Deloitte Predicts the Top 10 Technology Trends for 2012

Deloitte Predicts the Top 10 Technology Trends for 2012

Mobility, social, analytics, cloud and cyber represent five imminent technology forces for business innovation

NEW YORK, December 8, 2011 — Deloitte today announced the research findings from its 3rd annual "Tech Trends 2012" report, which identifies and predicts the top 10 emerging and disruptive technologies that are expected to play a crucial role in how businesses are anticipated to operate globally in 2012 and beyond.

"As we head into 2012, many CIOs are evaluating the various aspects of IT, looking ahead to the new technologies that can help them drive business growth in the years ahead," said Mark White, principal and chief technology officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP and co-author of the report. "Mobility, social, analytics, cloud and cyber are technology forces each impacting business today. The intersection of these represents an opportunity for new business technology value and innovation.”

Deloitte’s "Tech Trends 2012" distinguished the technologies in two categories: "(Re)emerging Enablers" and "Disruptive Deployments." (Re)emerging Enablers are five technologies that many CIOs have spent time, thought and resources on in the past, but deserve another look this year. Disruptive Deployments are five additional technologies that showcase new business models and transformative ways to operate. The 10 predicted technologies identified for 2012 are:

(Re)Emerging Enablers:

Geo-spatial Visualization: Within the world of visualization, geospatial takes advantage of an explosion of geographical, location-aware data. Sources feeding this growth include new semi-structured data from mobile devices, geo-tagging of existing enterprise structured data and tapping into new streams of location-aware unstructured data.

Digital Identities: The digital expression of identity is growing more complex every day. Digital identities should be unique, verifiable, able to be federated and non-repudiable. As individuals take a more active hand in managing their own digital identities, organizations are attempting to create single digital identities that retain the appropriate context across the range of credentials that an individual carries. Digital persona protection is becoming a strong area of cyber focus.

Data Goes to Work: Organizations are finding ways to turn the explosion in size, volume and complexity of data into insight and value. This is occurring across structured and unstructured content from internal and external sources. This is expected to complement but not replace long-standing information management programs and investments in data warehouses, business intelligence suites, reporting platforms and relational database experience.

Measured Innovation: CIOs can help facilitate the discovery of the next wave of true disruption--and continuously improve the business of IT and the business of the business. Measured innovation offers an approach to managing both disciplines by providing a pragmatic way to identify, evaluate and launch potential innovations with a focus on aligning opportunities to areas that can fuel disruption and create measurable, attributable value.

Outside-in Architecture: Flexibility in operating and business models is proving more important. As a result, need to share is colliding with need to know and shifting solution architectures away from a siloed, enterprise-out design pattern and into an outside-in approach to delivering business through rapidly evolving ecosystems.

Disruptive Deployments:

Social Business: The emergence of boomers as digital natives and the rise of social media in daily life have paved the way for social business in the enterprise. This is leading organizations to apply social technologies on social networks, amplified by social media, to fundamentally reshape how business gets done. Some of the initial successful use cases are consumer-centric, but business value is available – and should be realized – across the enterprise.

Hyper-hybrid Cloud: Cloud-based and cloud-aware integration offerings are expected to continue to evolve, and many organizations face a hybrid reality with a mix of on-premise solutions and multiple cloud offerings. The challenge becomes integration, identity management and data translation between the core and multitenant public cloud offerings, and offering lightweight orchestration for processes traversing enterprise and cloud assets.

Enterprise Mobility Unleashed: Mobility is helping many organizations rethink their business models. Consumer-facing mobile applications are only the beginning. With the explosion of mobile use cases, organizations should make sure solutions are enterprise class – secure, reliable, maintainable and integrated to critical back-office systems and data.

Gamification: Serious gaming simulations and game mechanics such as leaderboards, 

achievements and skill-based learning are becoming embedded in day-to-day business processes, driving adoption, performance and engagement.

User Empowerment: User engagement remains a key doctrine for enterprise IT with consumerization setting expectations for solutions built from the user-down, not the system-up. Compounding the need, IT is becoming increasingly democratized, with empowered end-users able to directly source solutions from the cloud or app stores – on a mobile device and increasingly on the desktop.

"The next 12 months will see several technologies including the cloud, big data and mobility continue to grow, while a topic like gamification is just starting to emerge at the enterprise level," said Bill Briggs, director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and co-author of the report. "It will be important for CIOs to help lead their organizations in these areas, as they can redefine the role that IT plays within an organization and place them in a position to positively disrupt their operating models, business models, or even their industries.”

