X
Tech

The industry reflects, looks ahead

Industry players look back at 2007, discuss recession fears and name some hot technologies they'll be looking out for in 2008.
Written by Staff , Contributor

Recession or not, it's business as usual for most tech players across Asia this year.

ZDNet Asia talks to some of them to find out how they plan to safeguard their companies against the impending economic downturn--a spillover from the United States.

These market players also identify key technology developments they will be looking out for in 2008, and discuss challenges they expect to face this year.

Find out what they have to say:

Peter Chai, Asia-Pacific vice president and general manager, 3Com

techoutlook3competerchai.jpg
Peter Chai,
3Com
The world is warming up to emerging enterprise-class applications like OpenOffice and open standard operating systems like gOS.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Chai: In the volatile world of today, companies that cannot adapt to the rapid changes in global markets will fall aside. Companies should also ask themselves how they are going to ride through the recession or any cyclical downturn for that matter.

From 3Com's perspective, the company made a bold step to form a joint venture (JV) with Huawei in 2003, and in three short years, the JV (now fully owned by 3Com) managed to become one of the top two enterprise network equipment players in China. Even if a recession does hit the United States hard, 3Com will not be badly affected because of our strong business base in China and Asia-Pacific.

So, in preparing for a recession budget, businesses need to look toward doing business in markets in the Asia-Pacific region that are likely to be stable and continue growing despite a U.S. recession. It's all about going where the growth is.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
The first is IP surveillance. It is one of the most exciting applications that benefit from running on IP-based networks. Today's video surveillance over IP offer significant performance, cost and functionality improvements over older analog CATV systems, and these IP video solutions are now taking centerstage due to the current global security climate.

Analog systems cannot meet the new requirements for video surveillance systems that must be able to monitor hundreds of locations across cities, store the data for extended periods, apply intelligent video image searches to detect suspicious activity, and support forensic analysis.

Large-scale deployment of IP surveillance networks are also being driven by low-cost multi-terabyte storage and high-bandwidth links. For example, locations in China are already using 3Com's low-cost Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPON) solutions to monitor long stretches of highway in order to keep the roads safer for motorists.

The second is unified communications. Research firm AMI-Partners predicts that in 2008, we'll see the debut of unified communications appliances that integrate triple-play convergence, plus security and mobility for the small and midsize business (SMB) segment. While VoIP is indeed a disruptive technology, the important trend to note is that the industry focus is now on unified communications that VoIP is enabling.

Customers will move beyond using VoIP to save cost and toward enabling new services that change how employees collaborate and communicate. Therefore, internal IT departments and external service providers need to think about how they can create a partner and technology ecosystem that can offer a dynamic range of services.

The third is the Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON). Nationwide broadband networks are sprouting up all over Asia with the general goal of driving fiber to every end point and enabling Gigabit speeds. For example, Singapore is planning to complete an island-wide Gigabit network by 2015. In most cases, a mix of two main technologies will enable these metro deployments, namely active point-to-point (P2P) Metro Ethernet and EPON.

One example of a Metro Ethernet deployment is Paneagle Communications (Paneagle), an ISP in Malaysia that has recently participated in the country's first nationwide Metro Ethernet project. Built on an extensive fiber optic cable infrastructure along the railway and gas corridors, the network stretches from north to south of the Malay Peninsula and passes through almost all major Malaysian towns. Paneagle's Metro Ethernet network uses 3Com's 10Gigabit Ethernet switches and is designed to support data, voice and video communications as well as security features like VPN for business users.

Like active P2P Metro Ethernet, EPON is based on standard IP and Ethernet protocols. The difference is that EPON uses low-cost passive optical splitters to divide out the bandwidth for last-mile connections in FTTH (fiber to the home) deployments. Another example is how EPON is deployed to link IP video cameras over long distances to monitor highways in China by extending an existing IP metro network without requiring any additional active equipment.

The debate on open source is...
...Changing the way end-users and enterprises view applications. The world is warming up to emerging enterprise-class applications like OpenOffice and open standard operating systems like gOS (the new unofficial Google operating system based on Ubuntu). More users and enterprises are now focusing on the function and quality of the applications and services. Their adoption is moving toward software that can provide the same high-level of IT service for the lowest cost in terms of deployment and support.

Where network services like security, voice, video and management functions are concerned, the same trend is emerging. Today, enterprise users can deploy enterprise class open source network services on servers to throttle bandwidth and provide denial of service mitigation, for example. And just like the industry saw commercial firewall and VPN software move into appliances and then to the network switch fabric, the same is happening for open source network services as well.

The reason why network services are moving into switch fabric is because server-based services running on operating systems often lack performance and dedicated appliances that offer high performance eventually start stacking up (physically), creating an appliance glut that is tough to manage.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
...Being able to manage branch office networks centrally with regard to converged voice services, gateway security and data communications security. The current scenario in most organizations is that branch and main offices use several appliances and server-based solutions that are difficult to manage. An important solution to this challenge is the emergence of multiple service routers (MSR) that integrate multiple services into the network and support central management. MSRs deployed across regional offices, for example, can be integrated with security and voice applications that are managed by a head office.

A related challenge is in the high cost of bandwidth to link branch offices up. To address this issue, WAN optimization applications can be integrated into the MSR network to optimize the use of leased bandwidth. In the future, MSRs will enable head offices to manage branch offices as though they are local offices.

SMBs can also use MSRs as an integrated device for data networking, voice telephony and security solutions. Likewise, service providers can also take advantage of branch office and SMB needs by offering MSR devices as a managed service that they can control. The MSR platform will allow service providers the flexibility to add, upgrade and change network services as the needs of the customer changes.

Raymond Lee, regional director for Southeast Asia, Adobe Systems

techoutlookadoberaymondlee.jpg
Raymond Lee,
Adobe Systems
Designing great applications requires perfect graphics, great images, interesting animations and video. Even enterprise applications need to be engaging.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007? Please also name one technology to watch in 2008.
Lee: Web 2.0 is the top technology trend that made big industry news last year. This has had a dramatic impact on our business, and we have worked with this trend with real enthusiasm and the community has also responded to these trends with the same enthusiasm.

We believe Web 2.0 will continue to have a great impact and it will be the hot trend in 2008. Web 2.0 is actually the realization of everything we talked about in the Web 1.0 era, which is the ability to take advantage of Web services, to have rich Internet applications, to have socialization and collaboration, and finally, to have hosted applications.

These things were talked about before, but hard to do. Web 2.0 is the execution of that, and Adobe is the enabler of a lot of that experience. If you think about Web 2.0, you think primarily about rich applications. Designing great applications requires perfect graphics, great images, interesting animations and video. Even enterprise applications need to be engaging.

We are the enabler of a lot of that. There isn't an image on any Web site that hasn't been touched by PhotoShop. Most of the video is probably edited or enhanced with Premiere. Most of the animation and video playback is Flash. A lot of the rich Internet applications are being built with Adobe's Flex framework, taking advantage of Flash. The graphics involve Illustrator, and so on.

Most enterprise workflows use Adobe PDF, Flex and Flash to display and render. More than 300 million non-PC devices have Flash, including the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Wii; and YouTube and Flicker are Flash-based. Thanks to them and others, Flash has become the way to share video.

Social networking sites are...
... A phenomenal success for not only the IT industry. These sites have proven to be fantastic platforms and communication channels for companies to reach out to their target market.

Social networking sites are a definite demonstration of how the industry has embraced Web 2.0 not only as a region but globally.

Work-life balance is...
... A practice that we all need to embrace in order to have a more productive life. However, I cannot stress how important it is for companies to place this as a priority so that employees can live with less stress and anxiety while the company profits from their increased productivity.

Paul Choy, country sales manager for Malaysia, Allied Telesis

techoutlookalliedtelesynpaulchoy.jpg
Paul Choy,
Allied Telesis
Investing in a proficient staff not only helps increase employee loyalty but also improves ROI.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Choy: Good budgets and plans should take into consideration of upside as well as downside. With uncertainties in the global economy, it is prudent to plan accordingly.

I agree that organizations cannot defer decisions for reasons of unclear economic indicators. That's what plans are for.

