I am currently engaged with mentoring some young technology start-up businesses.  What strikes me about these companies is that they spend the majority of their time utilising their skills to deliver their product.  They are agile, knowledgeable and very hungry to succeed and to create.

When do they find time to “learn” new emerging technologies?  They seem to have learnt it “on the fly” as they go along – such is the pace of technology at the moment.  With cloud computing, mobile computing and social media now becoming the current “bubble”, I realised just how easy it is for anyone in IT to become out of date quite rapidly.

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There is an old saying which says “use it or lose it” and I will add “use it, grow it and keep your eyes open to what is happening around you, always”.   In this process we must keep learning.

Stopping learning, even for a few months or a whole year can make a huge difference.  It is like being having a motor car – use it regularly and it works fine (sure it may need a little maintenance), but leave it parked outside for a year unused and the battery will be flat, tires a bit softer, oil a bit tired, the gas will have lost its vitality etc.  (Of course it does depend on where you park it – it may not even be there when you return!)

Learning is the same, especially in IT (and most other professions – like medicine, law, tax etc) we need to keep up to date, and even a few months “out of the game” will render us less sharp, and left with an uphill battle if we want to regain our status.

If “IT” is our career, then we need to learn on a regular basis, via personal learning, e-learning, books, attending classes, or as I am realising, by working with very sharp entrepreneurs who are leveraging the three technology areas listed above without even breaking into a sweat.

What are your experiences of keeping yourself in the best shape you can?

It’s difficult to imagine a world more technologically advanced than the one we live in today. Until we remember saying the same thing ten—even five—years ago. Up until recently, limited bandwidth prevented most people from enjoying streaming videos, but today a system that can’t handle streaming content is considered obsolete. Technology can and does change that quickly.

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The technology we might see in the next ten years is mostly speculation, so for now we’ll focus on what to expect in 2012.

Mobile solutions for the mobile worker

We’ve been able to access documents on-the-go for a while, but printing those documents while out of the office has often been a challenge—until now.

“HP’s history of innovation runs deep, and we continue to leverage 1110_SMB_spurl_2012_lazymanchairs601171712352.9254that legacy and build on it for future growth,” said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “While printing in the traditional sense will continue to be integral to what we bring to the world, we are disrupting the market with leading innovations beyond the page as well.”

HP ePrint allows you to email office documents, presentations, and photos directly to HP ePrint-enabled printers—like the HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer—using any device with email capabilities. [1] All HP ePrint-enabled printers have their own email address, so you, your coworkers, or even your clients can email print jobs directly to the printer without installing any drivers or software from across the room to across the country.

Having the ability to work while you’re on the move is a luxury. Having the power to complete that work shouldn’t be. Products like HP’s line of EliteBook Notebook PCs are designed for powerful computing, as well as demanding workstation applications and essential security. You’ll work confidently—and fast—with a mobile workstation that enables your business to work more efficiently.
Store and print—in the cloud

One of the hot topics in the computing world these days is cloud storage. Quite simply, cloud storage allows data to be stored on multiple virtual servers—freeing up the need to have physical storage devices either on- or off-site.

The choice to implement a cloud computing solution is different for every organization. Some important things to consider:

Security measures whether corporate and customer data is secure in the cloud.
Open infrastructure provides a choice in cloud delivery models without adding complexity.
Automation improves the speed and efficiency of your cloud services.1110_SMB_spurl_2012_googlecloudprint777306327656.4817
Resilient technologies meet defined service levels for cloud availability, quality and performance.
Seamless integration combines public and private clouds with traditional delivery to create a unified IT service portfolio.
Cost considerations must be met in order to provide the best return on investment.

With HP ePrint-enabled printers and Google Cloud Print, all you need is the cloud to print—no drivers, no PC connection and no software. [2] Cloud Print is part of HP’s ePrint mobile-printing portfolio, enabling you to print where life and business happen.
Scan more than just flat objects

The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro Multifunction Printer M275 is 1110_SMB_spurl_2012_topshot17557713128.632412HP’s first web-connected color laser multi-function printer with the power to scan 3D objects. These objects can be scanned and used to create unique artwork and presentations. Click here to learn more.

In addition to 3D objects, converting your paper documents into electronic form allows you to store, share, and use them more effectively. Considering document management with
scanners like the HP Scanjet 5590 is just smart business.
Less clutter and higher efficiency

Improvements in technology aren’t all about processor speed and the amount of memory. Computers and peripherals now need fewer cables than ever before, freeing your desktop from clutter so you can get back to business.