About Deloitte Tech Trends

For the past three years, Deloitte’s annual "Tech Trends" report has identified the 10 trends anticipated to have an impact for CIOs in the coming year and beyond. The predications are based on insights from Deloitte’s technology subject matter specialists, input from some of its largest clients and discussions with industry analysts and alliance members. To subscribe to receive a digital copy of this year’s complete report, please visitwww.deloitte.com/us/techtrends2012.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/aboutfor a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

site:http://www.deloitte.com

Big in 2012: Trend-watchers tells us what to expect

Published: Tuesday, January 03, 2012, 8:02 AM

 By Amy Kuperinsky/The Star-Ledger 

David Paul Morris/GettySteve Jobs introduced iCloud in June. Trend-watchers say we'll live in digital clouds, more than ever before.

Out: Human interaction.
In: Saying you want to get together, but not actually doing it.

Out: High-fructose corn syrup.
In: Good ol' honey.

Out: Spending large on your wardrobe.
In: Going shopping, in your wardrobe.

So say two professional trend-spotters, at least.

Marian Salzman, president of the North American division of the public relations firm Euro RSCG Worldwide, has been spotting trends for 15 years. Her annual trends forecast is called "The Big Little Book of Nexts."

Ann Mack, director of trend-spotting at the advertising firm JWT, issued her seventh report on trends last month.

Here's what they say will transpire in 2012.

The rise of fiction
"Real life has been so much more real than reality TV," says Salzman. "We've been through a really traumatic year," she says, even if that has meant saying goodbye to some of the most reviled world leaders. Look for the rise of "curated drama," she says. Instead of finding solace in the antics of "Real Housewives," for example, we'll look for escape in "well-designed television programming," meaning shows that are scripted, not documented, she says.

APThey'll be working hard for us in 2012

Honey and mushrooms
When corn syrup got a whole lot of negative press, people were looking for ways to sweeten healthfully, or at least naturally.

"If you can provide an alternative to that and call it 'natural,' good for you," says Mack. Honey, undeniably natural but also exceedingly saccharine, will be a big sweetener in 2012, she says. And not just in food but also in cough remedies and over-the-counter medicines. Mushrooms, too, fit the bill for something good-tasting that isn't so bad for you, she says, and are even, possibly, immunity boosters. Calling edible fungi "the next big thing in functional foods," Mack says to look out for a wide variety, including pricey truffles.

Buying local
The Year of the Dragon will also be the year of the locavore, says Salzman, locavorism being the pursuit of locally produced food.

"It's really going through the stratosphere," she says. "Local pies, local cheeses, the more local the better." Why? "It's a sense of control," says Salzman. The idea that we know the place a food is made, so it's therefore extra consumable. Which would make food grown in your backyard extra desirable, right? If only we weren't stuck in a cloud ...

Cloud life 
"I think we're going to live our lives in a cloud," says Salzman. That cloud involves us, our mobile digital accessories ("Everybody's going to have a tablet. You might even have more than one," says Salzman) and a sense that we'd like to think we want to see more people in person, but really don't want to. When you're living "in 140 characters or less," social intimacy -- meaning actual face-to-face conversation -- "just feels like more work," says Salzman. "We'd rather read it than say it."

Darren MichaelsStrong women, slacker men?

Inhaling
No, not that kind. The kind of inhaling that allows you to smell your flavors instead of eating them. If you're into that.

Mack points to Le Whif, a calorie-free "chocolate experience," and Breathable Foods' AeroShot Pure Energy, an inhaler that contains a mix of caffeine and B vitamins.

A new American Dream
The old vision of success is changing, says Salzman. It's going to mean not everyone will think college is the way to get there, especially considering the crippling impact of student loans.

"The student loan crisis is going to be the biggest crisis in the world," she says. This gives old benchmarks -- earning a degree, buying a home -- a new context. Salzman says many more people will be asking if they really need those thing to get by, or can they achieve whatever it is they consider their dreams in other ways.

Marriage
College isn't the only part of American life in flux. Marriage is also being seen more as an option than a necessity, says Mack.

"The reason why women are opting out of marriage is because they are gaining in education," she says, with women earning the most bachelor's and master's degrees. "Motherhood is now untethered from marriage." Just look at a Judd Apatow movie, she says: Men are portrayed as slackers while women are the ones in control.

