Business Intelligence

1. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Business Intelligence What is it? Business intelligence encompasses the processes, tools and techniques designed to harvest critical information from the large volumes of data within the organization. This is a long-established concept but what brings it into the foreground as a 2012 trends is the increasing ease of the technology and the degree to which analysis has left the central IT department and moved to the control of revenue generating businesses. The latest versions of Microsoft’s SharePoint and the success of visualization technologies like Tableau enable the businesses demand for analytical insights without the perceived delays associated with formal development methodologies.

2. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Business Intelligence Why is it Important? Business intelligence traditionally affords management the opportunity to gain additional insight into the performance of an organization, and the use of that information to achieve corporate goals. The new technologies accelerate the businesses abilities to take advantage of the vast amounts of data available 104 Flavours Mix Your Own Captures Significant Business Intelligence

3. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Business Intelligence Issues and Risks While there are enormous advantages to businesses, there are some control issues that need to be considered. Probably the most important risks are associated with the quality of the insights. Quality will depend on the integrity of the data and the relevance and accuracy of the analysis. As it becomes easier to put together data from multiple sources, the risks of inappropriate aggregations increases. The lack of common data definitions will easily become an impediment. While business units can now more easily create analyses, multiple analyses may have the unfortunate side effect of increasing the need for reconciliations or rationalizations.

4. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Business Intelligence Issues and Risks Two groups may even use the same data but create analyses that on the surface look inconsistent. The ability to quickly rationalize differences will be important in maintaining trust in the information presented. Data loss and quality entropy become more likely as control of the data moves into the hands of “end-users.” Typically the analysis means the data is held closer to the business and beyond the reach of the central controlled environments. Clumsy analysis based on non-causal relationships that randomly appear relevant may cause incorrect decisions

5. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Security What is it? Security encompasses the protection mechanisms that protect an organization’s IT systems and data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, manipulation or destruction, and enables organisations to take advantage of new technologies responsibly Security touches on all the other trends we are seeing such as cloud computing, virtualization, mobility, social networking, big data, legislative compliance and IT Governance. The security challenge today is how to define and enact effective security in a rapidly changing technical, business and user environment

6. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Security What is it Important? Secure use of personally owned technology for business purposes (i.e. Bring your own device The usage and controls of personally owned devices and enterprise owned devices tend to be very different Enterprise owned devices are configured and maintained to perform business functions, are connected to an enterprise network and typically have controls over their Internet and email usage. Personally owned devices generally lack these kinds of controls.

7. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Security What is it Important? In addition to being used for business purposes, they enable owners to connect to the Internet directly or through a home router and to use their computers for entertainment purposes, such as playing games, watching videos, shopping, and communicating with friends through social media. Owners freely download and install application software and transfer files between external sources. These different usage patterns mean that personally owned devices tend to be exposed to a different mix of computer threats than enterprise owned devices.

8. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Security What is it Important? Security in mobile technology New technologies such as smart phones, tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots and downloadable apps are becoming main stream. However, mobile technology is relatively recent and there has not been time for security to reach a satisfactory level of maturity. Security threats with social engineering Cybercriminals have long used social engineering to deceive users into disclosing personal information or to install software that performs malicious actions in addition to or instead of the software’s desired functions or that exploits vulnerabilities in already installed software

9. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Security What is it Important? Advanced persistent threats This type of computer attack differs from the opportunistic attack for financial, political or other gain that typifies most computer attacks. Some term it to be cyber-espionage. The objective of these attacks is to remain undetected in a system for a lengthy period of time in order to steal an organization’s intellectual property and use it themselves or hand it off to a competitor. Such an attack related to the proposed acquisition of the Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan by Australian company BHP Billiton Ltd. was reported in the December 6, 2011 edition of the Globe and Mail. The operators of these attacks are highly skilled, well organized and well-funded, allegedly by foreign states.

10. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Security What is it Important? Economic constraints of security The economic volatility of the past four years has resulted in budgetary restraint as organizations cut back expenditures and capital investment in almost all areas. Conversely, cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and better funded by organized crime elements or, as recently reported in the media, state funded.

11. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Green Computing What is it? The use of “green initiatives” to make technology more environmentally friendly by reducing power consumption and encouraging responsible disposal/recycling of technology equipment Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT Green computing has been defined as the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems — efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment The goals of green computing are to reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote the effective recycling of the technology at the end of its useful life

12. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Green Computing Why is it Important? Apart from the benefits of consuming less electricity, green computing will establish the organization as environmentally conscious. With the growing trend for companies to embrace sustainable practices, stakeholders will view environmentally conscious business decisions favourably. Green IT can be tied to brand management Business Positives of Adopting Green IT

13. TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS Green Computing Issues and Risks Failure to establish appropriate systems may result in a lack of environment information and a loss of carbon credits The organization may incur more costs due to unfriendly environmental practices which lead to inefficient use of resources Carbon sensitive business partners may avoid the organization’s products or services Green computing initiatives will need to be sustainable in the long term and will require appropriate data measurement and capture systems Failure to address green computing could result in increased costs through carbon taxes and other fines and penalties