2012 predictions
So it’s that time of year when I start thinking about what’s going to be the next big thing in the next year in terms of corporate IT and technology in general.
Cloud Computing
As in my 2011 predictions article, cloud computing will continue to be a hot topic within IT. Cloud computing will go through a stage of maturity next year and the definition will be widely accepted as:
“it requires systems running in a simplified data center architecture, operated largely by automated policies, not human hands. The architecture allows end users to self-provision their own servers and has a billing mechanism that allows the provider to charge only for the resource used, not for the cost of the lifetime software license.“.
Don’t just add the word cloud to existing offerings as several of the big providers have attempted to do (called cloud washing).
I believe this concept will also move towards cloud-based applications, allowing SMEs to use enterprise-class applications at a fraction of the cost.
The main challenge for large enterprise providers is how they set up billing for these types of services and they will have to rethink existing processor-based and other cost models.
business applications
Again, this was an area that I touched on last year and it has not moved as fast as I thought it would, however there are signs that this market is picking up. The getapp.com site currently has over 4,580 apps available for download in many areas of business.
This area needs to mature before it becomes mainstream, but there are signs that this is happening and the trajectory is heading in the right direction.
Social Networks/Collaboration
The only area where I see a massive move in the next year is the area of social media and collaboration. In the past, collaboration would have been treated separately, but until the social media push, collaboration would have been 1:1.
With social media, collaboration becomes many-2-many or any other combination you can think of.
It seems strange that this hasn’t happened before, as a corporation has to be the best example of a social network out there.
The tools are already there and a good example is yammer.com. It has aspects of Twitter and Facebook and is integrated into corporate infrastructures for security purposes, but it is cloud-based.
These tools lend themselves to being a department; business; interesting group; Project or any other configuration that adapts to the problem/need you currently have and facilitates interaction and inclusion in communication.
Convert from Can’t do to Can do
Probably my most radical prediction for the coming year is the transformation of the IT department from a can’t-do mentality to a can-do mentality.
It’s interesting to see that all the predictions I have so far may be related to things that make self-service easier for the end user, not the central IT department.
The central department is seen by many as an obstacle to the organization and as a result is often overlooked.
IT management needs to change the culture and start getting things done. One of the most annoying things business users experience is the SLA. Service Level Agreement these were initially put in place to encourage requests to be served within a time period that can be measured for performance what has happened over time is that the SLA has become how long it will take , not in the original intention.
This transformation will not happen overnight, it will take years. If we don’t start this movement now, we may end all IT roles moving to the cloud!
Well that’s it for my predictions for 2012, it looks like we have an interesting year ahead of us.