Self-diagnosis, alternative treatment
Eating all that locally produced food, tapping away on our tablets also has us gaining weight and getting sick.

Tim Farrell/The Star-LedgerA Diane von Furstenberg crystal beaded flapper dress from 2003. Will Depression chic make a return?

"We're more inside, more than ever before," says Salzman. And usually not on the treadmill. "We're exercising our jaws talking about exercise." So we're also apt to be Googling our ailments.

"If you suffer from epilepsy, if you suffer from a sprained wrist, you can do all of the medical research," says Salzman. "It's made us much more willing to embrace (the) homeopathic," says Salzman.

Catering to maturity
"Someone who's 65 may live two, three, four decades after that," says Mack. "The sky's the limit for them, as long as they can afford it."

So it makes sense that technology should adjust to maturity instead of just paying lip service to youth, what Mack calls "retooling for an aging world." GlassesOff is a good example, she says. The forthcoming digital program aims to actually treat the blurry vision of presbyopia via the screens that would normally strain our eyes.

Indulgence penalties
Mack says it's telling that in Hungary and Denmark there have been taxes on foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as on soda and alcohol, with legislation pending in Australia and the U.K. Americans have balked at attempts to control their diets and snacking, but expect more policing in the world at large, she says.

"You can't ignore our growing waistlines," says Mack. "Which can be a huge cost on the government."

Depression chic
Faced with a lack of leisure funds, grads saddled with overwhelming loan payments and many others with little extra wiggle room in their budgets will be "curating their closets," says Salzman. This means there will be a reliance on classic wardrobe staples and a pushback against buying novelties, she says. At the same time, "Depression chic" will become popular, she says. That doesn't mean wearing torn-up burlap sacks, but it does involve flapper dresses and "loud, exciting scarves."

Cathy MillerWe might get taxed on junk food, but we'll want to reach for a sweet reward every now and then.

Small delights
Even though we know we have to cut down (and so do companies like Kraft that will start selling a five-pack of gum for 50 cents) we're also "fatigued by all these austerity measures," says Mack. Sick of saving, we'll want to indulge in small ways.

The evidence is there, she says, noting that nail polish sales were up 54 percent this year. And even if we're not polish users, instead of paying for a gourmet meal we might just buy the ingredients to make it at home, she says.

Follow Amy Kuperinsky on Twitter @AmyKup

© 2012 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

A prediction for 2012: A very large percentage of the juicier predictions you’ve already read for the coming year will turn out to be wrong

Business stories to watch in 2012


By Steven Syre |  GLOBE COLUMNIST     JANUARY 03, 2012


A prediction for 2012: A very large percentage of the juicier predictions you’ve already read for the coming year will turn out to be wrong.


Good predictions and forecasts come with details and take risks by seeing something other than more of the same ahead. They are incredibly hard to get right with any regularity, the reason I stay away from the prognostication business.


But it isn’t so hard to put your finger on things that will be worth watching and figure out how to track those developments as they unfold in 2012. At the start of a new year, lots of big-picture issues and smaller stories close to home have my attention.




Start with the broad economy of 2012, the ultimate big-picture unknown. The US economy has started to recover only to stall out - twice! - since the official end of the recession in 2009. We begin this year with several months of real momentum that clearly represent a third opportunity to get on the track of a true recovery. Will it work this time?


Economists are especially reluctant to say. One reason: Europe remains a crisis waiting to happen and it could change everything. But no one can even guess how it will play out in 2012.


So, the US consensus forecast is positive but drab. Economists generally expect slow growth that will not be strong enough to move the unemployment needle very far. Many expect the current pace of growth to slow. Some worry that election-year politics - often a stimulating factor - could actually increase uncertainty and indecision, becoming an economic wet blanket.


All of this is possible, but it is important to point out that the economic herd has missed almost every turn in the recent past. Most economists expected steady improvement at the start of 2011 and did not forecast America’s summer stall. Then many feared a double-dip recession or, more commonly, forecast a muddle ahead, failing to anticipate the strong momentum of the final four months of the year.


A few simple things will tell you a lot about the direction of the economy this year. For one, the four-week moving average of new unemployment claims is one of the most reliable indicators of the short-term future. That number has been shrinking lately, and more progress early in 2012 would be unambiguous good news.


