This Double Take was originally going to be an analysis of the ongoing battle between AMD and Intel, with the one gaining market share and the other gaining lawsuits. However, I decided to take it a little further and do something I've not had a chance to do for a while - make predictions around where the ICT industry is going.
Now I'm no analyst, but I am a keen market observer, and obviously spend my life reporting on it, so I may be pretty well placed to make accurate predictions, or get egg on my face. Either way, I figure I'll take the risk.
Which brings me neatly to my first prediction for the year - risk. This year is going to be risky for all of those companies which have, as yet, failed to grasp the basics of security: What it is, why you should have it, and - more importantly - where you should have it. As the world becomes increasingly connected, defending an entire network - real, virtual, wired and wireless - is becoming nigh impossible. So let's take that old, and oft used clich'e to heart this year - pick your battles, and make sure you can win them.
Speaking of networks - 2007 will be the year of the network, in my not necessarily humble opinion. Connectivity is it. If you are not connected, you may as well go back to living in a cave and painting on walls. This is the year to make the network work as a competitive differentiator - as opposed to viewing it as that irritating thing that results in miles of cabling and the presence of lots of techies with multiple letters behind their names. Start getting it right now - your competition certainly will be.
If you are not connected, you may as well go back to living in a cave and painting on walls.
Samantha Perry, features editor, ITWeb
Now for the important one. This is so important, in fact, that many vendors have still not grasped it. The tech doesn't matter. Let me repeat that - the tech doesn't matter. I don't care, the CIO doesn't care, and multiple users who rely on technology to do their jobs don't care either. What we don't care about is what tech it is, what name is plastered all over it, what bells and whistles it has, or what "cutting-edge, world-first, unique" item it is. What we do care about is that it works. All the time. With no intervention, sacrificing of virtual lambs, or prayers to the gods of the IT department.
2007 will also be the year of the Internet. Yes, I know - it's been around a while now, and people have made all sorts of predictions about it since the year dot, or the year dot-com if you prefer. This year will be different because we are finally beginning to grasp the Internet is not just for porn and bad Web sites (Flash should be exterminated by the way), that e-commerce can and does work if it's done right, and that there are millions of consumers out there willing to put their bucks online. The Internet is a particularly useful business tool, but the innovation and revolutions it has spawned have always been end-user-driven. Google, MySpace, YouTube, ICQ, Flickr.com, Amazon.com, Skype - need I continue? Anyone who can - off the top of their heads - provide as long a list of successful business-oriented sites/tools will win the gold star of the day. I think I've made my point.
Whether or not the above will prove accurate, 2007 is going to be an interesting year in the tech market. Consolidation is king, the telecommunications market here is opening up, and once again the battles in the trenches for market and mindshare are heating up as spending cycles refresh.
Provided you manage to survive it, I'll see you here at the end of the year for a good gloat, or a good dose of 'okay I got it wrong'. And with that I think I'll curtail my egg-on-face-inducing activities for today.
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