What was the most overrated technology product in 2007?
WiMax. 2007 was supposed to be the year for WiMax roll-out. So far, it has not lived up to expectations.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
...Not investing enough in development and training. Returns on investment for ICT heavily depend on choice of products (not necessarily the most expensive is the best), as well as skilled employees to implement and operate those solutions properly. Investing in a proficient staff not only helps increase employee loyalty but also improves ROI.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
...Identifying and prioritizing applications to focus on. This can be improved by looking at the impact applications have on the organization. Impact can be improved productivity or reduced risks.

Lui Sim Hua, vice president for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, Aspect Software

techoutlookaspectsoftwareluisimhua.jpg
Lui Sim Hua,
Aspect Software
Many companies want to seamlessly move to an IP environment, yet they must also leverage past investments in technology and contact center solutions.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Lui: For 2007, the biggest news was unified solutions. Organizations have begun recognizing the value propositions of single platform systems and a consolidation of vendors.

These companies are increasingly investing in solutions that help turn their integrated contact centers into unified contact centers driven by companies' increasing need to maximize resources, increase flexibility and control, and essentially do more with less.

Another area of big interest for contact centers in 2007 was performance optimization solutions, particularly quality monitoring and performance management solutions. Contact centers are moving from cost centers to profit centers, and having to better align their performance with the overall objectives of the business. Performance optimization solutions are allowing them to track their performance, identify areas for improvement and increase productivity and customer service levels.

Companies are recognizing the growing importance of improving operational efficiency and agent effectiveness with fewer resources. As such, they are increasing their investments in unified and performance optimization solutions.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
•  Investments in performance optimization solutions will increase because companies are recognizing the growing importance of improving operational efficiency and agent effectiveness with fewer resources.
•  The move toward unified communications. Companies are seeing the value of unified communications strategies to expand the customer experience beyond just call centers to the rest of the enterprise to leverage the expertise of knowledge workers.
•  Move toward VoIP and open standards such as SIP (session initiation protocol). Open standards are particularly valuable to companies because they deliver increased compatibility among components, enabling true interoperability. As open standards continue to mature, we will see the development of a number of new and innovative products and services using new standards, such as VoiceXML, SCXML, CCXML, which have been built on early protocol standards such as HTTP and SIP.

Name one prediction that the analysts got wrong or right.
Analysts were spot on regarding the issue of security. Security has always been a hot topic and will continue to be an important issue, which enterprises, regardless of their size, need to deal with. Undeniably, rising security threats have also increased corporate IT budgets.

From a contact center's perspective, data security is a major concern. Contrary to popular belief, it is not attacks from outside hackers that are the biggest technology security threats; rather the risk comes from the actions of employees--both intentional and inadvertent. The past year has therefore seen the need to secure confidential data at contact centers. In the event of a security breach, the contact center is also the key to retaining customer loyalty, by being responsive to customer inquiries.

Security breaches have been a major concern for companies during the past year and will continue to be a top worry for CIOs in the future. By developing preventative plans and taking the right responsive steps, companies can avoid a security breach or mitigate its impact on customer loyalty.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Maximizing its technology investments and managing those system capabilities with customer requirements. In a competitive marketplace, businesses are always looking for ways to do more with fewer resources. Many companies want to seamlessly move to an IP environment, yet they must also leverage past investments in technology and contact center solutions.

The right technology will enable companies to take advantage of the cost savings of VoIP, while also using these existing applications. With the emergence of various technology innovations, companies in the Asia-Pacific region are tasked with prioritizing corporate spending across the board, at the same time ensuring that the cost is closely aligned with their business models, and IP-based solutions will play a key role in helping companies lower costs and maximize operations.

Collis Loh, country general manager for Singapore, AT&T Business

techoutlookattcollisloh.jpg
Collis Loh,
AT&T
For any sort of business, good planning is an essential part of management. It is absolutely critical for businesses to run efficiently and effectively.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Loh: I think the following pieces of news have had the biggest impact in the telecoms space in 2007: We saw mobile network operators getting excited about the potential of enhanced revenue streams through mobile ads as well as the onset of mobile TV. These service offerings will bring up the average revenue per user in mature markets where operators have been struggling to make the most of their high bandwidth capable networks.

For AT&T specifically, we've had tremendous success with the exclusive launch of the iPhone in the United States this year in collaboration with Apple. This must-have device on the cutting edge of consumer technology is still going to be a successful product for us right through the holiday season.

Finally, the availability of IPTV in several markets in this region has really opened up the home entertainment experience for consumers. Cable and even traditional fixed-line telecoms companies are moving into this space to deliver feature-rich content right into the homes of their customers, making the most of their infrastructure investments.

What leaves to be seen is how this competition between the cable and telecoms companies will play out and how it will benefit the end-users.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
For any sort of business, good planning is an essential part of management. It is absolutely critical for businesses to run efficiently and effectively. In light of this, many organizations and businesses are deploying technologies to streamline their operations so as to ensure and maintain a proper work-life balance for their staff. These different technologies are able to cater to different business needs and for various types and nature of business.

Despite this, it is fundamental to choose the appropriate technology in a prudent manner, one that is relevant to the business and not just the "flavor of the month" that might not translate to measurable benefits for one's organization.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The issue of data/voice convergence. Increasingly, corporate networks are migrating from traditional IPLs, Frame Relay/ATMs to IP-based MPLS VPNs. This allows an organization the opportunity to optimize their WAN by converging its voice and data requirements onto a single network.

However, many companies are still unable to realize the cost-saving benefits of this convergence. Traditionally, IT departments manage only data requirements. Voice/PABX assets are owned and managed by a separate department. To fully exploit the benefits of convergence, these departments first need to be reorganized and existing resources have to be retrained to manage the complexities of a converged network.

Another key challenge is balancing costs versus security requirements, particularly in organizations where IT budgets rest with business units. For example, when provisioning for network security, IT departments need to convince their end-users that cheap, low-cost domestic broadband solutions may not meet corporate network security requirements. Migrating them to carriers' MPLS networks would satisfy their security needs, but it would also cost more.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
•  Fixed/Mobile Convergence (FMC). With the increasing interest and developments in unified communications. FMC will enhance workforce mobility and reduce voice costs for organizations.
•  Ethernet WANs. This flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solution is able to meet the rising bandwidth requirements across corporate WANs.
•  Videoconferencing. This is going to be the next step in the network convergence evolution, after data and voice. We can expect more cost-effective solutions and offerings from providers in this area.

Gerald Penaflor, regional sales director, South Asia-Pacific and Korea, Brocade

techoutlookbrocadegeraldpenaflor.jpg
Gerald Penaflor,
Brocade
Many companies tend to invest in IT without properly understanding the long-term benefits it can bring to them if properly leveraged.

Q. Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Penaflor: We believe there are four hot technologies to watch in 2008. These include multicore technology and virtualization for servers, storage and files, fabric applications, blade server deployments and power-efficient IT products.

First, multicore technology and virtualization for servers, storage and files are hot technologies because they have altered how customers today utilize and purchase server and storage systems.

Second, fabric applications will also experience growing demand as customers are starting to further leverage existing Fiber Channel SANs (storage area networks) by deploying fabric-based applications such as DMM to start realising the full potential of SANs.

Third, blade server deployments are also set for popularity supported by a big increase in the consolidation of physical servers into virtual servers. This increase has been seen in the number of customers consolidating from standalone servers into bladed server environments. This trend will continue as the processing and memory capacity continues to increase in these environments.

Last but not least, power-efficient IT products will definitely be a hot technology as IT organizations face the critical challenges of continued data growth and limited data center energy resources. As a result, they are turning to more energy-efficient devices to help them reduce their power usage and overall storage costs.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... There is without doubt more than one challenge facing IT departments. As a matter of fact, there are three key challenges facing IT departments including the scalability of data centers, power and cooling as well as management of unstructured data.

Many data centers are incapable of scaling to meet the challenge of growing data that is becoming increasingly complex. Scaling of data centers is further impeded, as funding and administrative staff remain static.

