Opinion: Predictions for 2009: Data takes central stage

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Here, Chris Boorman (pictured), CMO for Informatica Corporation, speaks to CRN about his predictions for 2009.

‘As 2008 draws to a close, it's time to look into the future and consider the top predictions for IT in 2009.

Data will take centre stage as the most strategic focus for all CIO's. As we continue to see the vast explosion of data volumes, the delivery of trusted data across the enterprise will be the number one focus for them.

Enterprises will evolve their computing architectures from the application-centric computing model of the last 20 years to a more data-centric computing model.

As data takes centre stage, companies will look at how they build new applications on their data model, instead of building an integration hairball between applications to try to control their data model.

Cloud computing will become mainstream within large enterprises as they look to lower capital expenditure and reduce operating costs.

Integration will be seen as the major enabler to the effective utilization of cloud computing, helping to avoid it becoming the biggest headache for CIO's through further fragmentation and inaccuracy.

Data virtualisation will become a real benefit to CIOs in enabling the abstraction of data definitions used by applications.

Ongoing consolidation will take place across major industries as cash-rich companies use this economic turmoil to scale and survive. Data integration will be seen as the most significant integration competency to drive fast return on the consolidation process.

Regulations will increase as governments demand more transparency into the processes of financial companies around the world. This will drive further investment in IT to deliver the required trusted data quickly and accurately for compliance.

All CIO's will look at driving down costs across their IT organisations and will look to their suppliers to enable their ability to deliver more capability, with greater operational efficiency. In essence, "do more with less".