Gartner Hype Cycle Explained: Know the Stages of Innovation
Gartner Hype Cycle Explained Learn about the stages of emerging technologies and how to use the Gartner Hype Cycle to make informed decisions. Dive into the Gartner Hype Cycle for emerging technologies and stay ahead of the game and understand the future of any technology.
What is Gartner Hype Cycle?
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a graphical representation of the maturity and adoption of new technologies and applications. It helps organizations understand or check the hype and potential of new technologies by plotting them on a curve that shows the stages of innovation.
The Gartner hype cycle was invented by Gartner. They are helping Enterprises enable and understand new technology. It becomes effortless to understand the stages of each and every recent technology coming up into the market is it just a hike or something it can change the world.
The Five Stages of the Hype Cycle
| No. | Stage | Description |
| 1 | Technology Trigger | This is the primary stage where the new technology gets reported in the media. |
| 2 | Peak of Inflated Expectations | This is the stage where the hype of the technology is at its highest peak and organizations are willing to invest their time and money in it. |
| 3 | Trough of Disillusionment | Interest wanes as experiments and implementations fail to deliver the value they promised to the users of the new technology. This is the stage where most of the technology just shuts down. |
| 4 | Slope of Enlightenment | The technology becomes mature and understood from this many new versions or variants get produced by the providers. |
| 5 | Plateau of Productivity | This is the last stage where the rest of technology survives and gets used by people for their well-being and development. |
Technology Trigger
This is the initial stage of technology, where the all-new technology gets the attention of people and gets mentioned on media platforms. We can understand this as the “First Focus” it basically where is the starting point of any new technology which catches the attention of people.
Examples of Technology Trigger
- The time when the first mobile was launched
- Drone launched
- Cloud Computing
- Artificial Intelligence
- Metaverse
- natural language processing (NLP)
Peak of Inflated Expectations
During this stage, the hype around the technology is at its highest, and many where many organizations start investing in it for getting into the trend and gain a good amount of popularity and money.
Examples of Peak of Inflated Expectations
- Release of Google Glasses
- Rise of Blockchain Technology
Trough of Disillusionment
As the technology fails to live up to its initial hype, interest, and investment in it wane causing the technology it dies or fails. But some of the technology pass through this stage and steps ahead to the next stage.
Examples of the Peak of Inflated Expectations
- Facebook now Meta
- 3D printing technology
- Autonomous vehicles
Slope of Enlightenment
As the technology matures and its capabilities become better understood by the people, practical applications of the technology keep on improving and success stories start to emerge.
Examples of Slope of Enlightenment
- The development of cloud computing
- The emergence of big data and analytics
- The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT)
Plateau of Productivity
This is the final stage where the technology is widely adopted by people and its benefits are fully realized and used in different industries for their well being and development.
Examples of Plateau of Productivity
- Adoption of e-commerce
- Social Media now used for multiple purposes
- GPS technology now used for navigation
Benefits of Using the Hype Cycle:
- Helps organizations identify emerging technologies that align with their business strategy and goals.
- Provides a framework for evaluating and prioritizing investments in new technologies without wasting time.
- Assists in managing expectations and avoiding disappointment by understanding the stages a technology goes through before reaching maturity of time.
- Helps to identify potential risks and challenges connected with technology.
Examples of Technologies on the Hype Cycle:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently at the Peak of Inflated Expectations, as the technology is generating a lot of hype but has not yet fully met the high expectations set for it. Businesses are still not able to implement into the picture.
Virtual Reality (VR) is on the Trough of Disillusionment, as the technology has failed to live up to the initial hype, and investment in it has dropped. But still, there is a probability that it will pass this stage and continue to move to the Slope of enlightenment.
Blockchain technology is on the Slope of Enlightenment, as the technology is maturing and practical applications are starting to emerge. It is been used in many industries such as banking and in securing digital art ownership and more.
Case Study: let’s look at Gartner Hype Cycle real life based example.
LOOPT Corporation is a technology business that evaluates new technologies using the Gartner Hype Cycle. They came across an article describing the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the manufacturing business in the spring of 2021 and decided to invest and work on it.
Peak of Inflated Expectations: They discovered that many other firms were also investing in IoT, and the excitement around it was considerable. They felt that IoT will change factory operations.
Trough of Disillusionment: Well, they found significant problems, such as the high costs of IoT devices and sensors, the complexity of integrating them into existing systems, and the difficulty in evaluating and understanding the data created by IoT devices. As a result, their initial investment did not yield the expected returns.
Slope of Enlightenment: Determined to make IoT work for their business, they invested in building a customized software solution to analyze and understand IoT device data. They also sought collaboration with other businesses in order to exchange best practices and develop new solutions.
Productivity Peak: Their IoT solution is now extensively used in the manufacturing business and is regarded as best-in-class. They continue to spend on IoT research and development in order to stay ahead of the competition.
By using the Gartner Hype Cycle, LOOPT Corporation was able to identify the potential of IoT but also avoid disappointment by identifying the potential risks and challenges associated with the technology. So by using the Gartner Hype Cycle they are able to identify most of the things.
More to read:
How businesses can use Virtual Reality marketing to Grow
What is the future of Social Media
FAQ related to Gartner Hype Cycle
What innovation trend will occur in 2023?
There can be a probability that AI, Augmented reality, and XR will get into the hype cycle as in 2023 people are getting more engaged in Web3 w the new age of technology.
Is the Gartner hype cycle useful?
Gartner hype cycle is a framework that can help us identify whether the new technology is hype or if will it survive in the long run and help improve our life.
Who created the Hype Cycle?
Gartner created the hype cycle framework in 1995.
How many phases of Hype Cycle are there?
There are five phases of the Gartner hype cycle and each cycle represents the technology improvement and adoption of it by the market.
Conclusion
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a powerful framework for businesses that want to evaluate the maturity and acceptance of new technologies and make educated investment decisions. Organizations may manage expectations and minimize disappointment by determining the stage of a technology, while also identifying the risks and obstacles connected with the technology.
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