Today, data centers and computer rooms across the globe consume approximately 2 percent of the world's energy, and the numbers will continue to grow on a daily basis. Rising energy cost and high-density compute equipment has also created power and cooling issues in the data center and increased the carbon footprint in the world. Due to power and cooling issues, many data centers running are also running out of power to process applications that support business growth and needs.

Management of unstructured data is the other challenge. Unstructured data will account for more than 80 percent of all organization-generated information. Lack of strategic framework to manage the proliferation of file base data will drive investments in file virtualization and clustered file systems.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Electronic data is constantly growing and companies are always in need of more storage space that is efficient, reliable and streamlined for optimal performance. IT heads often tend to overlook the cost of storage even though data centers are a critical function of many companies. In a recession budget, an appropriate amount should always be set aside to ensure the smooth running of data centers.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... The lack of a long-term strategic plan and resource provisioning when investing in IT. Many companies tend to invest in IT without properly understanding the long-term benefits it can bring to them if properly leveraged. With the demand for data storage on the rise, data storage is something companies can certainly consider as part of their long-term strategic plan.

Brenton Smith, managing director and area manager, Asia South, CA

techoutlookcabrentonsmith.jpg
Brenton Smith,
CA
Many companies have--dangerously--subscribed to the view that virtualization is a cure-all technology that can streamline resource utilization and save costs without any drawbacks.

Q. Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Smith: First, we expect keen interest in project portfolio management (PPM) solutions in 2008. These give CIOs and senior management a much-needed full view of all IT Services through a dashboard, which provides drill-down views many levels down. What is different about PPM is that it provides a business view of IT services that allows CIOs to prioritize and manage their portfolio of applications of services.

Another technology that will see strong uptake is identity and access management (IAM) as compliance pressures and the need for sophisticated security solutions become pressing issues for CIOs and CEOs alike. In particular, internal access control solutions will be a key focus as more enterprises become aware of the risks and liabilities of internal employees compared with traditional security concerns focusing on external threats. Access control is often the first step on the road to more comprehensive identity management, which entails user provisioning, audit, and web access management.

Third, there is a growing demand for tools that automate network management, including root cause analysis and security information management. The ability to correlate ever increasing volumes of management information will be key in achieving effective control of enterprise systems that support the business. The need for automated enterprise IT management is also compounded by the fact that IT components like storage, security and applications, are all interdependent and can no longer be managed in isolated silos.

What is the biggest myth about virtualization, and why?
Many companies have--dangerously--subscribed to the view that virtualization is a cure-all technology that can streamline resource utilization and save costs without any drawbacks. The truth is that virtualization has real repercussions on your IT security. It amplifies the security risks associated with server OS platforms, because the virtualization platform serves as a single point of access to all VM images and control over many critical services, creating a vulnerable leverage point.

Thus, network managers must put in place measures to secure and manage virtualized environments. They need to centrally manage role-based identity and access, control machine-to-machine access, monitor all activities on the host operating system and guest VMs, and manage compliance and risk. Well-designed IAM methodologies are essential for these purposes.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
The three security trends that IT heads need to focus on can first be highlighted by asking three questions, and then planning their security deployments around those answers.
Do you know who has access to what within your company?
Do you know what is happening at any given moment?
Do you know what action to take based on this information?

From a technology perspective, these three issues can be addressed using identity and access management (IAM), security information management (SIM), and integrated threat management (ITM).

IAM helps enterprises answer the first question by managing the administration, user provisioning, policy enforcement and auditing of user identity and access. As explained earlier, IAM also helps CIOs meet compliance regulations, and guard against rising internal threats.

Security information management (SIM) tools let enterprises convert reams of security data from disparate systems and applications into meaningful and actionable business intelligence. By providing the big picture, SIM solutions increase the overall efficiency of security system management, allowing an organization to make the right decision in a timely manner. They also provide the necessary security views required to achieve regulatory compliance.

ITM solutions proactively detect, analyze, warn, prevent and remediate attacks across IT environments. They prevent interruptions to business operations, protecting the company's brand reputation and ensuring high customer service levels.

The debate on open source is...
... Healthy, because it has encouraged concrete action from both vendors and users, brought new possibilities to the market, freed companies from the clutches of proprietary software makers, and slashed costs in some application areas.

Open source technology pushes the industry as a whole to write better software. It also creates a broader choice of software for enterprise users. As one of the five largest global software companies, CA is a strong supporter of open-source solutions. In many deployments, open source has an important role to play along side commercial solutions.

Where open source is concerned, what enterprise IT managers need to be wary about are support for open standards that enable interoperability, professional support services, and determining whether the software has security designed into its architecture.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... Dealing with increasing IT complexity in a non-holistic way, like throwing resources at new applications, more servers, higher bandwidth, bigger storage devices, and in some cases, more IT personnel. What CIOs should be focusing on is being able to get a bird's eye view of everything and then decide how best to add resources. In many cases, a reorganization of resources may be the most effective option.

That's what effective enterprise IT management (EITM) is all about. Having a simple, but powerful, unified overview of what in happening the IT organization and how it affects business processes. With that view, CIOs can then make the right decisions.

EITM is designed to do for IT what ERP did for business processes. EITM provides a path for the evolution of enterprise wide IT management from a reactive, event-driven approach to one that is proactive.

Nick Lambert, president of Asia-Pacific, Cable & Wireless

techoutlookcablewirelessnicklambert.jpg
Nick Lambert,
Cable & Wireless
The best-laid plans of corporations suffer from delays and failure due to the inability of their service provider to act as business partners. It's time CIOs and IT managers put their foot down--and demand change.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Lambert: I feel that, in Asia at least, we may not yet be preparing for a recession budget. Despite some global wobbles, there is still significant latent demand, tremendous desire to consume and sufficient resources to support this desire, all of which leads to significant optimism for growth.

All of this means that companies will continue to invest to expand. IT is an essential enabler for growth. So, all things remaining the same, we expect to continue seeing growth in the Asian IT and telecommunications business.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Rather than talk about "hot technologies", I would prefer to talk about three technologies that I believe will finally deliver on the promise they have been showing over the last few years.

The first one would be MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)--an internet traffic routing technology which gives network operators a lot of flexibility to divert and route traffic around link failures, congestion, and bottlenecks. For instance, the resilience that the Cable & Wireless (C&W) network showed during the disruption caused by the Taiwan earthquake some time ago was a case in point for the business benefits this technology delivers. Our next-gen Carrier MPLS network is key to enabling us to provide a more consistent service.

Unified communications technologies are finally beginning to get relevant to businesses by enabling them to become more "aware". Unified communications is making it possible for colleagues to stay in touch more easily, providing content delivery tools that make training and sharing more effective; collaboration tools that allow employees across the world to share, learn and communicate as well as hosting and collocation solutions that streamline data storage and analysis, making businesses, as a whole, more intuitive to their marketplace.

Another key area of business technology that I believe will find its place under the sun is application performance. With more and more customers looking for business technology benefits from deploying leading edge IT solutions, performance of applications is key to delivering the ROI benefits that customers seek.

Interestingly, all three technologies have been enabled by one underlying customer demand, to move towards next-generation networks.

Work-life balance...
... Finally looks like it is finding a home in Asia. New technology and systems combined with improved communications networks are making options such as remote working, virtual team meetings and online collaboration among colleagues very real.

This is happening at a time when managers are adopting increasingly global mindsets and work ethics, leading to greater focus on a balanced approach to work. For example, working from home is now gaining in acceptability around Asia.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The appalling service levels offered by IT service providers--across the board. We believe that the best-laid plans of corporations suffer from delays and failure due to the inability of their service provider to act as business partners. It's time CIOs and IT managers put their foot down--and demand change. Customers deserve better and, at C&W, we're changing to ensure they get the service experience they desire.

C&W is rewriting the rules of the industry. Our promise of "a new way everywhere" is a promise to deliver the best service levels to our customers, a promise to provide our colleagues the opportunity to make C&W a great place to work and a promise to provide the best returns to our stakeholders--and we intend to stick to.

Edwin Han, senior manager of marketing and support, business imaging solutions division, Canon Singapore

techoutlookcanonedwinhan.jpg
Edwin Han,
Canon
As [IT heads] focus on other areas of their IT infrastructure, looking for ways to make improvements and reduce costs, they neglect the often not-thought-of and inconspicuous printer or multi-function copier.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Han: The talent crunch and rising rental costs caused by the strong economy are probably the biggest industry news headliners for this year.

