Review of 2008
Last year I predicted that we’d see a lot of organizations upgrading to Microsoft Exchange 2007, and this prediction turned out to be true, especially in Q3 and Q4. I predicted wider adoption of Microsoft’s SharePoint, and we did find that lots of companies gave serious consideration to implementing or adopting this enterprise-wide information portal. I also stated that Windows Server 2008 would be released, and so far our experience with this product has been quite positive.

One thing I didn’t predict 12 months ago was the recession, and this of course has had an impact on the IT world. Last year I predicted a big push for unified communications in 2008. This did not materialize. Instead, we saw a lot of companies implementing Exchange’s disaster recover, and high availability features.

I also anticipated that companies would be forced to consider Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007. While this prediction was half true – we did see Office 2007 deployed pretty widely – Vista is so hugely unpopular that organizations are standing still and only deploying XP internally.

Predictions for 2009
Overall my predictions for 2009 are closely tied to the state of the economy, which will likely be challenging throughout the year. Organizations will be hard-pressed to spend money unless it’s absolutely necessary. The “like to” projects will all be placed on the back burner, but possibilities will present themselves to pursue projects that can reduce operational and support costs and improve productivity.

• Investment in Many IT “Hot Topics” May Slow. There are a number of “hot topics” in the IT field right now, such as:
  • Web 2.0 - the changing trends in the use of web technology that have led to web culture communities and hosted services, such as social networking and video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and more
  • Cloud Computing - internet-based use of computer technology (“cloud” is a metaphor for the internet), such as online business applications accessed through a browser
  • Unified Communications - the ability to integrate experiences currently associated with the telephone, such as voice mail, into work done on a computer, such as email
  
  While these may help people save money and lower costs, we expect to see projects in these areas slow down until the economy improves.
• Virtualizaton and Collaboration Tools Will Increase in Popularity. In this difficult economic climate, companies will be looking at ways to lower costs. Because virtualization, the process of taking one physical server and dividing it up into multiple isolated virtual (or “logical”) servers, can provide significant cost reductions (see previous articles here, here and here), we expect to see more organizations utilizing this technology. Likewise, demand for collaboration – tools that enable groups of people to work together in a way that reduces project and travel costs – could increase as well.
• IT Suppliers Will Be Cutting Great Deals. For those who need or want to make an investment in IT infrastructure, 2009 will be an ideal time to get a great deal from all the suppliers. Everyone will have to work harder for business next year, and it will be a buyer’s market.

As we move into 2009 the tone is cautious and restrained. Everyone is waiting and watching. If the new administration can get through the first quarter without any serious missteps – and do a fairly crisp execution on everything they’re promising – confidence in the economy will build. Our economic boat needs a steady hand on the tiller (or at least the appearance of one!).

All told, I anticipate that 2009 will be a challenging year.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us when you need help deploying, optimizing, fixing or upgrading your enterprise IT infrastructure.

Happy holidays and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year from all of us at Coyote Creek Consulting.

Best wishes,

Mike Faster
President

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