Based on feedback from customers, as well as its own research and development, Progress Software believes that the following five key technology trends will shake up computing in 2010:

1. Real-time insight and business control will become a must-have, as organizations can ill-afford to lose money and customer through being slow to notice problems in delivery. In 2009, our research found that 67% of businesses only become aware of problems when customers report them. 80% of companies already have critical business events they need to monitor in real time. In 2010, insight into these events, powered by the right technology, will be essential to success. Learn more about Business Activity Monitoring.

2. Event-driven computing will accelerate, driven by business needs, and impacting both the way applications are built and how they are deployed in the enterprise. Architectures are increasingly being built around ‘events’, and this will increase to deal with both new sources of events appearing within the enterprise as well as external event sources from partners and customers. Learn more about Business Event Processing.

3. Cloud computing will become mainstream, with software-as-a-service, storage-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and compute-as-a-service, becoming widely sold and used. Adoption will be quicker than the analysts suggest, as the cost savings are so compelling. It will disrupt both the open source and traditional software markets, making the solution and its delivery more important than who built it and what they built it on. 

4. Mobile computing will continue to be the biggest driver of innovation, extending the move from the desktop to the PDA to internet-enabled in-car systems, and even the fabled ‘internet fridges.’ Computing will become ubiquitous as people come to expect to interact with the web in more convenient ways. A massive driver will be the need to save energy in the home, and the notion of the ‘smart grid’. Remote devices will enable increased control over energy use, pushing innovation beyond the ‘cool’ factor and into the realm of pragmatism. 

5. CIOs will be forced to justify IT investments, because the recession has killed off the notion of ‘IT for ITs sake,’ CIOs must demonstrate rapid return on investment, business relevance and the strategic importance of IT to innovate to release funding for projects.

Progress CTO Comments

In light of the five key trends above, Dr. John Bates, chief technology officer and head of corporate development, Progress Software, has this to say: “What may seem like small changes in IT – changes in our approach to managing information, further innovation in mobility and increased cloud take-up – will lead to new frontiers opening up. Driven by the need to work efficiently and reduce energy usage, both in the home and the enterprise, 2010 will see much greater innovation than the straightened times of 2009. Convergence between business and consumer trends will lead to a computing revolution, where innovation leads to success.”

“CIOs must resist becoming lemmings, sticking with ‘tried and tested’ conventional wisdom. In 2010, they must continue to ensure alignment with the CEO and management team, and emphasize innovation, innovation, innovation in order to succeed,” concludes Bates.