With the tight labor market, employers in Singapore are making counter offers to keep their employees who want to leave. This takes the form of a pay increase, a promotion, a change of role and/or a better bonus.

Rising rental costs are also forcing companies to make much better use of their available office space or move to lower cost locations.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008, and explain why.
1) Print on demand solutions
On the business front, with increasing operating costs, there is a need for companies to increase productivity and operate effectively. This in turn, means that companies need to be able to print their documents at their own convenience and to better manage their information. Our customers have asked us to provide them with solutions to increase their staff productivity and to do more with less resource.

2) High-definition comes of age
The official launch of the high-definition (HD) channel in Singapore signals the popularity of HD amongst Singaporeans. This has therefore created a market opportunity for HD products ranging from input to output.

3) Wireless printing
With the nation-wide Wireless@SG scheme, Singaporeans can look forward to being able to print and scan their documents wirelessly using any Wi-Fi access point. This offers users the freedom to work whenever and wherever they want. Instead of having a designated printer for each PC or laptop, every PC or laptop can now be connected wirelessly to just one printer located anywhere.

Most IT heads often forget to...
... Critically examine their copy and print infrastructure. Document copying and printing costs can account for a significant of total IT costs.

As they focus on other areas of their IT infrastructure, looking for ways to make improvements and reduce costs, they neglect the often not-thought-of and inconspicuous printer or multi-function copier. IT heads must recognize the necessity to evaluate their print/copy needs and infrastructure, to ensure that cost, efficiency and productivity are optimized.

Work-life balance is...
... Crucial to enabling people to contribute effectively to the organization. Happy employees result in happy customers.

As office workers, many of us get so involved and engrossed in our work that it sometimes becomes easier to continue than to stop, pack up and go home. We all need to be mindful that there is a life to lead outside of work, and that we need to rest and play so that we are fully ready to work another day.

Dennis Rose, vice president, Pacific, Citrix Systems

techoutlookcitrixdennisrose.jpg
Dennis Rose,
Citrix Systems
The demands imposed on enterprises by [Echo Boomer] generation of workers, aged between 16 and 27, adds pressure to the IT department and will have a far reaching effect in changing the way companies deliver applications to employees.

Q: What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Rose: Virtualization has become one of the most talked-about technologies in recent years, but it really made a big impact in 2007. More organizations realize virtualization simplifies IT management, enables cost savings for the backend servers, reduces space utilization in the data center and improves the flexibility in supporting disparate client devices.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Meeting changing business requirements and end-user demands quick enough due to the current complex IT environment their organizations have invested, which do not allow flexibility.

Many businesses have over the years pieced together applications, network, hardware, security devices and databases using products from various companies to overcome various "pain points". This approach is what we term "incrementalism"--an approach that results in mounting costs and complexity, and sees IT departments spend almost 80 percent of their annual budget just to maintain the disparate systems.

As the forces of globalization take hold, user end-points and the networks in which they traverse will take place outside of the IT organization's jurisdiction. This complexity is compounded by the growing demands of the Echo Boomer generation, the first generation of technology-immersed employees characterized by the need for on-demand access to applications and services. As a result, the demands imposed on enterprises by this generation of workers, aged between 16 and 27, adds pressure to the IT department and will have a far reaching effect in changing the way companies deliver applications to employees.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... The failure to put in place a strategy for application delivery in the same way they did distinct new strategies for distributed computing in the 1980s and networking in the 1990s.

Application delivery refers to the process of getting mission-critical business applications from their source in the corporate datacenter out to users in the fastest, most secure, most cost-effective way possible. With enterprises of all sizes running their business on applications today, addressing this issue from a strategic standpoint has never been more critical if CIOs want IT to enable business objectives rather than being an obstacle.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
The first is understanding virtualization's impact on security. How does virtualization target and address traditional security problems? What are the security breakthroughs that dynamic coupling introduces? How can virtualization, isolation and streaming technologies work in concert to deliver on the promise of security?

The second is defining the security model. Local vs. remote; or connected vs. disconnected? Companies today find the distinction of "local" and "remote" users blurring, what with ubiquitous high-speed networks and greater user mobility. Users are also confused by a model that considers physical location over work scenarios, and are struggling to make the right security choices. Rich, granular policy, combined with end-to-end tracking and enforcement are redefining secure access from mobility to outsourcing.

The third is security and the end-user experience. Instead of demanding that users read a complex policy and insist that they "do the right things" for security, progressive organizations are working to deliver a more tenable solution. Removing the burden of personal security choices enables end-users to "do the right things" and saves significant time over working with the discrete security needs of each unique application. There is a need for an autonomous system that automatically presents and enforces the right user scenarios, allowing users to have the functionality they need and for the business to have the control they need.

Andrew Cocks, director of strategy execution and solutions development group, Datacraft Asia

techoutlookdatacraftandycocks.jpg
Andrew Cocks,
Datacraft Asia
With the [recession] problems in the United States, global organizations are looking to "pick up the slack" in Asia to cover losses elsewhere.

Q. Work-life balance is...
Cocks: With the wide array of technology allowing us to be contactable anytime, people are expected to work while on holidays and responses are expected after official working hours. While the drive for efficiency constantly pushes the adoption of these tools, the very same technologies that were once touted as work-life balance is now removing it.

The remedy lies within ourselves; we need to manage our time instead of allowing technology to mange it for us. Take for example, the usage of presence technology. Its "find me, follow me, hide me" functions allow our contacts to know where we are and on what device they can contact us. When used properly, the same features allow you to inform them not to disturb you during Johnny’s soccer match or while out having dinner with your wife.

So, in essence, work-life balance is a choice.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
The first is unified communications. In a recent survey conducted by Datacraft/Dimension Data, it has been showed that the adoption of unified communications is now mainstream. Companies are now starting to expand on the usage of such technology to derive real value rather than a simple dial-tone replacement. The introduction of technologies to enhance productivity and improve customer satisfaction like presence, video, collaboration will become more widely adopted. Integrating technologies from Cisco and Microsoft is going to drive real value for investment.

The second is virtualization. The data center space in Asia is at its premium as virtualization sits high on the CIO's agenda. VMWare had first-mover advantage and leading IT companies such as Oracle, Microsoft and Citrix are unleashing competitive and rich offerings such as firewalls, load balancers and storage to automate the entire virtual environment.

The third is end-point security. Providing security based on device and access rights is key. Devices should be quarantined until their patch and security level are ascertained to ensure viruses are not introduced into the network. Constant monitoring will ensure these levels of security are maintained. Ultimately providing a more open network whilst maintaining security.

Most IT heads often forget...
... The importance of data recovery. Investments in IT resources are usually into business systems where there is an apparent ROI (return on investment) or gains in competitive advantage. Data protection is usually the last piece of IT infrastructure that the IT heads invest in. These investments are usually subscale and more than often unable to meet the challenges of an ever demanding SLA (service level agreement).

The importance of data recovery only rise to the fore when there is data loss. Therefore it is imperative that considerations go into the SLA and applications that needs data protection.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
1) Compliance and regulatory issues are driving IT security across the entire network. It's no longer totally focused on the perimeter.

2) The application is quickly becoming the next hotspot for attack. IT heads should be looking at penetration testing all Web applications and applying data protection technologies to all internal documents.

3) Guest and partner access to the network is rampant--wireless hotspots are creating vulnerabilities--network access control in Asia finally comes to life.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
We are seeing our clients being quite upbeat about the Asian market; major banks are still continuing with projects in Asia Pacific, possibly accelerating outsourcing to cost-effective countries in Asia.

With the problems in the United States, global organizations are looking to "pick up the slack" in Asia to cover losses elsewhere. Increasing disposable income from countries like China and India, means companies are looking to invest faster into these markets.

