Nucleus Research Announces Annual Technology Predictions for 2009

February 5, 2009

Not a year for the cutting edge. Expect more applications for the cloud, a rethinking of ‘fixed’ operational costs, and a focus on customer retention beyond CRM

BOSTON – January 26, 2009 – Nucleus Research today announced its Top 10 IT Predictions for 2009. The annual report has accurately predicted major IT trends for enterprise end users and vendors for the past five years. Nucleus predictions are based on analysis of both vendors and thousands of corporate end-user case studies. Nucleus predicts the following for 2009:

  1. The Cloud Gains Credibility after seeing a real IT environment emerge in 2008. With the increase of developers, expect to see more applications for the cloud this year.
  2. Companies Rethink “Fixed” Operational Costs such as software license maintenance. CIOs investing in new project will look for opportunities to cut areas such as license maintenance in part from pressures from on-demand pricing and austerity measures throughout the economic downturn.
  3. SAP Faces Growing Challenges. Nucleus expects a continued decline that shows SAP’s vulnerability – not just because of the economy, but because of SAP’s complexity and risk and its key competitors’ efforts to reduce the cost and risk associated with deployments.
  4. No More RFP Fodder. A Nucleus analysis found that projects cancelled in late 2008 were often those bogged down in the traditional RFP process and often didn’t have a clear business objective. Companies relying on an extensive RFP process for IT projects will fall further behind in 2009.
  5. Spending on Customer Retention – Beyond CRM. Nucleus sees continued investment in CRM, even – and perhaps especially – in an economic downturn, as companies look to retain and grow their profitable customers.
  6. Taking the C out of CIO. The CIO has taken many credibility hits over the past few years. As business users become more tech savvy and more directly involved in driving the technology selection process, the question is not whether IT matters, but whether the CIO will.
  7. Business Intelligence (BI) Goes Mainstream. Nucleus is increasingly seeing companies broaden the use of BI in their organizations so that mid- and lower-level managers can make their own decisions.
  8. Shrinking the Blogosphere. While the numbers of blogs, Twitters and Facebook updates skyrocketed in 2008, the relative quality of content did not. In the competitive work environment, heads down is the name of the game and those who are wise won’t raise visibility into their use of company time by twittering or blogging.
  9. Great Time for a Recession. The recession will drive many companies to rethink their PC and server upgrade cycles – putting more pressure on hardware and software builders to give us a compelling reason to upgrade.
  10. No Shiny Objects. No one is investing in the cutting edge this year, unless there is a clear and compelling business benefit. Vendors still pitching their bright and shiny technology took a hit in late 2008 and will continue to suffer in 2009.

About Nucleus Research

About Nucleus Research
Nucleus Research is a global provider of IT research and advisory services that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments, including successfully executing their IT deployments and determining the business value of their initiatives. For more information, visit NucleusResearch.com.