News > Business

By Staff, ZDNet Asia
Friday, March 14, 2008 06:39 PM

Camille Coles, regional marketing manager, Asia-Pacific, SAS Institute

	Camille Coles, SAS Institute
	The concept of "Best of Breed products" is overrated as piecing together the best car parts does not mean you will have a smooth running vehicle.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Coles: Consolidation has changed the dynamics of the business intelligence space globally and in Asia-Pacific. It will be interesting to see how long it will take before customers are impacted by product integration from such acquisitions.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
The pace at which the Asia-Pacific region is growing and projected to grow independent of the U.S. economy suggests a recession is not a near horizon issue. We have grown exponentially with our customers and partners who have experienced a similar pattern of sustained growth.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
1) Next-generation business intelligence software (as opposed to traditional query and reporting tools) that create true enterprise intelligence will grow in demand. An intelligent enterprise platform (combining BI, data integration, intelligence storage and analytics) is anticipated to be a growing priority for many organizations as they strive to surface accurate operational data and then accelerate the speed in which it is optimized to enable innovation.

2) Green technologies. We will see strong demand from companies for technologies that help them address sustainability, compliance and regulatory issues.

3) RFID. Although not new, we will see wider adoption across industries outside of retail and security. Watch out for new and interesting applications.

What was the most overrated technology product in 2007?
The concept of "Best of Breed products" is overrated as piecing together the best car parts does not mean you will have a smooth running vehicle.

Name one prediction that the analysts got wrong or right.
What they got right: BI market consolidation leaving SAS as the largest independent BI provider.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
The addition of advanced analytics to the ability to monitor diverse security events relevant to an enterprise is a key development. Many organizations will need both monitoring and analytics elements to efficiently utilize security information, and effectively detect and respond to an increasing variety of threats across a large, complex computing environment

Social networking sites...
... Are as time consuming as face-to-face networking. Why? Users are given instant access to much larger networks. It is great for keeping in touch with busy people, though, in other geographies. Social networking is rapidly becoming ubiquitous, both online and through mobile channels. Savvy marketers are already using social networks to optimize their marketing efforts through the provision of relevant content, platform and applications.

The debate on open source is...
... Not limited to technology, it is a culture propelling innovation in business models.

Most IT heads often forget to...
... Plan for the ongoing cost of governance.

Work-life balance is...
... In the eye of the beholder.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Shifting to become a holistic division enabling business transformation rather than a siloed department reacting to wish lists.

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