Patrik Runald, security response manager, F-Secure Security Labs

techoutlookfsecurepatrikrunald.jpg
Patrik Runald,
F-Secure
To overcome increasingly sophisticated security solutions implemented by financial institutions/users, cyber criminals are continuously refining their techniques, especially through social engineering tactics, to improve their rates of success.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Runald: The biggest industry news for 2007 is the exponential growth in the volume of malicious software. In fact, F-Secure detected a quarter million new malware in 2007, and this figure is almost equivalent to that of the previous 20 years combined. This massive increase in volume can be attributed towards variants of existing malware and techniques that were refined and adapted for greater effectiveness by malware authors.

A good example of this is the evolution of botnets, especially the "Storm" worm which is the largest-ever P2P (peer-to-peer) botnet that mankind has ever seen. With starter kits and technical support becoming widely accessible today, it is becoming increasingly easy for cyber criminals to create or modify these botnets, greatly encouraging the proliferation of such malware.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
In the security space, we foresee three upcoming security threats in 2008. First is the new techniques applied in banking Trojans such as "man-in-the-browser" attacks.

The second is Trojan password-stealers, specifically those that target popular online games.

The third is enhanced social engineering tactics used to launch bulk targeted attacks via spam with the increased availability and accessibility of personal information posted on social networking Web sites.

Motivated by financial incentives, cyber criminals are constantly looking out for ways to steal personal and banking data of Web users. To overcome increasingly sophisticated security solutions implemented by financial institutions/users, cyber criminals are continuously refining their techniques, especially through social engineering tactics, to improve their rates of success.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
The first is database breaches. There are massive amounts of personal data vulnerable to theft stored in databases worldwide and reports of database breaches and data losses are becoming routine. Examples of these incidents include TJX Companies exposing credit card numbers and transaction details and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) losing 25 million names, addresses and national insurance numbers.

Cyber criminals often make use of this stolen information to commit ID theft or mass targeted attacks and mass spear phishing. By making use of this information to enhance their social engineering tactics, users often lower their guard and expose themselves to phishing, backdoors and Trojans and compromising their organizations' security systems.

The second is Web exploits. As "spray and pray" spam waves decrease in effectiveness, there is an increase in Web based security threats. This is further fueled by the increasing availability of ready-made kits for vulnerabilities that target Windows, Internet Explorer, QuickTime, Real Player and WinZip.

The third is mobile security. Increasingly, employees are making use of mobile devices such as smartphones to work while traveling. More often than not, these devices are not equipped with adequate security solutions against malware such as spy tools. This, in turn, gives rise to the possibility of information and data leaks.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Ensuring that the organizations' systems are secure against the growing volume and complexity of threats while promoting business productivity. In this aspect, organizations can explore investing in a comprehensive integrated security solution or adopting Security as a Service where security solutions are provided for by their local Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

This will enable end-users and organizations, especially SMBs, to be able to focus on improving business productivity and effectiveness without having to worry about security-related issues.

Lori Sobel, head of Google Singapore

techoutlookgoogleloriisobell.jpg
Lori Sobel,
Google
There are many closed systems and restricted services in the mobile industry today. We need an open mobile platform to increase innovation, reduce costs and respond better to changing user needs.

Q. Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Sobel: Web 2.0 and its associated tools and applications will continue to be hot a trend as user-generated content and social networking sites transform consumer and business behavior. Consumers are always logged on, blogs and videos are getting hotter, and personal connections are growing across the Web. At the same time, businesses are finding ways to leverage Web 2.0 tools to improve their productivity and reach their customers online.

We see a demand for more open platforms to fuel Web 2.0 innovation and to make it easier for consumers and businesses to connect all over the Internet, not just on a specific site.

Mobility is another key trend as more and more computing functionality will migrate to the mobile phone such as online search, email, videos and maps. In less developed countries, the mobile phone will be the first or only way for the majority of citizens to connect to each other, get information and use these services. Yet, there are many closed systems and restricted services in the mobile industry today. We need an open mobile platform to increase innovation, reduce costs and respond better to changing user needs.

We think personalizing the user's experience on the Web is another area to watch for 2008. This means not simply to give people what they ask for, but to give users the exact information they want, right when they want it.

In Google's context, we're constantly trying to improve the quality of search results through personalized search which allows more tailored and relevant search results and this customized way of searching, unique to each user, improves the overall user experience.

In addition, our personalized homepages allow users to create a homepage with custom gadgets that align with their specific interests and needs and feature information that they search for on a daily basis. Having this information right at their fingertips each time they search saves them time and effort.

Name one prediction that the analysts got wrong or right.
Google announced something more ambitious than any single "Google Phone" that analysts had been speculating about for months. Instead we envisioned a fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry that would help shape a new computing environment, thereby changing the way people access and share information in the future. And that came in the form of Android, an open platform for mobile devices that is aimed at increasing collaboration between developers, wireless operators and handset manufacturers.

Android will help foster innovation on mobile devices to bring new products to market faster and at a much lower cost, while accelerating the pace at which new and compelling mobile services are made available to consumers. Thirty-four companies have formed the Open Handset Alliance to collaborate and develop the Android platform and consumers can expect the first phones based on Android to be available in the second half of 2008.

Social networking sites...
... Will continue to take centerstage in 2008. Taking a lead in developing this space, Google launched OpenSocial, an open platform for developers to build social networking applications and for Web sites to add social network features. This will enable developers to create applications that users can enjoy regardless of the Web sites, applications or social networks that they use.

By providing these simple, standards-based technologies, OpenSocial will speed innovation by developers who now only need to develop one application, instead of multiple versions, for different websites. Users win, too, as they get more interesting, engaging and useful social networking features faster than before.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... From Google's perspective, the biggest challenge is how IT departments are facing huge costs and effort to buy, install and maintain their own IT hardware and software plus also the difficulties in finding enough staff to manage their IT infrastructure. That's where we feel the concept of "Cloud Computing" is a viable solution.

Cloud Computing is the concept where computing is moving away from the desktop and instead users can access applications hosted on a "cloud" of computers via the Internet. These Web-hosted applications include communication, collaboration and productivity tools such as e-mail, calendar and documents which can be accessed via an Internet browser.

Besides saving money and reducing set-up and maintenance costs, IT departments can avoid the distraction of common tech problems like server maintenance, spam filter patches and backups related to these kinds of applications and leave it all to the hosting company. Upgrades and improvements are available automatically, while cloud computing can scale easily to accommodate growing user bases and storage needs.

Ng Koh Wee, executive vice president of IT, Great Eastern Life Assurance

techoutlookgreateasternngkohwee.jpg
Ng Koh Wee,
Great Eastern Life Assurance
I can see my fellow CIOs in the industry gearing up for both challenges of a tight budget while having to meet the market demands. We will need to be lean yet prepared to seize the market opportunities as they arise.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Ng: 2008 is filled with quite a bit of uncertainty. In terms of the business environment in Singapore, it is true that we are faced with the uncertain outcome of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage issue and the prospect of a downturn in the U.S. economy. Oil prices have sky-rocketed in the last few months, putting pressure on the cost of doing business.

The cost of doing business in Singapore is also pushed up further by escalating rent. On the other hand, there are new opportunities arising in the local market. With Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF) considering a national longevity scheme and the Ministry of Manpower's new policy requiring employers to provide medical insurance for their foreign workers, there could be significant business opportunities for the insurance industry in the year ahead. These opportunities would fuel the annuity and health insurance product markets.

Hence, from the perspective of the financial services industry, it is therefore uncertain if the overall outcome will be positive. But it is clear that the IT budget planning for 2007 will have to be guarded. I can see my fellow CIOs in the industry gearing up for both challenges of a tight budget while having to meet the market demands. We will need to be lean yet prepared to seize the market opportunities as they arise.

2007 was...
... A year that brought initial anxiety, then optimism, and finally closing with the uncertainty of what will come in 2008. We started the year with quite a bit of media hype over rising demands for IT human resource, accompanied by a flurry of resignations of IT staff who claim to get astronomical salary increases in their next job. By the middle of the year, this became overshadowed by the prospect of the booming economy. But this was shortlived as the double whammy of the US sub-prime mortgage issue and rising oil prices started to hit home.

We are now ending the year in a state of a tight labor market while the outlook for the year ahead is uncertain. From my personal perspective, there is also the challenge of maintaining a close oversight on a large-scale project to migrate our legacy policy administration system into a new system. Fortunately, this has progressed well with the prospect of a successful cutover at the end of December.

