Change happens. With technology, change seems to be accelerating, or at least the waves of change seem to come more frequently.
I feel I've developed a certain rhythm fkinlane-productions2es. Part of this rhythm is a regular evaluation of where I stand, a sort of agile career methodology. I'm in one of those evaluation periods right now.
What wave is next?
In January 2007 I found myself jumping on the social media wave, in which I still ride to some degree.
In Spring of 2008 I found myself jumping on the cloud computing wave, in which I'm still totally drowning in.
What wave is next? Mobile? Big Data? Semantics?
There are many things I consider when evaluating what I will focus my attention on. I want to make sure I will be investing in learning that will benefit my professional development.
One thing I look for are constants within all the waves I ride. One constant I've seen between Social media and Cloud Computing are APIs. If you take a deeper look:
- Social Media - YouTube API and Flickr API are at the heart of the social media movement.
- Social Networking - Facebook API Platform and the Twitter API play a big part in the growth and adoption of social networking.
- Cloud Computing - The two undisputed kings of cloud computing, Amazon Web Services and Google both depend on API to deliver their services
APIs are playing a monumental role in delivering the Internet today. What is next?
- Mobile - APIs make mobile applications possible and help drive innovation in the mobile space.
- Big Data - APIs allow data to be gathered, shared, and available for visualizations and mashups.
- Semantics - APIs will drive discovery and meaning around links, documents, and other objects.
Pick most any area of business today and you can see APIs either driving or emerging as a major player within that industry.
Change is upon me again, whatever the next wave is, I feel I'm secure in focusing on APIs.
I am leaving a position as a Director of Technology with a focus on cloud computing to a position as an API Evangelist and with a focus on the business of APIs.
This is where I feel future of cloud computing is, as well as many other sectors of our society, throughout business, education, government and much more.
Change is exciting. More to come.