Clear progress in Europe would give America’s economy a real boost. The United States can manage a recession in Europe, but all bets are off in a real financial crisis.


Finally, the price of gasoline - something we see and pay every week - is also an important influence on consumer confidence and could hurt momentum this year. Every time gas prices jump, consumers pull in their horns. Prices at the pump have been steady, but expensive oil approaching or exceeding the $100-per-barrel level poses a threat.


Another development worth watching: how the state’s most important industry works and gets paid. I’m talking about health care changes.


Doctors and hospitals are not just making billing changes. They are reshaping entire organizations in ways that will affect health care and the economy for years to come. Big changes took place last year, and more substantial steps are in store in 2012.


Expect more mergers and consolidation of health services into giant medical networks reacting to pressures to cut costs and accept more financial risk.


One last thing to watch: New products and services from companies in Massachusetts. That covers a lot of territory, but I’m especially interested in Vertex Pharmaceuticals and its new treatment for cystic fibrosis.


Vertex launched its closely followed hepatitis C treatment in 2011 and hopes to win approval for its Kalydeco treatment for cystic fibrosis this year. The drug is on track for a decision by regulators this spring.


Kalydeco would treat a relatively small percentage of patients with cystic fibrosis. But it is the first drug that attacks the underlying defect in the genetic disease and could lead to other treatments that help more people. The drug’s success would be a commercial hit for Vertex and change the way we treat a deadly disease.


Happy New Year. It’s going to be busy in 2012.


SOURCE: BOSTON CAPITAL http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/01/03/business-stories-watch/3sRwBmqZikWhNBi8LKGmSK/story.html

Predicting the New Big Wave

Surf legend's legacy will live on


One of surfing's greatest legends passed away last week. He wasn't known for the typical achieve-ments like so many others our sport has champion-ed. He didn't make his mark discovering some new, unexplored surf break. He didn't ride the biggest waves or perfect some new maneuver. He didn't win a world title. Yet, his influence was felt around the world.


Sean Collins, husband, father and surfer, was the founder and creator of Surfline, a wave forecasting company that was the granddaddy of all future forecasting sites. Collins' passion for surfing led him to pursue the study of waves and swells to better predict when and where the best waves would be.


In its infancy, Surfline was a service designed for the telephone. I vividly remember the old phone charge service that was once considered state-of-the-art wave forecasting. Living outside of Baltimore at the time, I would call in for a recorded wave report and plan my day accordingly. While primitive by today's standards, it was still enough of a heads up for me to manage to make it over to the beach in time for a late morning session.


Over the years, I watched with avid interest as Surfline grew into an Internet based forecasting tool. As Collins shared his knowledge with the world I quickly became a fervent disciple. Even later, when I lived within five miles of the beach, it still was an inestimable advantage to know in advance what the waves were forecast to be like a day or two in the future.


It was especially true for those of us who lived on the East Coast. With swells of much shorter duration than are typically enjoyed in other areas of the world, it is extremely hard to accurately predict exactly when and where our quick moving storms will produce the desired results. As Surfline's expertise increased, many surfers on the East Coast particularly benefited by scoring more surfable swells.


Collins' mostly self-taught skills, while somewhat proprietary, paved the way for many more sources to follow in his footsteps and use much of the technology that he developed. Today, none of us would start a surf trip or plan a major excursion without consulting the long range forecasts. Every major surf contest relies heavily on the swell forecasts, predominately from Surfline.


Last fall's Quiksilver Pro is a stellar example, and perhaps the pinnacle of Collins' forecasting skill. Seemingly against all odds, Collins accurately predicted well over a year in advance a ten-day window, in what was really up to that point an obscure surf break outside New York City, when there would be very good to epic waves for a duration long enough to hold a world class surf contest featuring the top surfers in the world. Most of us thought he was crazy. Quiksilver bet over a million dollars on his knowledge. And his brilliance became evident during the contest with some of the best surf of the whole tour showcased on live feed all over the world.


For us east coasters, it was validation of who and what was being finally proven to the whole surfing world. For the 2011 World Tour, it was the capstone of an exciting year. And for Sean Collins, unbeknownst to us, it was his swan song; his departing gift to the surfing world.


But for many of us, Collins will continue to give for years to come through his technology which he left behind. He has an enduring legacy that will be remembered by many of us every time we plan our next session.


R.I.P. Sean Collins, 1952-2011.


Roy Harrell is available for private or group surf lessons. Call 302 537 6287 or email roywow@aol.com.