Anthony McMahon, vice president, enterprise storage and servers, Hewlett-Packard Asia-Pacific and Japan

techoutlookhpanthonymcmahon.jpg
Anthony McMahon,
Hewlett-Packard
Asia-Pacific customers are increasingly concerned about the environment. They are implementing power-saving policies, investing in energy efficient IT equipment and recycling and reusing old IT equipment and components.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
McMahon: Like HP predicted in last year's ZDNet Technology Outlook, in 2007 our customers focused on energy efficiency and green technology as they moved to next-generation data center environment where high-cost IT islands are transformed into low-cost pooled IT assets to minimize costs and accelerate business growth.

This is not just an environmentally or socially driven concern, it makes economic sense too. According to HP's internal research, approximately 60 percent to 70 percent of data center expenses come from cooling costs. Green technology reduces power and cooling costs, minimizes carbon footprint and makes the most of IT investment. It improves overall efficiency of data center by controlling power consumption and thermal output.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
We are seeing our customers embrace business technology, not just IT anymore. They are opting for broad transformation projects designed to deliver business benefits such as improved corporate environmental responsibility, greater customer retention and faster introduction of new products and services.

The first area to watch is energy-efficient infrastructure. Asia-Pacific customers are increasingly concerned about the environment. They are implementing power-saving policies, investing in energy efficient IT equipment and recycling and reusing old IT equipment and components. In addition, rising energy costs, at a time when power consumption is also increasing means that energy outlays now consume a larger and larger portion of companies' IT budgets.

HP is addressing the energy efficiency challenge, holistically, with solutions that optimize energy use from the "chip to the chiller", across the entire data center.

The second is virtualization 2.0. With Virtualization 2.0, it is far more than just utilization and consolidation opportunities from increased use of virtualized servers. In 2008, we will see the focus on two areas: virtual and logical servers, storage management and provisioning coupled with new customer usage models for desktops and mobile devices. This will allow users to reduce costs, increase flexibility and security. Simultaneously, to maximize benefits, customers are increasingly adopting software management tools to manage physical and virtual servers.

The third is "blade everything". Asia-Pacific customers are demanding for more efficient data centers with benefits including flexibility, ease of use of IT systems, and better utilization of server, storage and data center floor space. Blade servers deliver virtualization, management and energy efficient computing capabilities that are critical to building efficient next-generation data centers.

Software as a service (SaaS) for IT management will also be an important area to watch. There's nothing new about IT departments being asked to do more with less, but what will be new in 2008 is increased demand for IT Management via SaaS as a means of addressing this issue. SaaS offers customers flexible options to get up and running quickly and easily with key IT management software solutions.

As vendors such as HP continue to roll out products and solutions that mitigate market resistance based on availability and privacy concerns, more and more IT shops will turn to SaaS in areas such as project and portfolio management, application monitoring, functional and performance testing and service management.

What is the biggest myth about virtualization, and why?
The truth is that virtualization delivers practical benefits to IT environments. It can reduce customer's IT costs through consolidation and make environments more flexible by creating server and storage pools that can be assigned easily to meet business priorities. Yet, virtualization also creates its own challenges. More virtual machines do not mean better utilization or control or lowering of costs.

The winning play is around taming the increasing management complexity. If left unaddressed, this can lead to virtual machine sprawl--uncontrolled flexibility that defeats the primary objectives of virtualization. As companies deploy server and storage virtualization, they need to adopt management and automation tools that seamlessly manage both the physical and virtual worlds.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Online fraud, viruses, malware attacks and phishing scams. The list of security threats continues to increase driving Asia-Pacific businesses to make security protection a top priority. As threats become more sophisticated and more diverse, 2008 is likely to see more companies developing a comprehensive security strategy rather than implementing an uncoordinated collection of precautions to protect multiple points of vulnerability.

Ravi Rajendran, Asean general manager, Hitachi Data Systems

techoutlookhdsravi.jpg
Ravi Rajendran,
Hitachi Data Systems
[Going green] is a serious issue, because when resources run low or dry, the cost of using these resources (be it power consumption or water) will increase as a result of demand exceeding supply. This will drive up the cost of running business.

Q. Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Rajendran: Thin provisioning will be hot in 2008 because of the cost savings to companies. When you combine controller-based storage virtualization and thin provisioning, storage economics is improved because of the lower total cost of ownership. This is made possible because customers can now allocate "virtual" disk storage based on their anticipated future needs without needing to dedicate physical disk storage up front.

2007 was the year everyone started to think seriously about going green. I believe this will continue into the year 2008. This is a serious issue, because when resources run low or dry, the cost of using these resources (be it power consumption or water) will increase as a result of demand exceeding supply. This will drive up the cost of running business. For example, many companies are already feeling the effects of the increase in oil prices.

In 2008, SMBs will be looking at how they can leverage technology, especially when it comes to the protection of their data. According to AMI-Partners, the total SMB storage spend in 2006 was US$2.4 billion. This is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21 percent between 2005 and 2010. This is largely driven by data security concerns, data growth, the increasing number of network users, and the pressure for companies to do more with less. As one can see, there is a huge demand for storage solutions tailored to suit SMBs, and they are asking for solutions that are simple to install, manage and use.

What is the biggest myth about virtualization?
The biggest myth about storage virtualization is that it is expensive. In actual fact, customers that have implemented storage virtualization find that they enjoy cost savings as a result of having simplified their storage environment.

With storage virtualization, companies become smarter in using their storage capacity, because the technology allows them to use capacity from any other systems. This means cost savings from not having to invest in new storage systems to store more. The cost of managing goes down, and down time is reduced greatly.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... Buying more storage than they really need to address data growth. In the last few years Hitachi Data Systems has been encouraging customers to look at storage differently. We've taken the bold approach of telling our customers they do not have to pay for anything they do not need. We help them directly tie storage to their business demands, and provision storage accordingly, while leveraging technologies like storage virtualization and storage tiering.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Having to do more with less. IT demands may be increasing, but this isn't necessarily being matched by an increase in IT budgets. Also, IT increasingly has to show its ability to contribute to the bottom line of the company.

John Brand, research director, Hydrasight

techoutlookhydrasightjohnbrand.jpg
John Brand,
Hydrasight
I see absolutely no point in creating a fair-weather budget and another one for overcast days. If you're modeling is right, then it's right.

Q: What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Brand: The consolidation of the business intelligence (BI) market. The major brands have eaten up almost every profitable area of enterprise technology, and BI ties many of their existing software portfolios together. Customers will be challenged over the next five years to determine how best to incorporate reporting and analytics into their broadening applications environments, given the complex nature of the business relationships between vendors of BI products and services.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
If your budget wasn't solid enough to handle variable economic pressures in the first place there's already something wrong. How many budgets do you need? Do you end up taking parts of one budget and parts of another as the economic conditions change?

I see absolutely no point in creating a fair-weather budget and another one for overcast days. If you're modeling is right, then it's right. A budget and project portfolio plan should always take into account trigger points for when to exit or to defer projects based on changing conditions.

What was the most overrated technology product in 2007, and why?
Though it's still early days, most organizations have yet to discover how Web 2.0 will add long term value to their business beyond enhancing existing user interfaces. The community and distributed authoring aspects of Web 2.0 have proven to be powerful models but only for a very few.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) deserves a mention here, too. SOA has been the latest attempt to "solve" integration challenges but has so far failed to bring significant benefits to most organizations in and of itself. In most cases we see that SOA projects are simply a "re-aligning" of existing integration projects in order to gain additional budget or hold onto budget that was about to be cut.

IT security continues to be a perennial problem. Please name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Hydrasight sees that policy re-inforcement systems rather than policy enforcement systems will be the most successful approach to addressing security concerns. Helping users make the right choices and decisions around security will always be the most efficient and effective approach rather than lock-down.