Other benefits of an All-in-One (AIO) solution are:

Less packaging = lower shipping costs. With the rise in shipping costs, one of the easiest ways for businesses to save is to ship less. HP AIO PCs ship in a single box, enabling significant cost and time savings. Fewer boxes and cables make it easier for businesses to manage their IT investment.
Higher efficiency = lower energy bills. A typical PC and monitor can use up to 250 watts per day. HP AIO PCs use as little as 34 watts. HP AIO PCs won’t eat up your energy budget like typical PCs, leaving more resources for the things that really matter.
Just one cord to plug in. Traditional PCs require a nest of cables just to get started. Simplify your life with the HP AIO PC’s elegant out-of-the-box experience.

While we couldn’t imagine some of this technology a few years ago, we can certainly understand how to apply it to our daily work lives. Whether it’s printing on-the-go, scanning 3D objects, or implementing an AIO solution, it’s hard to argue that technology is heading in the right direction.
Slate 2.0

Don’t forget about HP’s newest Tablet PC. Ideal for people with jobs that frequently take them away from traditional desks, yet need to remove productive in a familiar Windows environment. Optimized for Windows® 7 Professional, the HP Slate 2 Tablet PC is also intended for those who use custom applications that must operate in a Windows® environment.

Although it may be hard to believe, life support software that allows customers and browsers to chat to each other over the web has actually been around for almost 15 years now. The main difference is the fact that now more companies are using it which has helped raise the profile of live support chat software a great deal as business people are realizing that it is still one of the top tools for communicating with consumers and offering them instant support as well as the satisfaction of knowing they are working with a real agent.

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In fact, live support software is so popular that the US Army even uses a live support chat software device in order to help answer potential recruits’ questions as well as military families that are looking for help with reassignment, deployment, and assistance questions. With this much success backing live support chat software, it should come as little surprise then that there is now a new generation of live support chat software that is slowly rolling out helping to make the software much easier to utilise from a business point of view and much more pleasing to use from a customer’s point of view.

The major problems with live support software right now is that in some instances it still lacks the human touch despite the fact that humans are actually the one’s doing the chatting. This is due to the fact that most companies want to optimise the agents that they hire to staff their live support chat software, therefore they have agents that handle five or more conversations at a time which can lead to inaccuracies in grammar and delayed responses. This can leave some more picky browsers disgruntled with live support software and the entire experience.

However, the new generation of live support chat software aims to solve this by cutting out live agents altogether thereby somewhat making the name ironic, but getting the job done in a much more efficient manner. In the place of live agents on the other side of the live support software is a virtual employer that relies on virtual intelligence to answer questions and get the job done with the programming to make sure that the customer gets perfect grammar every time along with a rapid fast response. Surprisingly enough, this software seems to be catching on as those who use live support chat software with this option seem quite pleased with the results.

From a business point of view, the use of a virtual agent that is able to be programmed to respond like a live human agent is obvious. The average chat over a live support software service will last 18 minutes, out of which five minutes are spent by the customer waiting for the next available representative. However, a virtual agent can respond right away eliminating the need for any wait and allowing the live support chat software to live up to its rep as an instant form of customer service.

Next, continuing the business point of view, bear in mind that you do not have to pay the virtual agent anything for its time, reducing the costs of actual hiring agents to staff your live support software or attempting to man it on your own. For those who receive a high volume of chat requests, this is an excellent choice given the average cost of a chat is considered to be five dollars per session all things considered. Plus, as always, if the virtual agent gets stuck the live chat can be turned over to a real human so that you do have to worry about losing a customer but can easily streamline the live support software service in most cases on your website cheaply and effectively.

HP Tablet PCs are a great way of being able to save and work on your projects. They are able to do more than just one type of input. They have the ability to be two kinds of computers at the same time. This is good for someone who needs to do more than one type of work.

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How one inputs their data into an instrument depends on what they are doing. They may be performing a specific job that requires the use of this type of computer because of its ability to take in data by touch or pen control. Another may need to use a laptop to finish what they are doing. The best option is to have both combined into one object.

The computer can also turn into a laptop. HP Tablet PCs are able to make their screens bend in a way that turns them back to become a platform that you can write on. When the job is done with using the tablet, the user can turn it back into a laptop. Some jobs need a laptop and others need a surface that you can draw or write on. It is nice to have options when using a computer.