Source: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20120103/DW03/201030325/Surf-legend-s-legacy-will-live-on?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CDelaware%20Wave%7Cs

Sean Collins, Who Used Science to Help Surfers, Dies at 59

By CHRIS DIXON

Published: December 31, 2011

photo by Jason Murray

Sean Collins in 2002 in Huntington Beach, Calif. His business, Surfline, provided up-to-date information on surf conditions

Sean Collins, who created Surfline.com, whose forecasts and real-time views of beaches reach 1.5 million surfers a week, died on Monday in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 59.

While playing tennis, he had a heart attack, his business partner, David Gilovich, said.

Before Surfline, dedicated surfers would hang out on the beach for weeks at a time, dropping everything, including work and relationships, when the surf came up. Mr. Collins’s forecasts meant surfers could use their time more efficiently. It allowed them to continue to chase swells through what he termed “the responsible years,” and gave rise to a breed of plugged-in surfers who make their living through high-dollar contests or by chasing monster swells.

“Sean was a renaissance man,” said Bill Sharp, director of the annual Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards and a longtime colleague. “He could see something that was needed long before anyone else. From looking at an isobar line on a weather chart to having a sense of how people would want their information delivered decades down the line. He was surfing’s Leonardo da Vinci.”

Mr. Collins’s forecasting prowess was self-taught. He scrupulously logged daily surf conditions, studied obscure National Weather Service archives and used a short-wave fax machine — stringing antenna wire across Baja cactus plants — to receive weather reports from New Zealand and understand how Antarctic storms could send waves across the Pacific. His predictions astonished friends.

He joined a telephone forecast venture called Surfline in 1984, and two years later began a rival service called Wavetrak. He bought out Surfline in 1990 and five years later started Surfline.com.

Forecasts were refined with the help of Jon Chrostowski, a NASA scientist who hacked into data streams broadcast by weather buoys, and William C. O’Reilly, an oceanographer with the Scripps Institute who modeled the interaction of waves with the sea floor.

Mr. Collins was born on April 8, 1952, in Pasadena, Calif. He sailed the coasts of California and Baja, Mexico, with his father, a Navy lieutenant, and developed into a talented competitive surfer, following waves to Hawaii and financing his surf addiction through magazine photography.

He explored the Mexican outback extensively. “We’d spend months camping out and waiting for swells,” he said in an interview in 2002. “You can’t do that and live a normal kind of mainstream life.”

He is survived by his wife, Daren; two sons, Tyler and A. J.; his mother, Gloria; and his siblings, Whitney Jr., Gloria Burdette and Robert.

The way Mr. Collins’s friends and colleagues relied on his forecasts could be stressful — particularly when he became a go-to forecaster for California lifeguards, Navy Seals, the Coast Guard and major surf competitions.

In 2008, Mr. Collins phoned his friend Mike Parsons to demand that he and five friends abort an attempt on Cortes Bank during one of the worst Pacific storms on record. But Mr. Parsons had already left on an expedition that found waves a hundred feet high.

“Sean worried about us,” Mr. Parsons said. “If you were a loyal friend, there was just an incredibly strong bond. I learned so much about the ocean from him, but he was the authority. Now when we launch a mission, we’ll just sort of never know for sure.”

A version of this article appeared in print on January 1, 2012, on page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Sean Collins, 59, Forecaster; Used Science to Help Surfers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/sports/sean-collins-trusted-forecaster-for-surfers-dies-at-59.html

Traditional Computers on the Decline in 2011

IT Trends | Research

By David Nagel
04/14/11

Adoption of iPads and other alternative computing devices has started cutting into PC sales. Traditional computers--desktops, workstations, laptops, and netbooks--saw a steep decline in the first quarter of 2011 in the United States, with sluggish shipments worldwide as well, according to a new preliminary report released this week by market research firm Gartner.

More Than Just a Seasonal Weakness?
The report, "Preliminary PC Market Results, Worldwide, 1Q11," found that worldwide shipments of traditional PCs declined in the first three months of 2011 by 1.1 percent, bucking an earlier positive forecast of 3 percent growth for the quarter. And while the first quarter is typically a weak one for PC sales, the dip in 2011 may be more than just a seasonal blip.

