2012 Prediction: HOB, Inc.

Prediction for the Year 2012 and Beyond

Each user will have more and more different devices to work with, so that the users have their data everywhere and anytime. The users will want to access their applications from different devices and over different networks, so smartphones and tablets will be interesting for many people, as well as thin clients. Some of these new devices will replace desktops or laptops. The data and applications, of course, are accessed over the public Internet, which will become increasingly faster and more reliable. In corporate buildings, devices such as thin clients or printers will no longer be connected to the LAN over cable; instead, WiFi will be used. Using WiFi instead of cable is fast enough for end user devices, and WiFi is much cheaper than cabling.

The servers where the data and applications reside are becoming fewer but more powerful, so this means cost savings. What was a supercomputer in the past will now be a server for the applications accessed by laptops, thin clients, tablets or smartphones. Using less but more efficient servers also helps achieve Green-IT, which saves energy both for the servers directly, as well as that used for cooling them, thus helping the environment. These servers can also be referred to as the "cloud". Cloud services, where the name "cloud" is given to what we have long known as accessible servers, are becoming ubiquitous and manifold. Even small enterprises and freelance organizations, such as those of doctors, dentists or lawyers, will start to deploy their own personal clouds, which means their computer systems will be accessible from their owners over the public Internet.

I also predict that private persons, with the required know-how and computer knowledge, will deploy their computers in the public Internet, so that they will be able to access their private data and applications everywhere and anytime over the public Internet. Users wish to have their virtual desktop always with them, and the virtual desktop is composed of applications running on servers which have the capacity to store all the necessary data. When all the data are stored on servers, in the cloud, synchronization will no longer be necessary. In the past, synchronization was always inconvenient and time-consuming for the users.

Security, which means encrypted communication, is increasingly important and more widely used, since people have realized that without encryption, their data can be misused. Criminal forces will continue to hack networks and devices, but the protection against these criminals will become more sophisticated. Persons with the required know-how do not fear these criminals, but persons without computer knowledge will continue to be the victims of these criminals. Young people have grown up with computers as their toys, so the population, over time, will become increasingly computer savvy. More access to information, whether public or private, means more productivity, less problems in real life and a better lifestyle.