Technology has become one of the most significant business foundations in this decade. With the benefit of hindsight available to us, it was not much time ago that you and me feared a complete blackout of computers on Jan 1, 2000. But, contrary to it, everything went almost perfect with some hiccups on the way such as the Global Economic Recession of 2008 being maturely handled. More than a year after the recession, the Technology Business in India is worth more than USD 60 Billion and counting on, with a phenomenal growth rate hovering around 25 percent.
The Year 2009 had its share of brutal economy and tightened budgets for most of the companies, but the underlying business and technology always placed its part and some of them are gaining momentum. 2010 might just be the year which every Digital Enthusiast hopes of, the perfect virtual utopian world where a new environment based on collaboration, communication and connectivity can be created.
Predicting what will emerge as ‘The Tech Trends in 2010′ is kind of fun and I in no way want to come in way of the analyst’s bread and butter. But, a proper understanding of the hype and being able to come up with properly constructed analysis gives me the liberage to be a cynic and declare the Tech Trends in 2010. Let’s see how far they come out to be true.
1. Cloud Computing – The adoption of this technology will continue to be growing in leaps and bounds. Reason is the data center managers who have initiated running tier 2 and 3 apps. from hosted cloud services, helping the company in saving the the overhead costs of managing and maintaining those types of server infrastructure. Software-as-a-services (SaaS), Platform-as-a-services (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) will continue to be dominant and spending on IT cloud services to grow can almost be tripled, reaching $42 billion by 2012. But, to just be a realist, quite a few in the populace think this concept if a bit ambiguous in nature.
2. Social Networking – Customer Engagement is the basis on which Social Networking will increase by leaps and bounds. 2009 has already seen the first steps being taken by companies in India in adopting Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to reach audiences. The trends will continue as some top CEOs of some top companies are also planning to enter the Twitter world. All of this will enable social media to be a growing market for advertising and recommending products in spite of the fact that they result in loss of Employee Productivity.
3. Wireless Technologies - The eternal wait for 3G might just be over in 2010. The auction which is likely to be held in Feb will have the reserve price for 3G spectrum fixed at Rs 3,500 crore and that for WiMax services set at Rs 1,750 crore. But, inspite of this the telecom market 2010 will also see improved growth and stability with worldwide spending predicted to increase by 3%. If sources are to be believed, then the process of mobile internet users being set to outnumber online users will start in 2010. Speaking about macro economics, Emerging Markets especially the BRIC will lead the way forward of adoption and innovation of technolgies.
4. Multitasking Machines – I dare to say, Smart Phones is the way in the future. Having just one device which will solve the purpose of a computer, a mobile, a camera, a recorder etc. Smartphones with cameras of 12 or more megapixel resolution, built-in projectors, enhanced storage memory and a battery back-up of over 16 hours are some of the features that will be experienced, and leading companies like Samsung, Acer, Toshiba and Asus have already started getting their act together. Anywhere, Anyhow and Anytime will be the motto the Multitaking Machines would be using as the Realist Consumer wants ‘Convergence’ of almost all devices into one.
5. Green Technology – It is high time that preachers will start acting in 2010 as this will be one of the key concerns of many organizations. 2010 might see a lot of organizations joining the bandwagon of ones who have a Green Strategy in place. Reduction of Carbon footprints is one of the most talked about targeted areas and the biggies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, IBM, Cisco have already taken steps towards it.
By the end of 2010, let us hope we see a better and brighter Digital World. Amen 
Well said……