Results

CIO Update has released its fourth quarter economic outlook survey, which indicates the end of the IT recession. The report reveals that 52 percent of organizations expect to increase their IT operating budgets in 2010, compared to only 11% in 2009. A separate study released by Forester says “The technology downturn of 2008 and 2009 is unofficially over. All the pieces are in place for a 2010 tech spending rebound.”

As businesses increase their IT firepower, it will be easy for companies to lose competitive advantages to more tech-savvy players. Those that don’t want to be left behind should look at last year’s emerging technologies to see which have become mainstream. Here are four that have lived up to their early promise.

Cloud Computing

Thanks to the explosion of cloud computing, savvy companies are using remote storage, high-speed data lines and wireless networks to access and manage data from anywhere. This has eliminated the expense of replicating and maintaining resources in multiple locations. In addition, technical professionals are doing less hardware and software management, and more strategic thinking about the best way to ‘work in the cloud.’ For more information about Cloud Computing, read Five Reasons for Cloud Computing’s Popularity.

Managed Services

Managed Service Providers have become a popular choice for growing companies seeking a cost-effective model for managing and protecting their networks, systems and applications. MSPs handle IT services for companies via the web and monitor and maintain IT infrastructure proactively. Because they use the internet to manage the majority of a company’s IT needs, businesses no longer have to deal with the expense and disruption of frequent office visits.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Companies that have taken advantage of the Software as a Service, or “SaaS” model, have abandoned the traditional IT headaches of maintenance, updates and version control. By ‘renting’ web-based applications, these things are automated, saving time and money. The beauty of SaaS is that users simply access the application. The provider is responsible for hosting and all other IT worries.

Virtualization

Businesses that have adopted virtualization are seeing a reduction in operating costs and an increase in security. Virtualization can be delivered in different ways:

• Server virtualization consolidates under-utilized servers to fewer machines.

• Desktop virtualization delivers operating system (OS) software from a centralized server.

• Application virtualization delivers specific software applications to users who see the application as running on their desktop.

All forms of virtualization reduce hardware and administration costs and streamline maintenance and upgrades. More and more servers and applications are being maintained in central locations and delivered to end users using the virtualization model.

To learn more about these technologies and others to watch in 2010, contact Data Balance at 727.532.0603.