Dell report predicts major changes in IT market

Published: 18-Jun-2015

Documents outlines 10 'technological events' that will take place in the next five years, including major changes within the healthcare marketplace

The introduction of software-based data centres, increased use of analytics, predictive security solutions, and an ‘explosion’ of internet-connected devices will revolutionise the IT market over the next few years, according to industry leaders.

Technology giant, Dell, has recently released a new report predicting 10 technological events that it believes will take place in the next five years.

These technologies will be major catalysts for organisations to transform the performance, cost, and agility of their technology infrastructure to meet current and future needs.

The report also outlines how ‘a day in healthcare’ will look in the year 2020, showing IT significantly more central to operations than it currently is.

Some organisations – and even entire industries – will become irrelevant if they are unable to anticipate the changing expectations of customers and users, and the technical innovations that can enable these changing expectations

The 15-page document, entitled Dell Technology Outlook 2015 states: “Technology innovations once took considerable time to become mainstream; they are now doing so at an unprecedented pace.

“These innovations challenge how we work, think, and plan for the future. They also have a fundamental impact on organisations, which today must be more responsive, more efficient, and smarter.

“Some organisations – and even entire industries – will become irrelevant if they are unable to anticipate the changing expectations of customers and users, and the technical innovations that can enable these changing expectations.”

Dell claims that discussions around technology and innovation will fall into four basic categories:

  • Transforming the efficiency of IT: This requires accelerating the transition toward a more-efficient and effective enterprise computing environment through modernisation and an expanded use of virtualisation, convergence and cloud technologies, services, and solutions
  • Connecting the workforce: An increasing number of employees are interacting and processing information through mobile methods, working remotely, and choosing to use their personal devices to connect to corporate IT resources. This is especially true in the healthcare sector, where community health workers are increasingly using IT to record and exchange information
  • Informing decisions: The volume of data is skyrocketing, as is the number and variety of sources generating this data. Organisations will be looking for ways to store, manage and protect information, as well as derive more value from data and gain greater insight from it
  • Protecting the organisation: Successful organisations are able to maintain a continued focus on overcoming evolving security threats and ensuring compliance

The report states: “Ideally, every organisation diligently works to make their technology infrastructure more agile, cost effective, and productive. However, since time, staffing, and funds are often limited, it is essential to understand which investments can produce the greatest value, benefit, and impact.

The paper goes on to make 10 key predictions.

  • 1. By 2020, specialisation via software will beat custom hardware - Software-based data centres (SBDC) and high-velocity cloud (HVC) will emerge
  • 2. By 2017, next-generation non-volatile memory will arrive - Flash will become the new high-performance disk and disk will become the new tape
  • 3. by 2016, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) will shift from solely addressing security to addressing security with usability - Mobile workforces will face fewer interruptions and limitations
  • 4. By 2016, an explosion of internet-connected devices will create new challenges and opportunities - The Internet of Things will bring new connectivity and more-sophisticated management
  • 5. by 2018, user interfaces will evolve to understand more about user content - Personal devices will get smarter and more sensitive
  • 6. By 2020, analytics will evolve from descriptive to predictive to prescriptive faster than anticipated - Analytics will become central to decision making
  • 7. By 2020, the majority of real-time data analytics will be seamlessly integrated into business processes
  • 8. By 2018, security will shift from reactive to predictive and become context aware – Enterprises will be able to predict, and possibly prevent, both external and insider attacks before they happen
  • 9. By 2019, cloud security will be strengthened by homomorphic encryption – Operations will be completed against encrypted data
  • 10. By 2017, there will be a paradigm shift in Data Loss prevention to self-protecting data - Policy and enforcement travel with the data

All of this means significant change for the healthcare sector. In its Predictions in Motion section of the report, A Day in Healthcare 2020 is outlined, showing a very-different setting to that currently.

”Imagine the year is 2020. A once-emerging healthcare provider has become a major global player, in part thanks to a popular health-tracking device it pioneered,” the report states.

It continues: “This provider operates a large, cloud-optimised data centre where the company stores and processes data about itscustomers. In its earlier years, circa 2015, this data centre ran on standard servers, storage devices and networking boxes, each of which were managed using software.

“However in 2020, the provider uses only servers, with storage and networking provided as software functions on servers. These servers feature a new generation of non-volatile memory (NVM) that enables the health-tracking device to access and reliably store data in real time.

“The health tracking device reads a number of bio-indicators for its wearer, including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, activity and even stress, as detected in the wearer’s movements and voice. Device owners can monitor these health signs using simple and approachable graphic representations.

The next five years promise exciting times in human history, holding the potential to usher in new technologies that will make us smarter, more productive, and possibly healthier

“Occasionally, the device sends the wearer’s data, using homomorphic encryption for anonymity, to a cloud-based app so that it can compare the data to other data sets from the larger population. Should the app detect a rise in complaints of flu-like symptoms, for instance, it will correlate that with other external data sources and publish an alert to users to be on the lookout for the specific symptoms.

“Given that the device is aware of each user’s personal health indicators, the app can go a step further and notify users in whom it detects those same symptoms. At that point, the data centre will also analyse users’ allergies, current medications, congenital issues, genetic profile and medical history to develop personalised treatment programmes for each, complete with prescriptions and dosage. A simultaneous business process orders the medicine the device has prescribed and ships it to the users, with tracked delivery.”

In conclusion the report states: “The next five years promise exciting times in human history, holding the potential to usher in new technologies that will make us smarter, more productive, and possibly healthier. At the same time, these technologies will free up more time for us to focus on the aspects of our lives that we find truly meaningful.”

Click here to read the Dell report in full.

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