"Weak demand for consumer PCs was the biggest inhibitor of growth," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement released to coincide with the findings. "Low prices for consumer PCs, which had long stimulated growth, no longer attracted buyers. Instead, consumers turned their attention to media tablets and other consumer electronics. With the launch of the iPad 2 in February, more consumers either switched to buying an alternative device, or simply held back from buying PCs. We're investigating whether this trend is likely to have a long-term effect on the PC market."

Had it not been for stronger sales in professional markets, driven by ongoing replacement cycles, the worldwide slump would have been even deeper, according to the researchers.

Overall worldwide PC shipments were 84.25 million for the quarter compared with 85.18 million in the same period in 2010.






By comparison, for calendar year 2011, Gartner forecast worldwide tablet sales at 67.78 million--still a fraction of traditional PC sales, but an increasingly significant fraction. Overall volume of worldwide tablet purchases will grow substantially over the next five years, from just 17.61 million in 2010 to 294.09 million in 2015, as we reported earlier this week.

In the United States, the decline in traditional PC sales was much more drastic, with an overall 6.1 percent slip. According to Gartner, the slump in the United States was attributable to the hype around handheld tablets like the iPad, as well as budget constraints in the public sector.

"As with the worldwide market, the U.S. PC market was affected by the hype surrounding media tablets. This was the third consecutive quarter of mobile PC shipment declines in the U.S.," Kitagawa said. "The U.S. professional PC market showed steady growth across all sectors. However, the public sector showed more than the normal seasonal weakness due to budgetary issues."

Total shipments of desktops, workstations, laptops, and netbooks in the United States in the first quarter were off by more than a million--16.11 million in Q1 2011 compared with 17.16 million in Q1 2010.

Aside from Japan, which experienced major catastrophes late in the first quarter, the United States seemed to experience the worst decline in PC sales. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) declined 2.8 percent to 26.1 million units; Latin America increased 5.4 percent to 8.1 million units; and Asia/Pacific increased 4.1 percent to 28.2 million units shipped in the quarter. Japan's decline in the quarter was 13.1 percent to 4 million units.

Top Manufacturers Decline; Apple, Toshiba, Lenovo Rise
In the United States, Apple and Toshiba both saw positive growth. Apple cracked the top 5 with domestic unit sales of 1.49 million in the first quarter (not counting its iOS devices), up 18.9 percent over 2010 sales. The company ended the quarter with a 9.3 percent market share, up two points from Q1 2010.

No. 4 manufacturer Toshiba also saw double-digit growth domestically, with 1.67 million units, up 10.9 percent from Q1 2010's shipments. The company ended the quarter with a 10.4 percent market share, up 1.6 points from Q1 2010.

On the down side, No. 2 Dell and No. 3 Acer both slipped by double-digit percentages, while No. 1 HP slipped by single digits, managing to increase its overall market share in the process. Dell fell 12.1 percent in Q1 2011 with 3.59 million units sold in the United States, losing 1.5 points in market share and ending at 22.3 percent. Acer's sales fell 24.9 percent to 1.83 million units in the quarter, ending with an 11.3 percent market share, down from a 14.2 percent share in Q1 2010.

HP held on to the top slot in the United States and worldwide. In the United States, HP saw sales of 4.21 million units, a decline of 3.5 percent, while its market share rose a slight 0.7 points to 26.2 percent. However, HP's worldwide market share of 17.6 percent was off 0.4 points from the previous quarter on global unit shipments of 14.8 million, down 3.4 percent from Q1 2010.

Likewise, Acer and Dell declined on the worldwide PC scene. No. 2 Acer dropped 12.2 percent to 10.89 million units, ending with a 12.9 percent market share (compared with 14.6 in Q1 2010). No. 3 Dell's unit shipments fell a more modest 2.2 percent to 9.98 million. The company's market share was off just 0.1 points, ending at 11.9 percent.

The winners in global unit sales were No. 4 Lenovo and No. 5 Toshiba. (Apple didn't make the top 5 in global PC shipments.) Lenovo was up 16.6 percent with 8.14 million units and a 9.7 percent share of the market, up 1.5 points over Q1 2010. Toshiba climbed 5.3 percent to 4.82 million units in the quarter and a market share of 5.7 percent, up 0.3 points over Q1 2010.

The full report, "Preliminary PC Market Results, Worldwide, 1Q11," is available now. Details can be found here.


About the Author

David Nagel is the executive producer for 1105 Media's online K-12 and higher education publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com. He can now be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/THEJournalDave (K-12) or http://twitter.com/CampusTechDave (higher education).

