software components integrated together by vendors, business

partnersandend‐usersforausers’particularneeds.Thismodelofcomputinghasserved

the industry exceptionally well and has brought IT tomillions of new businesses and

consumersoverthepastseveraldecades.Likeprecedingindustrychanges,thisindustry

frameworkwillremainandcontinuetodriveamajorityofthemarketforyearstocome.

However,integratedstacksofhardware,softwareandservicesindevicesandappliances

willcontinue togainprominenceandchallengethetraditionalindustrymodelin2011–

eveninthefaceoftheemergenceofcloudcomputing.

InalmosteverysegmentoftheITindustry,specializedconvergedinfrastructuresolutions

aremushrooming.ThebestexampleisperhapsAppleanditsintegrationofahardware,

software,serviceandcontentbundledintoproductsliketheiPhone.However,examplesarebecomingincreasinglycommonintheenterprisemarketaswellwithsolutionssuchas

Cisco’sUCS,Oracle’sExadata,IBMappliances,Netezzaandgraphicschipsbeingusedfor

compute‐specific applications to accelerateperformance. In2011, vendorswill heavily

promote “vertically integrated” stacks as ameans of differentiation and in attempt to

addresstherequirementforsimplificationofthetechnologyenvironment.

#10)TheConsumerizationofITDrivesMajorChangesinUsagePatterns

andExpectations

Rapidgrowthin theusageofmobiledevices, (e.g.,smartphones,iPads,etc.) combinedwithanexplosioninsocialcomputing(e.g.,Facebook,Twitter,etc.)hasalreadyimpacted

thewayend‐usersviewIT.Overthenext12months,thisongoingconsumerizationofIT

willhaveincreasinglydramaticimpactsonthewaysinwhichend‐usersaccessenterprise

applicationsanddata.Whileemployeescontinuetoaccesssensitiveapplicationsanddata

from secured, corporate networks, they areincreasingly usingweb‐based offerings and

mobilitydevicesforbothworkandpersonalreasons.Thisrepresentsgrowingcomplexity

forITteamsthatarealreadywrestlingwiththeneedtoembracenewtechnologies–but

struggling tomaintainmanagement and control over older ones. CIOs will face ever‐

increasingpressure toallowmore consumer/personaldevices intocorporatenetworks,

managetheinfluxofsocialcomputinghabitsoftheiremployeesandhandletheincreasing

mobilesecurityissuestheypresent.



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WhileCIOscontinuetograpplewiththissituation,notallorganizationsareembracingthemobile device route. Many in the Asia Pacific region will continue to operate in a

traditional, internally focused IT environmentand leave itsemployees with littleor no

choiceabouthowtheyaccesstheirinformationintheworkplace.However,Springboard

ResearchbelievesitwillbeagrowingchallengetofunctioneffectivelywithtraditionalIT

systems and policies. IT teamswill be forced to embrace the more consumer‐friendly

computinghabitsandenvironments.

With a variety of form‐factors existing in the marketplace, there is a critical need for

applicationstobeofferedinaplatform‐and‐device‐agnosticmanner(e.g.,standarduser

images) that provides users with a seamless experience across various form factors.

However, IT organisations must avoid the temptation to support mobile access by

developing even more complex, multi‐layered applications. Instead, IT organizations

shouldusethisopportunitytoembracethebasicinternetstandardstheyhavelikelybeen

trying tostandardizeon forthe past decade(i.e.,standardsbasedHTMLoverHTPPon

SSL).Throughout2011,itisthisabilitytoavoidover‐complicatingthemobileapplication

environmentthatwillseparateleadersfromfollowers.

CONCLUSION

Astheworldcontinuestorecoverfromtheglobalfinancialcrisisin2011,theITindustry

willundergofundamentalshiftsintechnologyadoptionandusage.Acriticaldriverbehind

thesechangeswillbecloudcomputing,whichwillmovefurtheralongitstransitionfrom

hypetospecificimplementationsandorganizationslookingtotakedefinitivestepsalong

clearer and better understood multi‐year adoption roadmaps. Other driving forces

pushingindustrychangewillbemobility,analytics,ITdemocratization,ITabstractionand

convergence.Thedegreeofchangeandevolutionshapingthemarketin2011willplacea

greater premium on agility and rethinking old assumptions and computing models.

Winnersandloserswillbeseparatedbyanabilitytoquicklyidentifytheshiftsunderway,

tosee(andaccept)thingsindifferentwaysandmobilizetheirorganizationsorteamsto

respondasquicklyandeffectivelyaspossible.



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Telephone:65‐6325‐9721

5201GreatAmericaParkwaySuite320

SantaClara,CA95054

U.S.A

Tel:408‐730‐2680

BLKC,Unit1033,

ChaowaiSOHONo.6B,

ChaowaiStreet,ChaoyangDistrict,Beijing,100020

China

Phone:86‐10‐5900‐3299

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asia pacific it market predictions 2011[1]

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