48 Hot Technologies Explored

Emerging technologies are the
stuff IT dreams are made of. Their
potential to improve processes,
productivity and profits are a big
part of what makes IT so fascinating. But
CIOs know they can’t just install a new system
and expect instant, automatic results.
That’s why, in CIO Insight’s 2007 Emerging
Technologies Survey, we not only track the
status of 48 potentially important technologies
but we explore the management practices
that help IT executives turn the promise
of those technologies into payoffs. We also
examine the track records of 18 technologies
that appeared in previous years’ emerging
technology surveys and have since reached
an adoption rate of 25 percent or higher.

This year, we found IT executives particularly
intrigued by Web video, a wide variety
of Internet and Web 2.0 technologies, and
virtualization. CIOs hope these technologies
will deliver business value, just as widely
adopted technologies like Web services and
voice over IP (VoIP) have done at most companies.
But to maximize benefit, CIOs and their
employers will have to be agile: They’ll need
resources to investigate and test promising
new technologies, processes to quickly adopt
promising new technologies and cultures
that encourage experimentation. In addition,
CIOs must involve business executives in the
hunt for new technologies and be open to
new ideas, whether those ideas come from IT
professionals, other employees or outside the
company. Whether or not your company is an
early, mainstream or late adopter, such practices
help CIOs get the biggest payoff from
emerging technologies.

In this story:
Research Study: Emerging Technologies
August 2007 Research Slideshow: Emerging Technologies
Methodology: How the Emerging Technologies Survey was Done