Social networking sites...
... Organizations are currently struggling to understand the potential impact of social networking in general, and particularly around Facebook. Despite the obvious issue around employees wasting time on social networking sites, social networking data can be a very valuable and useful tool. I think we'll see more surreptitious use of social networking data as the value of what it contains becomes realized. Social networking sites also underlie a broader trend towards employees making use of externally hosted services, whether they be social networking sites or business applications.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... Believing slick marketing pitches and placing more emphasis on the recommendations of peers, colleagues, and the media than those from their own employed staff. I see few organizations where the answers aren't already known inside their own organizations, if only someone had the courage to listen to them. The second biggest mistake is failing to communicate effectively across the organization. CIOs need to spend quality time helping the organization at all levels understand what is being done and why. We've spend a lot of time over the last few years encouraging IT 'thought leaders' but very little time encouraging 'thought movers'.

Work-life balance is...
... Something evolution will have to deal with.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Increasingly unrealistic business expectations driven by higher profile media and popularist beliefs.

Teresa Lim, managing director, IBM Singapore

techoutlookibmteresaliml.jpg
Teresa Lim,
IBM
The viability of open source software has become the subject of a great debate: Will open source really reduce costs and is there a workable support model?

Q. What is the biggest myth about virtualization, and why?
Lim: There are many myths about virtualization. For example, many people believe that virtualization exists mainly as standalone service products. In fact, virtualization is an important component of Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) and IT resource optimization infrastructure solutions. As companies seek to grow, having a secure, well-managed and fully virtualized IT infrastructure will help them do just that. SOA is one key tool to help drive change in a company and innovate quickly.

Clients around the world are rapidly embracing SOA to integrate business processes and business process data because it dramatically improves the way they do business. As customers move beyond their base SOA implementations via entry points, they realize the need to take a more structured and programmatic approach to the infrastructure and management that supports their SOA projects.

Virtualization solutions can play a key role in how clients prepare their IT infrastructure for SOA but also help clients who want to take a logical rather than a physical view of their computing environment. Server virtualization is the foundation of a scalable, efficient and resilient IT infrastructure. Server virtualization solutions help clients simplify their IT infrastructure by reducing over- or under-provisioning problems, responding more quickly to load changes, and bringing new resources on line more quickly.

Together, server virtualization and software virtualization can drive up IT efficiency and drive down IT costs for clients looking to optimize IT operations.

The debate on open source is...
... The viability of open source software has become the subject of a great debate: Will open source really reduce costs and is there a workable support model?

Open source is critical to delivering an organization's brand of innovation, which is open, collaborative, global, and multi-disciplinary.

The open source community comprises so many experts, with a wide range of ideas and creativity, that it generates more collaborative innovation than any single vendor ever could. It has disrupted markets and created growth opportunities for those who recognize its advantages.

Open source projects, such as Linux, have gained strength in mainstream businesses by serving as low-cost alternatives to commercial software. The capabilities rival those of proprietary software, thanks to support from a large developer community.

Popular open source projects can also accelerate open standards, the collective building blocks for products, by serving as the common implementation. Businesses and vendors using open standards free up development and services budgets for items that offer higher value and competitive advantage.

Open source has certainly built too much interest to be ignored any more. Many developing countries, including Brazil, China and India, are adopting open source to save money on licensing and maintain control over government IT environments. Centers to train developers in open source technology are also springing up around the globe.

The adoption of open source in Singapore is certainly expected to accelerate. Many organizations are getting past the '"discovery phase" and real adoption is beginning to take place. The industry is certainly promoting it and a broad line of solutions from most vendors are being supported.

Open source has driven tremendous innovation everywhere. It is creating new opportunities for both start up companies as well as enterprise customers to find new ways of doing business, save cost and drive better value. In this regard, Singapore will specifically benefit from its adoption as it aligns well to the nation's agenda of fostering entrepreneurship.

Social networking sites...
... YouTube, MySpace, Linked-In, Facebook, Second Life, Xing hold the promise of revolutionizing the way we interact with one another. Online social networks are transforming the idea of community. It doesn't matter whether you're a Gen X-er or a retiree, staying connected is critical for everybody.

In the age of Web 2.0, Internet users are rewriting the rules of social interaction by harnessing a range of new technologies to create and sustain virtual communities forged around common interests. Communications channels like powerful Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, video and online forums, amplified by collaborative technologies like social bookmarking, provide powerful tools for sharing information and sustaining relationships across geographic borders and industry silos.

The result is a new breed of interaction. Instead of telling people what we want to talk to them about, we're trying to engage with them. People are out there meeting and learning from one another. The stories that they tell are assets. It's a phenomenon that has a life of its own, and it's becoming part of the way we work now.

In a 2006 study, more than 700 CEOs worldwide told IBM that finding new areas of growth, new products and services, and engineering new in-house processes and business models were ranked as top strategies for staying competitive. In the same study, the ability to collaborate was identified as a key competitive factor that separates out-performers from under-performers in terms of their ability to innovate.

Moving ahead, social networks need to interoperate. Information disclosed on one network needs to be able to travel to another network freely. This requires open standards for exchanging social information as well as fine-tuned publication mechanisms where one can select who and where information is accessible, not just 'all contacts' and 'public'. Furthermore, e-mail vendors and social software sites should come together to share a synchronisation standard. It will be great if you are able to add someone from, for example, Facebook into any e-mail address book and/or use the Linked-In contact list as an address book in any e-mail application. When someone moves on, the address book should notify the user and update the users' particulars automatically.

Work-life balance is...
... IBM's internal survey data have indicated that employees feel that balancing the responsibilities between work, family, and other commitments is becoming increasingly difficult under traditional work schedules. The ability to address work and family becomes a critical factor in a decision to join or stay with a company.

There are many ways an organization can help employees balance their work and personal lives by offering a wide range of work-life balance programs that address concerns like mental health counseling, dependent child care, educational scholarships, elder care programs, and more. In addition, employers can also offer a range of Workforce Flexibility options, such as flexible work week schedules, part-time employment, leaves of absence programs, and opportunities to work from home or a remote location.

Work-life balance will be achieved differently by each employee. It can be achieved with or without a combination of work-life balance programs and workforce flexibility options. In some cases there may be business reasons that prevent employees from using certain flexible work options, such as personal leaves of absence, reduced work schedules, flexible work weeks, and working from home, and so on. This does not mean that employees cannot achieve work-life balance. Rather, employees and their managers need to discuss alternative work-life balance solutions where appropriate.

Work-life balance will combine work-life programs and workforce flexibility options. These work-life programs and workforce flexibility options help employees better manage their work and personal lives and accomplish balance by creating a flexible work environment that is sensitive to an individual's needs and responsibilities. These programs and options allow employees to be more productive because their personal issues can be more easily addressed.

David Woolf, global product manager, InFocus

techoutlookinfocusdavidwoolf.jpg
David Woolf,
InFocus
One of the most overrated technology products in 2007 would be high-definition DVDs.

Q. What was the most overrated technology product in 2007?
Woolf: One of the most overrated technology products in 2007 would be high-definition DVDs. With the continuing format wars between the projection industry and DVD technology, the overrated high definition DVD will have to step aside due to high costs and compatibility. Savvy consumers would not purchase hardware unless its content is widely available for all in a standard format.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
1) Video conferencing
2) Video conferencing
3) Video conferencing

Technology companies such as Cisco, HP and Microsoft are all after the video and data conferencing markets. These markets provide new, ground-breaking technology such as "telepresence" and integrated communications.

Business professionals are impeded from traveling around the world, due partly to global factors such as tighter security, expensive plane flights and overcrowded planes. Videoconferencing allows multiple parties to communicate simultaneously regardless of location and time. 2008 could be the year when video conferencing makes headlines.

What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
It would certainly be the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of VMWare by EMC. The capital market's zealous reaction to the IPO certainly validated the virtualization trend and we'll never think of servers in the same way again.

Michael Shea, group general manager for IT, International SOS

techoutlookinternationasosmichael.jpg
Michael Shea,
International SOS
In 2008, we managers need to figure out better ways to engage our people, create a personally rewarding work environment and better utilize our team's strengths. This is challenging since our businesses are often global, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and our systems have become more integrated and complex.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Shea: I disagree that there is a need to go through this exercise for a recession. I think that IT heads should structure their organizations to have a flexible cost structure so that their IT organizations can quickly adjust to changes in the business environment.

