PSR Reviews - Volume II Number 2

CIOs Focus on WinningTechnologies Early

New MIS applictions are taking advantage of new advances

With the rapid advancement of new technologies a number of CIOs are starting to see that new approaches are included in the systems that are being developed. Most of these technologies are doing some of the old things better. Some are new ways to do things that will reduce the overall infrastructure cost. Based on our research we have ranked the 'go-go' technologies. There are:

• Electronic documents management and image processing
  
  The cost of paper, people and office space are driving this technology in software technologies continues to drop this is the
  one that is the most cost effective. The technology in banking is high speed image processing - look at the banks that are merging and you will see the successful ones are keying in on this. The technology in most service organization is low speed image processing - look at the high cost of labor and office space to be the driver in this one.
  
  
• Neural Networks
  
  This is right out of Star Wars and all of the other great science fiction we have been reading about for years. Neural networks are computer systems that learn and change through time without the intervention of the most feared resource in the computer world - the computer programmer.
  
  
• USB and Flash Storage
  
  USB and flash devices can now store over a terabyte of data on a single device. Sales manuals, reference materials, historical data can now all be stored on one device and be used in a remote location. The real jump will come when applications with static information will eliminate the need to communicate with a central computer to inquire into this data. Add image processing and or multimedia and you have some very interesting applications that can be created.
  
  
• Multimedia Webcasts
  
  The day of the digital computer application is dead! The future is with tablets and graphic application and movement. A number of organizations are already using this technology to reduce their training costs and provide easier access to their systems by non-users. This will be the electronic publishing of the future.
  
  
• Social Networks
  
  The Internet has brought the world together with Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and IM texting. CIO that adapt to these new solutions will be the winners.
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• Case
  
  Case, case and more case. This is the one area there is almost universal agreement on as a technology who's time has come. This will do more to make MIS technology more universally accepted than any other advance. Few are not trying this. Once users can use all of the screen generators and code generators, the perceived barriers to MIS will evaporate.