Don Philmlee

CIO Insight did 13 surveys in 2006 to project their 30 most important technology trends in 2007.  I like seeing the trend where the division between IT and business will diminish.  Part of the survey says that 72% of IT executives agree that most of their company’s IT professionals understand its business strategy.  That seems a bit high by my experience, but IT needs to become part of the woodwork of a business like accounting or ops.  The following is their list of 30 items: 

Strategy: Seeking the Execution Edge
1. Process improvement will be job No. 1
2. IT works on closing the sale
3. Companies make their Web sites more engaging
4. Customer service gets a tune-up
5. Companies put their mounds of data to work
6. Information governance gains momentum
7. CIOs strive to be strategic

Management: The Metamorphosis is Underway
8. The division between IT and business will diminish
9. CIO compensation keeps climbing
10. IT organizations will keep growing
11. CIOs struggle to find business-savvy technologists
12. Outsourcing changes IT management
13. Outsourcing growth slows
14. Offshoring shifts from India
15. Companies invest in IT leadership
16. Demonstrating ROI will remain a struggle

Security and Risk: The Defense Never Rests
17. No abatement of IT security threats
18. Security concerns turn users away from Windows
19. Security morphs into risk management
20. Compliance achieves what government intended
21. Compliance spurs financial process improvement

Technology:  Building the Bridge to Tomorrow’s Technologies
22. The move to a new architecture marches on
23. Enterprise applications start losing their luster
24. Data quality demands attention
25. IT reluctantly embraces Web 2.0
26. IT innovation loses traction
27. Business process management services and software will frustrate users
28. For business intelligence, the best is yet to come
29. IT organizations start going green
30. Dissatisfaction with vendors is on the rise