The technology trends for 2011 are pretty similar to 2010, with a few new twists. Real-time analytics, context-aware computing, identity management, and worker-instigated innovation represent new twists. Everything else — cloud computing, SaaS, virtualization, mobility, social media — have been covered in wiredFINANCE and will crop up again in the coming year.

To see what state government CIOs think will be important in 2011, check here. Some of it, like ERP, seems far behind the curve.

Top banking managers have their own list of tech trends here. Most is business service management (BSM), something every CFO should keep in mind. BSM tools monitor critical service activities — usually customer and financial processes — in real time and fire off alerts when something appears to be going amiss. Below are WiredFINANCE’s top trends.

Real-time analytics tops our list. Typical business and financial querying and reporting is like watching business through the rear-view mirror; you only see what has already passed. Real-time analytics capture and respond to data as it arrives from numerous systems, such as POS terminals.

Real-time analytics often fall into the category of context-aware systems. Increasingly, everything in business is being automated, instrumented, metered, and measured. RFID is just one example of the instrumentation that is spreading throughout the business. Real-time analytics enables you to do something when it matters, whether preventing fraud, improving customer service, or seizing a sudden opportunity.

Identity management is essential for automated information systems to operate smoothly and securely. Only recently, however, have organizations recognized the overhead and risks involved in managing worker identities. Workers, it turns out, have multiple identities for the different roles they play in the organization. Each role may have different access rights and authority. An organization with a few thousand employees could be forced to manage many more thousands of identities. Identity management systems enable you to create, change, and purge identities quickly and efficiently.

Worker-instigated innovation is being spurred by the growth of smartphones. Gartner expects that 25 percent of all new business applications by 2014 will be built by what it refers to as citizen developers. These are employees with a smartphones and enough computer savvy to quickly cobble together innovative applications in response to situations they encounter. The smartphone vendors encourage this by providing tools and sample code.

Given that innovation has emerged as the latest top management fad, worker-instigated innovation is a good thing. However, such innovation bypasses normal business control processes. For finance, there must be a dozen situations in which somebody would like to say, “We have an app for that.” You want to encourage that while keeping tabs on what is going on.

Of course, there are many more technologies to watch in the coming year. Private clouds will take on increasing importance as companies streamline IT delivery. Data reduction will grow in importance as organizations wrestle with the expense and risks of stored data. And social media will become an accepted piece of business strategy. Overall, watch 2011 to further drive the digital transformation of business.

Best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous New Year. ###