It's easy to pick the best products of 2010. Hindsight is 20/20. And there are plenty of lists out there already, including several lists right here at eWEEK. But what about picking the top products for the New Year? Here, eWEEK's Eric Lundquist takes a long gaze into the technology crystal ball to see what products will shape the IT world in 2011. Some of the examples include trends that have already started, such as cloud computing, ubiquitous virtualization in the data center, and the growing need for mobility in the enterprise, especially as tablets become more popular with executives and employees alike. While those seem obvious, what about the growing need for true unified communications? Is 2011 the time when your business gets rid of Microsoft PowerPoint for good? Then there is always the ongoing need for security, especially in the wake of what happened to Gawker and how WikiLeaks showed that any sensitive data can end up on the Web. So, how does your list compare to Lundquist's product predictions? Read on to find out and remember to keep score.
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10 Enterprise Products That Will Shape IT in 2011
by Eric Lundquist
The Corporate Cloud
Never has so much hype been thrown at such an amorphous product. Cloud computing makes sense for the enterprise but it needs to be secure, private, compliant and easy to deploy. The cloud also needs to be able to refresh with new applications. That cloud needs to appear in 2011.
The Mobile Enterprise
Everyone is on the move, but all that employee mobility has resulted in employees and customers drowning in e-mail, endless conference calls and corporate applications still rooted in the past. What 2011 needs is new, easy to share methods of communications, as well as corporate structures designed for mobility.
Tablets in Pinstripes
Tablet hardware has outpaced the tablet software. Enterprise tablet applications will be a big deal in 2011.
Corporate Mobile Sandbox
Smartphones are the hottest technology product available right now. But you want a smartphone that has all your corporate applications in a virtual, protected space.
PowerPoint Replacement
Death by PowerPoint is a well known corporate torture device. In 2011, we need new ways and new applications to present information in a streamlined, easy to understand way.
The Social Executive's Best Friend
Call this Facebook for the corporate set. In 2011, we need a simple, easy to use, but robust tool for employees and executives to manage and measure all their social networking communications.
Corporate Secure Vault
You want to share your communications. You don't want to get—new word here—WikiLeaked. What is needed is an easy to use, easy to manage secure content management system.
Really Unified Communications
Voice over IP, video conferencing, social networking and, yes, even e-mail all under one corporate umbrella.
Green Is the New Black
Remember the green movement? 2011 is the year to measure, manage and use all your resources in an efficient, environmentally friendly way.
True Virtualization
Tie all those virtual server, client, storage and networking islands into one virtual space. And don't forget those virtual business applications.
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It's easy to pick the best products of 2010. Hindsight is 20/20. And there are plenty of lists out there already, including several lists right here at eWEEK. But what about picking the top products for the New Year? Here, eWEEK's Eric Lundquist takes a long gaze into the technology crystal ball to see what products will shape the IT world in 2011. Some of the examples include trends that have already started, such as cloud computing, ubiquitous virtualization in the data center, and the growing need for mobility in the enterprise, especially as tablets become more popular with executives and employees alike. While those seem obvious, what about the growing need for true unified communications? Is 2011 the time when your business gets rid of Microsoft PowerPoint for good? Then there is always the ongoing need for security, especially in the wake of what happened to Gawker and how WikiLeaks showed that any sensitive data can end up on the Web. So, how does your list compare to Lundquist's product predictions? Read on to find out and remember to keep score.