Predictions 2009: The year ahead in tech

EVERYONE in the Australian IT business agrees this year is going to be a grinder.

The year ahead will be tough as the global financial crisis plays out, according to Australian IT's Predictions 2009 report

All the chief information officers, analysts, influencers and tech vendors interviewed for The Australian IT's Predictions 2009 special say the year ahead will be tough as the global financial crisis plays out.

Corporate IT budgets are under closer scrutiny than ever, consumers are spending less and money is hard to borrow. There are some lifelines floating about.

Vendors with a solid cost-reduction story willing to back their claims with insurance will get customers' ears, Dell Australia-New Zealand managing director Joe Kramer says.

Many players are looking to the federal Government to prime the IT market and there should be some joy from that direction.

With the Gershon review of IT spending completed and its recommendations in operation, government coffers will reopen this year after their temporary freeze following the change of government and review last year.

IBM Australia chief Glen Boreham says banks are looking for much cheaper methods of carrying out their once-in-a-generation core banking application replacement projects and could turn to cloud computing.

IDC analyst Tim Dillon says noise is building in the local market around cloud computing but companies will spend more getting to grips with the concept than investing heavily in it.

The PC market will come under pressure, especially from corporates putting off hardware refresh cycles as long as possible, but the market will get a kick from the federal computers for high-school student program, as well as personal tax breaks.

PREDICTIONS 2009: THE YEAR AHEAD IN TECH

• Bob Correll, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, CIO
• Kevin McIsaac, Intelligent Business Research Services, Adviser
• Les Williamson, Cisco, Australia-NZ managing director
• Joe Kramer, Dell Australia-NZ, Managing director
• Andrew Mills, South Australian Government, CIO
• David Skellern, NICTA, Chief executive
• David Hope, Lawson Software Asia-Pacific, Managing director
• Glen Boreham, IBM Australia-NZ, Managing director
• Greg Farr, Department of Defence, CIO
• Gary James, Woollahra Shire Council, General manager
• John Wadeson, Centrelink, CIO
• Philip Cronin, Intel, General manager
• Paul Brandling, Hewlett-Packard South Pacific, Vice-president
• Bruce Winzar, Bendigo Health CIO
• Robin Simpson, Gartner Australia, Analyst
• Tracey Fellows, Microsoft, Managing director
• Wayne Saunders, Australia Post, CIO
• Brian Pereira, HCL Technologies Australia, Chief executive
• Neville Vincent, Hitachi Data Systems, Australia manager
• Jack Percy, Accenture Australia, Managing director
• Max McLaren, Red Hat Australia-New Zealand, Managing director
• Gary Cohen, IBA Health Group, Executive chairman and chief executive
• Peter Fleming, National E-Health Transition Authority, Chief executive
• Rob Willis, Citrix Systems Asia-Pacific, vice-president
• Jamila Gordon, Qantas, CIO
• Michael Panaccio, Starfish Ventures
• Jacqueline Hey, Ericsson, Managing director
• Kumar Parakala, Australian Computer Society, Chairman
• Tim Dillon, IDC Australia Research, Vice-president, Analyst
• Paul Harapin, VMware Australia-NZ, Managing director
• Jackie Korhonen, Infosys Australia, Chief executive
• Tim Ebbeck, SAP Australia, Chief executive