Next in Tech

New technologies cycle through visibility phases, surfacing when breakthroughs are made, and quantum computing has just had a number. Still, the buzziness of the previous year seems to have faded. Is quantum getting boring? Analyst Gabriella Brown joins host Eric Hanselman to discuss why it’s not. New records have been set in qubit counts, and practical applications are flowering. Growing numbers of tools make it easier to put quantum to work, and more businesses are harnessing its possibilities.

As the New Year dawns, there’s a lot to consider in tech. Simon Robinson kicks off the year with a look at the trends reports for the coming year with host Eric Hanselman. This year the coverage has expanded even further than the traditional 451 Research Previews with the larger TMT view, looking at cloud, multichannel and broadband, fintech, customer experience, security, IoT, data, AI and analytics, workforce productivity, media, DevOps, cloud-native and more. And yes, even the metaverse!

The holiday season has most of us thinking of customer experience. Still, businesses have to expand their thinking to fully engage not only consumers but also the employees who are interacting with them. Research director Sheryl Kingstone returns to discuss how this season has progressed and look at what’s needed to make service a path to a better brand reputation. “Emotion is the currency of experience,” and businesses must embrace all available channels, including the metaverse.

The pandemic has made us all supply chain specialists as we worked to find things in a time of constraint. Eric Johnson, a Senior technology editor at the Journal of Commerce, joins host Eric Hanselman to talk about technology in the logistics industry and what’s changing in this complex market. Much like the ecosystems around the cloud, there’s a Cambrian explosion of companies working to address logistics complexity. Check out the TMP Tech conference: https://events.joc.com/tpmtech/

Many discussions around modern infrastructure pit cloud and datacenter choices against each other. Research directors Melanie Posey and Dan Thompson return to the podcast to sort out best execution venue, workload repatriation and the realities of modern infrastructure. Spoiler alert – it’s all of the above and organizations have to build skills first to understand what’s working for them and what they’re capable of putting to work and then build teams to run it well.

Every four years, teams from around the globe compete together in the World Cup of soccer (football outside of the states), and beyond the hype and controversy of this year’s matches, there’s a lot of tech. Analyst Richard Berndes joins host Eric Hanselman to talk about the game, media markets, and the tech impacts on the game. There’s a new ball with IoT capabilities that further shift decisions from referees to technology and soccer pitches that can pull the turf underground for protection. 

Remote work and workplace upheaval have increased the focus and dependence on digital devices. Analyst Abby Balint joins host Eric Hanselman to dig into the data about those devices that the Digital Endpoint Tracker is made of. With a panel of over 10,000 respondents, it offers insights not only into device use, but also macroeconomic perspectives. Spending is riding through economic uncertainty and ESG concerns about device manufacturers are driving preferences. spglobal.com/451-research

Technology pervades many aspects of life, and ensuring that we’re building it with inclusivity in mind is critical. Sonal Sakhardande, Technology Group Director for Markit Digital, joins host Eric Hanselman to explore considerations to expand inclusivity in technology teams and the things they develop. While building diverse teams can go a long way to bringing wider viewpoints to a project, the team and their efforts have to be supported by their organizations. A superpower or two might help!

The 2023 edition of the Technology, Media, and Telecom Big Picture report is out, and it covers key topics in payments and FinTech, data centers, telco and edge, and the metaverse. Analysts Seth Shafer and Michail Chandakas join host Eric Hanselman to talk about the streaming media aspects of the report, looking at how the market is maturing amid changing competitive pressures. Check out the report here: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/campaigns/the-big-picture

The 27th meeting of the UN Climate Conference is coming up in the second week of November, and the activities happening in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will affect technology use and policy. Thomas Yagel, Chief Operating Officer for Sustainable1, joins host Eric Hanselman to discuss what we can expect from COP27 and what to look out for around the conference. Technology plays a role not only in emissions but can also raise visibility into many of the issues on the table.