Courtesy of FinanceTech, here are five technologies that you must know about.  As Bankers, we cannot survive without understanding the technology that supports our strategies.  Summaries noted below from this excellent article.  The ones to pay attention to, in my humble opinion are Ajax and NAND drives.  The others are more enterprise benefit focussed, but these two exhibit customer benefits.

1. Ajax:  consider online banking running on Ajax.  Instantaneous click response, no page wait times, smooth screen transitions (vs today’s old page goes, and new one loads)
2. NAND: customers will be using very high performance computers, and technologies like NAND coupled with home wireless networks, and high speed network connections, mean they will not tolerate bank sites that do not provide immediate response (refer 1. – Ajax)

5 Technologies You Need to Know About

We’re (FinanceTech) taking our best guess as to which emerging technologies will have the most impact on computing in the very near future. Over the following pages, you’ll read about five specific advances in hardware, software and Internet tech that should be on every technophile’s, Web strategist’s and CTO’s radar.

Highlights of each of the five new technologies:

Ajax

What is it? Ajax is a methodology that fuses existing Web development technologies to produce highly functional and responsive Web sites and services.

Why is it worth watching? Two words: Web services. It is difficult to understate Ajax’s impact on both Web development and Web browsing. As developers have come to embrace it, our expectations of what a Web site can do are undergoing yet another profound shift. Building Web sites that look and feel like desktop applications is one of the key reasons Ajax is amazing. Faster online experiences is another.

Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, Ajax is not a technology per se. Rather, it’s a philosophy. A style. A frame of mind, if you will. The functionality is twofold. By using JavaScript’s client-based functionality and XML’s ability to efficiently and directly deliver specific data, developers have been and will be able to build Web pages with the responsiveness of desktop applications.

Core

What is it? Core is Intel’s highly anticipated upcoming microprocessor architecture.

Why is it worth watching?  Core is worth watching because of the potentially major advances it could make on the all-important performance-per-watt scale.

The key to Core processors is their ability to work together in dual-core and multicore configurations. Ars Technica, which has provided some early, in-depth details on and analysis of the microarchitecture, says, “Core’s performance will scale primarily with increases in the number of cores per die and with the addition of more cache, and secondarily with modest, periodic clock speed increases.” This makes it clear that Core is being built with stackability in mind.

Holographic Storage

What is it? Holographic storage is a technology that uses three-dimensional imaging to dramatically increase storage capacity on a disk. We’re talking 515 gigabits of data per square inch — nearly 10 times today’s standard capacity.

Why is it so important? Think 300GB disks. In addition to promising massive storage capacities by breaking through the density limits of conventional data storage, holographic storage is also capable of producing considerably higher data transfer rates.

NAND Drives

What is it? NAND (which stands for Not And) is a type of flash memory that will be used in solid-state hard drives.

Why is it worth watching? Imagine a solid-state drive that consumes a fraction of the power and weight of a conventional laptop hard disk drive, and won’t break when you drop it.

So what is NAND exactly? It’s one of two different types of flash memory; the other is NOR. NAND memory excels at quickly reading large files of sequential data and has fast erase/write times. Because of this, NAND flash memory is typically used in ultraportable MP3 players and the memory cards found inside digital cameras. NOR (Not Or), on the other hand, excels at reading small amounts of nonsequential data. Because of this, it works best in cell phones and other devices that use small amounts of nonlinear data.

MD-V and VT

What is it? Virtualization is a means of emulating multiple instances of an OS — or multiple operating systems — on a single computer or server.

Why is it so important? For several years now, virtualization has been a hot topic in the enterprise world, allowing for more-secure and open-ended programming and server environments. The technology also has some interesting potential at the consumer level. At either level, the hardware-assisted virtualization being offered by Intel and AMD has the potential to speed up and smooth out software-based virtualization, making the chip makers’ newest battlefield all the more intriguing.

Virtualization becomes even more fascinating and full of potential when you think past the enterprise level to consumer application. In theory, OS emulation could be used to completely separate your work from your personal files and applications. Or it could be used in conjunction with a multicore processor and multiple displays to allow multiple users in the same household to perform multiple tasks on the same PC. Three individual members of a family could theoretically perform three separate actions, such as playing two different games and watching television.