With the world of technology changing rapidly by the day, it can be very hard to keep up. You may purchase a brand new smart phone, and the following day you hear plans for the newest model to be released the following month. It’s a vicious cycle that leaves consumers and businesses wanting the newest and latest products, but can we really ever be fully up-to-date? Check out these 2011 technological trends that can affect your business. Although we know the next best thing will be premiering a few months down the road, these trends are booming and could be vital to your organization.

Shrinking Private Data Centers:
We are beginning to see many IT company departments shrinking their private data centers, moving toward purchasing their apps through third-party companies, which are delivered over the Internet (i.e. Salesforce.com). Companies are also buying bigger server boxes and utilizing virtualization to divide them into as many logical servers as needed. In a few years we may see businesses starting to rent server capacity on demand rather than running their own! Keep an eye out for this – it may apply to your business at some point in time.

IT Consumerization:
IT consumerization was seen in 2010 as well, but it is now becoming an extremely hot trend within businesses. It is only going to continue increasing as more employees choose to use their own tools rather than the one’s provided by their companies. This trend is becoming acceptable due to cost savings promoted by utilizing one’s own tools. With the success of the iPad and Android Tablets, businesses are now allowing employees to use such devices as well as smart phones to access corporate apps and data. If this method isn’t being implemented in your company now – you have our word; it will be in the near future.

Enterprise 2.0 Will Run its Course:
The real value of Web 2.0 for the enterprise was in crowd-sourcing information – which was extremely powerful, allowing businesses to shape ideas and construct valuable insights. Though it has been prevalent in businesses, it is now seen as more of a business plan than anything else. The hype surrounding these Web 2.0 technologies is dying down this year and businesses are going to see a push back in their utilization. – How much hype is your business giving to Web 2.0?

App Stores:
App Stores are the new rage. It is expected that App stores will even take over past tasks of mobile device management tools. The broad expansion of these App stores will include services in cloud technology and technological partnerships offering navigation, mapping, search and social networking. We know you’ve seen Applications becoming heavily utilized within your business – this trend is going to continue picking up speed through the remainder of 2011 into 2012.

Social Media:
Social Media is still an evolving trend, though it has been around for years. With Facebook, Foursquare, Linked In, Twitter and many more options in 2011 – companies should be utilizing these social media outlets to promote and gain brand awareness. Though 2011 may bring about some issues in regards to privacy, social convergence and possibly social analytics, it is still important to see the importance of social media within your business. Continue to keep an eye out for what is yet to come in the realm of social media in 2011.