1. Emerging Technologies Favorites or Fads: Can you tell the difference?
David Strom, VARBusiness
Daly Computers Technology Showcase
Baltimore, April 2003

2. Fad or Favorites? What makes a technology a fad?
Inconsistent standards
Lengthy paybacks
Microsoft’s meddling
The march of time

3. What makes a technology a favorite?
Profit potential
A true interoperable standard (in your dreams, Strom!)
Commodity usage but high margins for services or support
The ability to kick off recurring revenues

4. Wireless Networks
Rapidly becoming the standard networking technology in any new engagement
Has the twin virtue of reducing costs and increasing productivity
Convergence of LANs and cellular networks creates new network fabric for mobile computing applications
But watch out for security, incompatible standards (802.11g)

5. Midrange Applications
Times will continue to be tough in the high-end enterprise space, but mid range environments are spending
IT spending in mid size companies traditionally trails enterprise
New modular implementations lets these companies play like a leader
New offerings from IBM, Microsoft, others geared towards mid-market

6. Web Services
SOAP, XML and related technologies significantly lower the cost of integration
Unrealized benefits of e-business due to lack on integration
EAI gives way to a new generation of business process integration
Open source coming on stronger every day
Middleware hurdle drops to enable integration of business intelligence applications with production systems

7. Systems and Storage Consolidation
New generation of server hardware allows IT organizations to reduce costs
Re-engineering of data centers to leverage low cost 32-bit distributed data architectures driven by Windows.Net and Linux
Centralization of storage using NAS
Better virtualization products from Hitachi and others as $ per TB costs drop
Appliances proliferate

8. Security Intelligent security products
Emergence of flexible frameworks
Focus moves beyond the network level to include application and data security
Managed services become crucial
Not just about anti-virus any more
Identity management is a happening place
Better threat identification and insider protective tools

9. Subscription Services
Pace picks up at an even faster rate as VARs realize the value of recurring revenues
Technologies to facilitate outsourcing, such as broadband, web services and network management, all have subscription models
Hosted services gain momentum
Security and managed network services get better

10. Network printing
Color is almost a commodity, but which technology will prevail (laser, ink, wax)?
Speed vs. first-page out
Managing printers is still a challenge
Ethernet-attached printers moving into homes, smaller offices
Consumables is where the profit is!
Wireless printing coming on strong
Digital cameras driving new printer development and innovation

11. Real Time Batch updates of business transactions no longer good enough
Manufacturers want all data immediately in order to take just in time manufacturing to another level to reduce costs
Mass customization of products is major requirement to drive profits

12. Gigabit Networks Desktop deployment on the rise
Wire plant needs upgrading -- is CAT 5 good enough?
How to evaluate/test your plant?
More new apps that require gig speeds
Price differential nearly zero for 100 mB
How long until Gig E. in motherboards?
Can the PC bus keep up with Gig speeds?

13. IP Telephony Voice over IP finally hits the big time
Rising telecommunication costs push companies to build their own internal phone networks.
Many disaster recovery plans use VoIP
Need to reduce travel cost is helping drive adoption of collaborative applications, including video conferencing.
New apps that ride on top of IP phone networks and more to come -- promising more revenues for the VARs in the know