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'Small is the new big,' says CA CTO
"Miniaturisation, miniaturisation, miniaturisation..."

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Monday 14 November 2005

The CTO of software vendor CA has said the most important technologies in the coming year are going to be among the smallest – citing radio frequency identification (RFID) chips as a particularly important driving force.

Speaking at CA World in Las Vegas, Yogesh Gupta said major developments in "miniaturisation", shrinking form-factor and also the convergence of data and ubiquitous internet access will prove critical in changing the way we use and design technology. Service oriented architecture will also be key, he said.

Gupta said: "The world of technology is changing very, very dramatically", singling out the sometimes controversial, always miniscule RFID chips which allow contactless tracking of goods or personnel.

"The ability to know and to sense where people are and to provide services to them" will prove vital in shaping the tech world over the coming years, he added.

This year, for the first time, all delegate badges at CA World include an in-built RFID chip. It occupies a barely perceptible bump under the surface of the name badge. "You can now actually do things you couldn't before," said Gupta of the ability to passively create and manage the data created by RFID chips, whether it relates to conference delegates or items in a supply chain.

Clearly choosing his example carefully, Gupta said: "We can now tell our delegates 'You attended three sessions on securing your wireless network' and we can send them information about our education programme."

CA is further embracing the emphasis on shrinking form-factor with the planned development of applications for the mobile workforce.

Gupta said smart phones and other handheld devices will continue to steal mindshare and market share from their clunkier desktop and laptop forefathers as data convergence gathers pace.

Don LeClair, senior vice president in the office of the CTO, said that within a couple of years "all end-user access will be wireless" and urged companies to embrace the move and start addressing the challenges it poses.

He said: "Even if you think you don't have wireless access in your enterprise, you probably do", suggesting the greatest threat posed by technologies such as Wi-Fi aren't inherent within the technology but more a factor of companies burying their heads in the sand.

Access controls and effective policy management are far more responsible approaches than ignoring the issue, said LeClair.