Prediction for 2014: Mobile apps will be the most revolutionary technology

Some technologies simply come and go, but others have a way of changing the way people live, and research indicates mobile devices are such game-changers. Forrester Research Inc. recently released a report, "Top Technology Trends to Watch in 2014 to 2016." In this podcast, principal analyst Brian Hopkins discusses that report, which identified technologies that will be the most revolutionary in the next couple of years.

Brian Hopkins,

Forrester Research

principal analyst

The list, derived from responses to an annual survey of enterprise architects, placed big data for real-time analytics as the second most revolutionary technology to be on the lookout for. The place marked a rise from third place last year.

"I think that what is really going on there is an increased emphasis around doing analytics not on the historical information, picking through the past trying to try to predict the future, but more around having the ability to peel the data as it's generated in whatever format it's generated, and to use that data more quickly to make decisions in a situation about the best way to take an action and engage customers," Hopkins said.

Another emerging trend climbing the list, from eighth to fourth, iscustomer intelligence and analytics platforms. In approximately 15- to 20-year cycles, Hopkins said, successful companies will reinvent themselves to learn more about their customers. Organizations are realizing that to better understand and engage with customers, they need better platforms.

Also moving in the revolutionary technology rankings, mobile platforms tumbled from second place last year, to fifth this year. The downward movement doesn't mean mobile technologies should be ignored. Far from it, in fact.

Mobile applications came in as the most revolutionary technology in the coming years. "Everybody is suddenly realizing that the platform is not the differentiator, it's the apps," Hopkins said. "If you look at the United Nations website, there are approximately 2 billion mobile broadband data subscriptions worldwide."

What really creates value, Hopkins said, is how the applications are deployed. "You can't possibly expect to achieve differentiation by forcing innovation into the hardware [and] into the platform." Customers, he said, are expecting to interact via their mobile devices whenever, and wherever, they go.

Listen to the podcast for the complete discussion on revolutionary technology trends in 2014 and beyond.