Let’s face it: unless you spend all day every day staring at your Twitter feed, chances are you’re constantly scrambling to keep up with the daily barrage of IT and broader technology news. 2015 is already set to continue the explosive innovation in existing trends like the growth of cloud, BYOD, the connected enterprise and more, in addition to bringing newer themes to the forefront like the internet of things, smart data vs. big data, etc. To help make sense of this madness, I rely on some of the best IT and broader technology visionaries, and decided it was time to share my go-to list of Twitter luminaries.
You can see the full list here, which will continue to grow. I’m starting broad to give my top picks for the best overall view of the industry, and will break these posts out down the road to focus on visionaries from different categories like independent software vendors, systems integrators and media and analyst firms.
Read on for the first 10 IT visionaries to follow!
Vala Afshar – @ValaAfshar
Occupation: CMO at Extreme Networks
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/
Why: Vala Afshar is a no-brainer for IT industry insight. He Tweets about any and all IT-related news and frequently provides thought-inducing quotes. If you’re not sold on his industry commentary, Vala is also worth following for his Twitter lists on cloud computing experts, social CIOs and more.
What to Expect: IT thought leadership with a philosophic slant.
Ray Wang – @rwang0
Occupation: Founder and Chairman at Constellation Research
Website: https://www.constellationr.com/users/r-ray-wang
Why: Ray Wang’s Twitter feed verges on impossibly active and his takes on digital disruption and innovation provide an easy way to stay up to date. There are few people out there with as much intimate knowledge of so many companies – especially in the cloud industry – as Ray.
What to Expect: Tweets that begin with “MyPOV” which break big news down into bite sized chunks of opinion.
Laurie McCabe – @lauriemccabe
Occupation: Partner at SMB Group
Website: http://lauriemccabe.com/
Why: Laurie provides some of the best commentary and thought leadership on SMB tech solutions. Laurie is also keyed into larger industry trends, creating a well-rounded Twitter feed.
What to Expect: Great links to the day’s most important IT news, with a strong SMB slant.
Stefan Ried – @StefanRied
Occupation: CTO at Unify
Website: http://www.stefan-ried.de/
Why: Stefan is a vocal and knowledgeable resource for all things “as-a-service” and tweets very regularly. As Forrester’s former VP and Principal Analyst for platform software, cloud, integration and Internet of Things, Stefan has informed opinions that bring together multiple cutting-edge areas of IT and technology.
What to Expect: Frank but useful opinions.
Ed Bott – @edbott
Occupation: Contributor at ZDNet
Website: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/
Why: Ed never skimps on up-to-the minute tech industry news on Microsoft, Google and Apple, but also infuses his Twitter feed with good bit of humor and pop culture.
What to Expect: An insightful, sometimes biting and often humorous take on the tech industry.
Jeff Kaplan – @thinkstrategies
Occupation: Managing Director at THINKstrategies
Website: http://thinkstrategies.com/blog/
Why: Jeff is a vocal and knowledgeable cloud thought leader who frequently gives talks and participates in webinars. When it comes to cloud “as-a-service” expertise, Jeff is your man.
What to Expect: A daily curated “SaaS/Cloud” paper and insight on THINKstrategies’ articles, research and events.
Sramana Mitra – @sramana
Occupation: Founder at One Million by One Million
Website: http://1m1m.sramanamitra.com
Why: Sramana is the expert for technology startups. Her Twitter feed is constantly providing commentary from her in-depth company and executive interviews, both with startups and established players in cloud, big data, mobile social and more.
What to Expect: A steady stream of informative Q&As.
Peter Kafka – @pkafka
Occupation: Senior Editor at Re/code
Website: http://recode.net/author/peter-kafka/
Why: Peter has been around the block when it comes to the tech industry, so his opinion carries quite a bit of weight. His tweets don’t tend to focus on any one subject but run the gamut of tech-related news.
What to Expect: Commentary on the most interesting events of the day.
Paul Greenberg – @pgreenbe
Occupation: CRM and SCRM author, consultant and speaker
Website: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/crm/
What to Expect: Paul is extremely knowledgeable about all things CRM and has written more than a few books on the subject. His Twitter feed does an excellent job putting the right context around day-to-day CRM news to tell the big-picture story of cloud and tech innovation.
What to Expect: A normal cadence of CRM-focused Tweets, with occasional days of intense live-tweeting.
Donald Farmer – @donalddotfarmer
Occupation: Vice President, Innovation and Design at Qlik
Website: http://www.qlik.com/
Why: Donald is extremely in tune with the ISV scene as well as integration and BI-related topics. His Twitter feed features a solid mix of ISV-related news and day-to-day commentary on general tech news (with a few personal Tweets thrown in for good measure).
What to Expect: A curated stream of useful retweets.
Tune in next week for the top IT analysts, and follow me on Twitter at @peterrchase. Who are your top IT visionaries on social? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below!