SOURCE: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2011/04/14/Traditional-Computers-on-the-Decline-in-2011.aspx?p=1

Not ready for IPV6

Most Enterprise Networks Not Ready for IPv6
By Leila Meyer
05/17/11

An informal online survey conducted by Ipswitch Inc.'s Network Management Division revealed that 88 percent of enterprise networks are not fully ready for the change to IPv6, and 66.1 percent are less than 20 percent ready.

The poll asked, "What percentage of your network infrastructure is IPv6 ready?" At the time of publishing, the results breakdown was:
66.1 percent of respondents were 0 percent to 20 percent ready;
9.6 percent were 20 percent to 40 percent ready;
6.5 percent were 40 percent to 60 percent ready;
5.8 percent were 60 percent to 80 percent ready; and
12 percent were 80 percent to 100 percent ready.

Campus Technology's own informal poll in the first quarter of 2011 showed that 47 percent of participants believed they would experience "major disruptions" as a result of the shift to IPv6. Forty percent indicated they are or will be "fully prepared" by the time they will be affected by the switchover. The remainder said some non-critical systems may not be prepared in time.

These statistics are noteworthy because the last remaining blocks of IPv4 addresses have all been allocated and will soon run out, necessitating the switch to IPv6 network addressing, which has a billion-trillion times more capacity than IPv4.

While many computers and other networked devices have been IPv6-ready for several years, most enterprises still have legacy IPv4 equipment that must be upgraded; or, alternatively, organizations must incorporate technology to bridge the communications gap between their IPv4 and IPv6 devices. Failure to do so could result in a loss of Internet connectivity or presence.

To help promote the switch to IPv6, the Internet Society is holding World IPv6 Day June 8, 2011, when Facebook, Google, and Yahoo will work with the Internet Society and major content delivery networks, Akamai and Limelight Networks to conduct the first global-scale trial of IPv6. For 24 hours, participants will enable IPv6 on their main services



he goal of the event is to encourage Internet service providers, hardware manufacturers, operating system vendors, and other Web companies to prepare for the transition. The test will also help participating companies identify problems so they can correct them before their IPv6 services finally go live.

Participants in IPv6 day said they believe that their networks are ready and estimated that only 0.05 percent of customers will experience problems connecting through IPv6 on World IPv6 Day owing to network equipment that is incorrectly configured or not operating properly.

Other Web site owners and network operators are welcome to participate in World IPv6 Day. More information is available here.

New Study Reveals Student Perspective on Technology Use in Higher Education

By Kanoe Namahoe
10/03/11

College students believe that technology has a direct impact on their academic performance, according to findings from a new student-driven study out of the Lone Star College System. In “The National Lone Star Report on Aligning Technology with Student Success,” 78 percent of college students reported that their grades and learning experience are improved when technology is effectively and consistently implemented on their campus.

The Report is a compilation of survey data collected from more than 6,000 students on 36 campuses across the country. Focused exclusively on two-year colleges, the study also included analysis of more than 1.5 million helpdesk inquiries from 55 institutions. The student-led initiative is the first of its kind, according to LSCS vice chancellor and CIO Shah Ardalan.

"'The National Lone Star Report on Aligning Technology with Student Success' will allow college administrators access to the collective voice of American students and it provides invaluable data on students' needs, desires and dreams, and how technology can help them achieve these goals," Ardalan said in a prepared statement.

Key findings in the report reflect students' desire for reliable, effective technology that is used consistently by instructors:
Colleges should not implement technology for the sake of technology;
When technology is deployed, make sure that it works; and
Faculty members need to know how to use the technology and they should actually use it.

While students believe technology is integral to their learning success, the report showed that they do not simply want more technology--they want the right technology. Students want systems and applications that serve their needs, support learning, and work properly "without getting in the way." Students expressed frustration with non-working technologies that waste time and money.

"Technology, when effectively used, strongly impact[s] my ability to learn," one respondent noted. "However, when it is not used properly or [is used] inefficiently it is very much a distraction and annoyance."

The National Lone Star Report was based on interviews and surveys from students at rural and metro-area community college campuses throughout the United States. The report will be produced annually and is available for free download to participating colleges. For additional information, visit lonestar.edu/nationalstudentreport.

About the Author

Kanoe Namahoe is the e-content producer for 1105 Media's Education Group. She can be reached at knamahoe@1105media.com.