GartnerGroup's Business Technology Journal Reports on the 10 Technologies to Watch in 1999
STAMFORD, CT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 20, 1999--In its annual special report from Business Technology Journal, Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT - news) reported today the 10 technologies to watch in 1999. This research report, written for business executives, recommends how to evaluate the adoption of new technologies.
''Some of the technologies that may be part of your business strategy planning today, such as extranets, are in the early maturity phase.'' says Jackie Fenn, vice president and research director, GartnerGroup. ''Others, such as avatars, e-books and wearable computers, are in the introduction phase and will take time to develop into more valuable tools.''
These technologies go beyond changing the way companies run internally, they are changing markets, products, business relationships and personal lives.
What Are the 10 Technologies to Watch in 1999?
According to GartnerGroup's Business Technology Journal, here are the 10 technologies to watch in 1999 and beyond:
xDSL (Generic Digital Subscriber Line) and Cable Modems - Emerging communications methods that reduce bandwidth constraints, promising speeds of up to 200 times today's conventional data communications methods (i.e., analog modems and ISDN). GartnerGroup analysts predict that rollout of these technologies will be slower than customers like, based on service availability. But xDSL technology and cable modems will be key to expanding the virtual enterprise, and all forms of remote business communication, from telecommuting to consumer use of the Web. Influence will be felt in the next two to five years.
Natural Language Information Retrieval - This is one of the next steps in search capabilities - adding intelligence to today's relatively primitive process of matching keywords in the bodies of texts or within databases. Strategically, companies that sell research and other forms of knowledge will be hard-pressed to operate without these tools in the future. GartnerGroup analysts believe that higher education and professional services firms will implement natural language retrieval in the next two years.
Extranets - An extranet is an intranet that may be accessed by trusted external parties. When used to manage product flow, it can offer competitive advances such as reduced inventory, customized products, shorter fulfillment cycles and increased business partner loyalty. According to GartnerGroup, extranets will be adopted by banking, technology, consumer packaged goods and telecommunications companies in the next two years.
Speech Recognition - A computer's ability to recognize a user's speech and translate it into commands or text. Speech recognition is used for command and control, dictation and as a replacement for touch tone or human operators in telephone transactions. According to Gartner Group, healthcare,. telecommunications and financial services companies will be integrating speech recognition in the next two years.
IP Telephony - IP telephony is the transfer of traditional phone calls off the circuit-switched networks used today and onto the public Internet. While IP telephony can save companies money, the quality and timeliness of the call remains inferior. Higher education, technology and telecommunications will adopt IP telephony in the next two years for calls where quality is not critical, particularly facsimile, according to GartnerGroup.
Internet Chat - This is real-time, text-based chat sessions among anyone attached to a corporate intranet or the World Wide Web. Although online services are popularizing the technology, bundling into major groupware frameworks (such as Lotus Notes) during the next two years will drive corporations to adopt Internet chat more quickly. GartnerGroup analysts predict that chat will become integral in consumers' online shopping experiences, among other applications.
Biometrics - In computing, a system's ability to recognize an individual according to one or more unique physiological characteristics, like a fingerprint, facial features, voice or even the iris of an eye. Government agencies and financial services firms will be the leading adopters of biometrics in the next two years, according to GartnerGroup.
Electronic Books - A computer device roughly the size of a paperback book that can be used to download and read novels, textbooks and other publications off the Internet or a CD-ROM. Businesses should be prepared for the chance that consumer demand will move away from PC-based delivery and onto devices like E-books. Investors might also come to expect stock quotes and order confirmations from mass access devices like wireless PDAs, or conventional newspapers may be replaced by Web-based versions accessible via PDA or other devices, GartnerGroup suggests.
Wearable Computers - A belt-mounted computer with a wrist-worn keyboard or a microphone to input voice commands, and a head-mounted display that covers one eye. Wearable computers will be monitored closely by the manufacturing industry in the next two years, according to GartnerGroup forecasts, and then find utility in a number of other industries thereafter.
Avatars - Three-dimensional, computerized representations of people used on the World Wide Web. Avatars are popular today in very sophisticated 3-D chat rooms, where participants can select a persona to represent them as they walk through the room and interact with other avatars. Commercial development appears to be years away, but vendors are currently developing applications for avatars for online sales and customer service, according to GartnerGroup.
Related research and emerging technologies will be featured at the upcoming Dataquest Predicts 99 and GartnerGroup Spring Symposium/ITxpo in San Diego, March 22-24. The conference's Emerging Technologies Pavilion, and its integrated technology track, will feature the latest emerging technologies and research on these areas. For more information, go to www.gartner.com.
About GartnerGroup
As the world's leading authority on IT, GartnerGroup provides clients with a wide range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement, research, decision support, analysis and consulting. Founded in 1979, with headquarters in Stamford, Conn., GartnerGroup is at the center of a global community serving fortune 1000 clients from 80 locations worldwide. GartnerGroup's unique capabilities and resources help bring clarity to the direction of the world's hottest and most volatile industry. Additional information about the company is available on the World Wide Web at www.gartner.com.
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Contact:
Jean Tom Cindy Morgan-Olson
GartnerGroup, Inc. TSI (for GartnerGroup)
203-316-3272 212-320-2230
jean.tom@gartner.com colson@tsipr.com
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