2012 ibm tech trends report: fast track to the future

© 2012 IBM Corporation

2012 IBM Tech Trends ReportFast track to the future

SWG developerWorks and Center for Applied Insights

November 2012


IBM Center for Applied Insights

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Source: 2012 Tech Trends Study, IBM developerWorks and IBM Center for Applied Insights, November 2012.

To obtain a global snapshot of approaches to key emerging technologies wesurveyed

Over 1200 IT and businessdecision-makers

• 22% IT managers• 53% IT practitioners• 25% business professionals• Thirteen countries• Sixteen industries

Over 250 academics and 450students across these samecountries



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Four pivotal emerging technologies – business analytics, mobile, cloud andsocial business - are rapidly reshaping how enterprises operate

A comparison of adoption and investment data demonstrates past and future deploymentdecisions

Business Analytics is the most well established, while Social Business is lagging

Mobile and Cloud lead investment priorities



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However, enterprises are facing two pervasive threats to innovation

IT Skills Gap

Security Concerns

Demand for IT skills in emergingtechnologies outstrips the skillsavailable

Security concerns are a significantbarrier to adoption of emergingtechnologies




A significant IT skills gap is seen across all four emerging technologyareas, and the future is gearing up to be even worse

The IT Skill Gap: Industry and Academia

In each of the four areas, only about 1 in 10 enterprises have all of the skills they need

Within each area, roughly one quarter of enterprises report having major skill gaps

The problem is poised to get worse: Nearly half of surveyed educators and studentsindicate major gaps in their institutions’ ability to meet the skill needs of the IT workforce

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Have all the necessary skills Moderate skill gaps Major skill gaps




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“Technology is changing so rapidly – not justupgrades, but dramatic changes in thediscipline itself. Keeping pace is a challenge,not only teaching current technologies, butalso forecasting and trying to guess what iscoming down the pipeline.”

-Professor, Fordham University




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Security concerns are a significant barrier to adopting emergingtechnologies, as organizations strive to protect their information assets

Top Three Barriers to Adoption in Each Emerging Technology Area

Beyond adoption - 62% of decision-makers rated Security as one of the top-three mostimportant areas to their organization overall in the next two years




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“Security and privacy are not always treated asfirst-order problems. Things are deployed andmade widely available without regard forsecurity and privacy. In a best case scenario,security and privacy are thought of as add-ons.Worst case, they’re ignored completely.”

- Professor, Purdue University




Despite the obstacles to innovation, an elite group of organizations areforging ahead and unlocking the potential of these technology trends

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Pacesetters exhibit three distinguishing traits that help them capitalize onthe potential of emerging technologies

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MARKET-DRIVEN: Pacesetters are more motivated by a desire to differentiate,innovate and serve customers better, placing greater emphasis on

Deeply understanding their customers using social and analytical means and engaging with them moreeffectively through mobile applications

Identifying new markets via analytics and differentiating their products and services through mobile

Bringing innovation to market faster using analytical insights, social collaboration, and cloud computing


2.2x2.7x2.7x2.4x2x3.2x2.6x1.2x1.4x



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ANALYTICAL: Pacesetters are also more likely to use analytics anddevelop analytical skills, especially ones that equip them to handle Big Data

Nearly twice as many Pacesetters as Dabblers are building “big data” skills, such as statistical andmathematical modeling and text analytics

Pacesetters understand the need for experts in math and statistics, but also recognize the need toblend these skills with business knowledge


2.9x2.4x2.5x3.9x4x.4x1.5x1.9x1.3x1.9x1.5x



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“Advanced analytics don’t work in silos; youhave to break them down. Business, IT andmathematical data experts have to workeffectively together to produce relevantinsights.”

- James Taylor, CEO, Decision Management Solutions




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EXPERIMENTAL: Pacesetters are active at the bleeding edge of emergingtechnologies


8x

6.3x

7.5x

3.6x

5.2x

4.5x

4.5x



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EXPERIMENTAL: Pacesetters are highly experimental and proactive in theirapproach to IT skill development


9x2x



The future looks bright for Pacesetters, as they are strategically positioningthemselves to capitalize on emerging technologies

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70%building expertise forextending socialbusiness solutions tomobile andperforming socialanalytics

70%buildingcapabilities inmobile integration,mobile security andprivacy, and mobileapplicationdevelopment

70%developing skills incloud security,cloudadministration, andenterprise cloudarchitecture

60%developingcapabilities inprobability, statistics,and mathematicalmodeling, and

56%building up textanalytics expertise




How do I become a Pacesetter?

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For IT and Business Leaders For IT PractitionersThink deep and wide when building skills

• Encourage skill development across a range of disciplines, not just specialization within silos.

• Design diverse teams and use social tools to assemble the right expertise at the right time.

• Extend skills mission beyond IT. Help business leaders become smarter consumers of analytics and raise IT security awareness enterprise-wide.

Concentrate on integrating expertise

Deepen specialized skills while broadening knowledge across new areas.

Combine areas of expertise to deliver more value. For example, apply security and privacy expertise across platforms.

Strengthen business acumen. High-impact solutions require knowledge of the business and marketplace, not just IT.

Use social tools to solicit and supply needed expertise.

Sponsor sandboxes Give IT staff the leeway to “play” with new technologies.

Provide infrastructure to host experimental systems; consider cloud computing to experiment at lower risk and cost.

Fuel innovation by crowd-sourcing ideas from your own staff.

Seek out experiential learning

Take advantage of opportunities to try new technologies – forexample, check out downloads on IBM developerWorks.

Experiment “in the open.” Make experimental systems availableinternally, allowing quick iterative refinement.

Treat security as a business imperative Prioritize investments in security technology and skills development.

Develop strong security and privacy policies to protect information assets.

Collaborate with other organizations and academia on solutions.

Make security a personal priority Become an expert on security and privacy within your area of expertise.

Better understand the global business context. Privacy laws and cultural expectations vary by country.

Lead the charge to design-in security from the start, not as an afterthought.




For additional insight and discussion…

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