In a different, though parallel, category, Allianz Group Chief Information Officer Ralf Schneider suggests 2012 will see strides in "in-memory data management, " which will pave the way for real-time enterprise computing.
We are also currently using SAP In-Memory Computing technology to offer our marketing and sales organizations real-time insight into the marketing funnel and sales pipeline.
The duration of the technology wave for real-time analytics may well be infinite in this case, but likely not restricted to one company as with computing speed seems to be commoditized quickly these days.