In planning for 2009, I'm looking at where we've been so far in 2008. Most of the trends I thought would happen in bigger ways in 2008 have gone pretty much according to the industry's plans. There's more virtualization. People are taking cloud computing and web applications out of the labs and into the office. We're seeing more mobile computing and projects like co-working spaces, and the like.

At the same time, reporting on larger IT projects is slowing down. New tech isn't exactly breaking through the clutter. We're looking at ways to cut costs in our data center, and chips and boards are getting faster here and there, but nothing's really poised to change the paradigm (yet). One thing I'm watching: grid computing (finally!) inside the firewall in lieu of external cloud computing, seems like it's edging closer, but not JUST yet.

So I keep my head in the labs. I look at fringe technologies, and things like how social software traits continue to embed in our internal collaboration technology. I look at the potential for new mobile applications carrying out 10 year old promises. I see lighter weight database technology and even more flexible web technology (like Google Chrome) leading us towards even more innovations in web computing and mass customization. And I see how services blend back into products and back again.

For now, I'll keep digging out new things. But let me ask YOU this: what's new in your sector? What are you finding that might pop in 2009? Share your ideas with the ITEC community, and maybe we'll all get ahead of the curve in reporting Second Circle Technologies to you. Shoot me an email with your ideas: [email protected]