IT Portfolio Management I Industry-Wide trends IT Spending

Everyone knows it’s a tough business climate out there.  You have to make hard decisions on just about every aspect of running your business, especially when there’s capital involved.   Your IT portfolio is no exception – you have to make some tough calls when it comes to your IT support Carlsbad, software and infrastructure, while still anticipating what might be coming up in the future. Here are a few industry-wide trends in IT spending:

• Virtualization – for some businesses and industries, platform, application and resource virtualization is coming into vogue.  The idea of being able to run as many as 35 servers on a pool of about five physical machines can be a tempting one, since it means fewer administrators and lower payroll expenditures.  Consolidating and pooling resources is at the top of current spending trends for IT.
• Cloud computing – just like with home users, cloud computing seems to be the wave of the future.  It means that IT staff no longer has to deal with software installations and storage on dozens or hundreds of desktops.  Data no longer has to reside locally, and cloud computing also has security advantages for corporate IT.  Companies see a good return on their IT services San Diego dollar when it comes to cloud computing; expect it to be a game-changer for years to come.
• Social computing – things like smart phones, peer-to-peer communication options, Web 2.0 apps and intangibles like personal habits and schedules give users ownership of social computing, not developers.  With social computing, your people can connect with customers more easily and gives users ways to determine how software is used.  Things like writing and publishing utilities, user profiles, feeds, search protocols and links are essential parts of Web 2.0, and the company that stays ahead of the game will be the company that learns how to exploit social computing.   Companies are finding advantages in productivity and ROI with social computing, and users and customers love it as well.
• Electronic medical records – despite the push-and-shove of the health care debate, electronic medical records are the next advance in the field.  Software packages are being ramped up, people are being trained and the IT industry is moving to get up to speed.  IT consulting in San Diego is something businesses should consider in this area. Deadlines in electronic medical record conversions are coming up, which will mean a huge avalanche of IT spending (from doctor’s offices to clinics to entire hospital chains), a trend that promises to last for many years to come.