The use of the flat drawing board is a function that suits well for art. The artist can use the pen to draw in detail. It also allows them to edit the image as well. This ensures that the project will be at its best when completed. The artwork is then saved on the machine digitally where it can be used for later.

HP Tablet PCs are also light weight. The advantage of having a device that can do more than one thing is having a device that doesn’t weigh like more than one thing. The ability to have two computers in one instrument is a good thing for those who have to carry the item around. A good example of this is a doctor who must walk around the hospital with the computer.

The computer can turn into a laptop with a keyboard and the regular instruments that are used. HP Tablet PCs can also be tablets with the ability to use touch and pen input to manipulate information. The device can adapt to any type of project that it needs to perform. This is good for someone who needs this type of duality in their computer.

The real nice point to being able to have two types of computers is that they are in one device. This helps to reduce the weight and cumbersome problems of having more than one item to deal with. With a computer that can do two things in one also reduces the issue of having too much to carry. Weight can be a very serious issue when you have to carry the item around with you all day like a doctor.

When you look at the computers that you can buy, you have to look at the HP Tablet PCs. They are light weight and very useful with their multiple ways of input. They can be two machines in one. You are able to have two computers in one at the same time. The trick is to be able to have an instrument that can do more than one task.

There is almost an obsessive focus at the supercomputing conference here on reaching exascale computing, a level of computing power that is roughly 1,000 times more powerful than anything that is running today, in this decade.

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In the lives of most people, something that is eight or nine years off may seem like a long time, but at SC11, it feels as if it is just around the corner. Part of the push is coming from the U.S. Department of Energy, which will fund these massive systems. The DOE told the industry this summer that it wants an exascale system delivered in the 2019-2020 timeframe that won’t use more than 20 MW of power. The government has been seeking proposals about how to achieve this.

To put 20 MW of power in perspective, consider the supercomputer that IBM is building for the DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This system will be capable of speeds of 20 petaflops. It will be one of the largest supercomputers in the world as well as one of the most energy efficient. But when it is completely turned on next year, it will still use somewhere in the range of 7 to 8 MW of power, according to IBM. An exascale system has the compute power of 1,000 petaflops. (A petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second.)

“We’re in a power constrained world now,” said Steve Scott, the CTO of Nvidia Corp.’s Telsa business, “where the performance we can get on a chip is constrained not by the number of transistors we can put on a chip, but rather by the power.”

Scott sees x86 computing processing limited by its overhead processes. GPU processors, in contrast, provide throughput with very little overhead, and with less energy per operation.

Nvidia has been building HPC (high-performance computing) systems with its GPUs and CPUs, often enough, from Advanced Micro Devices. This hybrid approach is also moving toward ARM processors, widely used in cell phones, which may lead to an integrated GPU and ARM hybrid processor.

Scott believes the DOE’s 20 MW goal can be achieved by 2022. But if the government’s exascale program comes through with funding, it may enable Nvidia to be more aggressive in circuit and architectural techniques, making it possible to achieve that power level goal by 2019.

Scott said reaching that level of efficiency will require improving power usage by 50 times.

While 20 MW may seem like a lot of power, Scott points out that there are cloud computing facilities that require as much as 100 MW of power.

Rajeeb Hazra, general manager of Technical Computing at Intel, said his company plans to meet the exascale, 20 MW goal by 2018, one year ahead of the U.S. government’s expectation. He made this remark during the announcement of the company’s unveiling of the Knights Corner, its new 50-core processor that’s capable of one teraflop of sustained performance.

While the hardware makers deal with power and performance issues, exascale, as is petaflop computing, is providing HPC users with challenges in scaling codes to fully use these systems.

Before reaching exascale, vendors will produce systems that can scale into the hundreds of petaflops. IBM, for instance, says the new system Blue Gene/Q will be capable of 100 petaflops.

Kim Cupps, the computing division leader and Sequoia project manager at Lawrence Livermore, will be happy with 20 petaflops.

“We’re thrilled to have to have this machine so close to our grasp,” said Cupps, or her 20 petaflop system. “We are going to solve many problems of national importance, ranging from material’s modeling, weapons science, climate change and energy modeling.”

Of IBM’s claim that its system can scale to 100 petaflops, “that’s IBM saying that,” said Cupps, “I’ll vouch for 20.”