Understanding the New Information Technologies

THE EVOLUTION OF IT

• The impact of Internet standards on information systems architecture
• Speed, connectivity and reactivity characterize the new digital economy in a complex world
• New challenges for IT managers

THE TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF WORKSTATIONS AND SERVERS

• The amazing evolution of micro-electronics : towards nanoelectronics
• Widespread availability of robust computing power
• Continuously growing data storage capabilities, and centralized paradigms
• Mobile workstations
• The Microsoft product line: Windows everywhere, or alternative solutions?
• The increasing popularity of freeware (Open Source software), mainly in the context of infrastructure

NETWORKS

• The evolution of LANs and WANs
• Voice over IP and IP telephony: explosive growth
• The breakthrough of wireless technology and computer/telephone devices: new applications
• New generations of 2.5G, 3G and 4G mobile networks: a look at what's happening elsewhere
• Wireless networks: the Wi-Fi and WiMAX revolution
• ASDL and cable: the extraordinary development of a technology that opens the door to a convergence of television, telephony and the Internet
• The cellular explosion: new applications domains (images, television)

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT IN 2008

• The open source model: a breath of fresh air, but caution is advised
• From client/server to the rich client
• The N-tier architecture and the organization of an information system around a Web address
• The tremendous breakthrough of object-oriented approaches
• The Java galaxy: still not ready for the challenges of tomorrow
• .NET: Microsoft's ambitions for the server market
• New distributed data processing techniques with Web services: towards service oriented architecture (SOA): the critical importance of mastering the business rules
• The problem of business modeling, in the light of weak understanding on the part of users
• Business processes and dedicated tools: BPMN, UML, etc.: most importantly, an approach centered on the user
• Coming soon: application development without IT professionals: a reality now on the horizon?

THE INTRANET, INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES

• Intranets, groupware and Electronic Document Management (EDM) coupling production applications with workflow applications
• Knowledge management
• Development of customized portals: the arrival of dynamic, customizable solutions
• Content management systems (CMS): techniques for managing the publication of information
• Indexing and search servers: towards response engines
• New forms of collaboration in the enterprise
• Office applications: new paradigms, remotely hosted solutions

SECURITY

• The global security of information systems
• Risks involved: security flaws and problematic behaviour
• Viruses, worms, spam and spyware
• New and serious security concerns: rootkits and botnets

E-COMMERCE

• Prerequisites: confidentiality, transactional integrity and authentication: PKI
• The impact of the Internet on B2B and B2C e-commerce
• Beyond the help desk, tools for building customer loyalty: customer relationship management (CRM) and its extension for the internet (IRM)
• Using Supply Chain Management (SCM) to reconfigure the logistic chain: the advent of RFID
• The rise of online purchasing with e-procurement
• Disappointing results for horizontal and vertical marketplaces
• The phenomenon of sales between individuals (C to C e-commerce)

MANAGING THE ENTERPRISE VIA  ITS INFORMATION  SYSTEM

• From business intelligence (BI) to decision support systems
• CRM at the center of business processes: an approach based above all on financial considerations
• BPM for the modeling of business processes
• Modeling languages: a non-technical, but essential, approach
• The typology and potential benefits of the major analysis and decision support tools: query tools, multidimensional analysis (hypercubes) and data mining: from decision support to BPM
• The difficult problem of enterprise data and process repositories

ADMINISTERING SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS

• Primary responsibilities for system administrators (configuration management, remote software distribution, security management, performance analysis…)
• Defining levels of service for users ( SLA)
• Centralizing system administration
• The disaster recovery plan: the real questions

IMPACT OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON OCCUPATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS

• New methodologies for information systems governance: ITIL, Cobit, etc.
• The linked evolution of technologies and occupations
• The rapid obsolescence of skills and retraining problems
• User and client-based orientation
• The evolution of professions, and the decline of occupations that are close to the hardware
• The impact on training