These changes may be a business downturn caused by a recession, or they could be the winning of a new client or contract that requires your business to ramp up significantly. Both of these scenarios require an organizational structure with the right cost levers in place. International SOS has experienced significant year-over-year growth which has resulted in a ramp up of our IT investment.

I believe in the following:
•  Hire great people and keep them! Without a good team, you can't make it through the growth spurts or the recessions.
•  Reduce core infrastructure costs through server consolidation. We are doing this through better governance, virtualization and network/WAN optimization.
•  Use of outsourced or offshore staffing model coupled with a core of very highly talented IT project managers, architects, and development leads who can own the systems maintenance during a downtown and utilize outsourced resources when there is a high demand for IT services.
•  Strong management and monitoring infrastructure, especially for geographically dispersed organizations. With the right management and monitoring infrastructure in place, you can have fewer people taking care of a larger number of systems.
•  Have strong budget control. It is difficult to use the cost levers without understanding the short- and long-term impact. You must have a good understanding of the costs associated with keeping the lights on, strategic investments and their impact on competitiveness, and investments related to customer quality of service. Without good control on these costs, it will be difficult to present an effective cost cutting strategy to your executive management team. In summary, skip the recession planning and start planning for a more agile IT organization that can better anticipate and react to the fast pace of change within our business.

Name one prediction that the analysts got wrong or right.
Proliferation of universal systems access on mobile devices is something that the analysts have gotten wrong (so far).

At International SOS, our CRM system, extranet sites, and a few other systems are available on a mobile platform. But just because it is available does not mean that it is used on a wide-scale basis. There are two reasons for this.

The first is connectivity to the Internet has become mainstream in most countries, even developing ones, so connecting to our systems with a laptop is easy. The second is that a majority of users use their mobile devices to read e-mail which also works in most countries. So why would I use my mobile device with its 2.5 inch screen to look at customer information or our logistics systems when I can use my laptop in most places? We have people staffed in 72 countries providing time-sensitive support to our clients, so connectivity to systems is critical.

We use a variety of wireless and satellite technologies for access anywhere, but this is critical for our business and not critical for most other companies. For most businesses, the right mix of access, screen size and mobile behavior is just not there yet.

2007 was...
... When many companies' IT groups and systems matured. I know this is a big generalization, however CMM, ISO, ITIL and other process standards were established or strengthened at many companies. Almost every CIO I have spoken to recently, mentioned process standardization and continual improvement strategies as the core of their operations management practices. As our systems have become more complex, I think IT organizations have adjusted by implementing standards that allow predictable systems management rather than reactive management.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments in 2008 will be...
... Keeping and finding great talent. I am currently involved in IT recruitment efforts in Singapore, China, Europe, and the United States, and competition for good people in this global marketplace is a challenge and costs are rising. In 2008, we managers need to figure out better ways to engage our people, create a personally rewarding work environment and better utilize our team's strengths. This is challenging since our businesses are often global, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and our systems have become more integrated and complex.

Foo Mao Gen, managing director, South Asia and Hong Kong, Interwoven

techoutlookinterwovenfoomaogen.jpg
Foo Mao Gen,
Interwoven
New social networking Web sites pop up almost every day. This phenomenon is changing the way companies engage with customers, forcing decision makers to realize how important it is to analyze the plethora of information that is floating around the Web today.

Q. Social networking sites...
Foo: ... Have created an environment where customers now have multiple touch points with an organization. It isn't just about the interaction with a salesperson or customer service representative anymore. Customers have the option of building discussion threads on a forum to celebrate or demonise a company or product.

New social networking Web sites pop up almost every day. This phenomenon is changing the way companies engage with customers, forcing decision makers to realize how important it is to analyze the plethora of information that is floating around the Web today.

Many have incorporated content management abilities into their online architectures that enable them to mine some of this information to build a better customer interface. Instead of fighting this development and being on the defensive, companies are engaging with user groups, sometimes creating their own presence where open discussion is encouraged. This leads to a better understanding of the marketplace, its habits and preferences, and eventually a better product or service focused on fulfilling a specific need.

Most IT heads often forget to...
... Work into their legacy systems the ability to manage and optimize data and document flows. In today's competitive, customer-driven markets, companies across all industries face new pressures to deliver a relevant, personalized, and consistent experience across all customer touch-points and geographies.

The sheer volume of content generated from these various interactions is resulting in companies feeling like they're drowning under this deluge. With the appropriate content and customer experience management tools in place, IT heads can better manage all this information and build the connection loops between internal resources, firm-generated content, and the users' feedback.

With globalization, there's also a growing need to ensure that brands, policies and best practices are managed/interchanged in a consistent manner across the globe. This could mean that a company's subsidiary in Korea, for example, will have access to the same set of logos, brand materials/codes to create the same experience about its brand.

Customer research, press materials, and media coverage, that are generated in any market can also be easily accessed across the different subsidiaries to ensure that best practices can be adopted and adhered to. This issue of digital rights management needs to be seen as important as every other issue facing the IT department.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The ability to maintain control over the IT assets of an organization and in the process, enhance productivity, increase operational efficiency and reduce the risk exposure of the company. In addition, they also frequently overlook the importance of adequately interpreting and building compliance management capabilities into their systems. To adhere to strict compliance regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, companies need to ensure there is an auditable trail for all forms of content from documents to web pages. As collaboration moves online and business users are empowered to update and edit relevant content to improve operational efficiency and increase productivity, a proper workflow and version control is essential to adhere to compliance regulations.

Matt Kolon, chief technology officer for Asia-Pacific, Juniper Networks

techoutlookjunipermattkolon.jpg
Matt Kolon,
Juniper Networks
Expect a focus on improving the application experience of the end user. That means recognizing that the application is what matters to the end user, and IT departments will increasingly focus on the importance of that experience.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Kolon: We generally witnessed more interest in integrated security solutions. While there is still demand for more comprehensive solutions, customers are seeing the benefits of a unified threat management (UTM) approach to streamline their security stance. This is because the distributed branches of regional companies want a simplified, one-stop solution to thwart multiple threat types without the complexities of many point products. UTM reduces IT administrative overhead, allowing the IT department to focus on a single management interface. This optimizes training and troubleshooting.

Unified access control (UAC) is another highlight. Because the Internet has become the defacto access method for both internal and external resources, a central control point is now required to better manage security and deployment for different user groups and types.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008, and explain why.
Expect a focus on improving the application experience of the end user. That means recognizing that the application is what matters to the end user, and IT departments will increasingly focus on the importance of that experience. Controlling access to network resources in a simple and scalable way, is an example of how our customers have and will continue to address application performance and access. Other examples are improving application performance over the WAN and via 3G and WiMax.

IT departments are tasked to find cost-effective ways to better serve the existing needs of their internal customers, while at the same time budgeting time and money for innovation. This pulls IT departments in two directions, and makes budgets tight and planning difficult. Making the most out of what you have, and enhancing the existing experience, is the key driver for this. But it's important to recognize that the important thing is still the application, so we don't simply speak of "WAN acceleration", for example, but rather "application enhancement".

IT security continues to be a perennial problem. Please name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Next year will see larger and larger implementations of UAC into the enterprise. This will be driven by three requirements: greater need for compliance, more and better endpoint security due to the growing number of attacks targeted towards endpoints, and also the greater ease of implementation.

The introduction of SOH (Statement of Health) protocol into TCG as IF-TNCCS-SOH will more easily enable companies to pervasively implement endpoint security, authentication and authorization on Microsoft Windows Vista and XP operating systems.

Another big trend is the increasing consolidation of equipment functionality. Nobody wants to deploy more devices than they have to, so security is going to be increasingly seen as an integrated component of other devices. For example, while we've seen some manufacturers introduce branch routers with rudimentary security features, we have yet to see a true 'security router' that combines real routing performance with security worthy of a bank or government department. We'll see that before long.

There will be similar integration of other security capabilities in switches and other equipment as well. And of course, this consolidation extends to the application layer with the improvement and integration of UTM.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... In staying flexible. That means being able to address innovation on one hand while keeping in mind Gartner's warning for next year, about the strong possibility for IT heads of recession. Of course, competitiveness requires innovation; nowhere more so than in IT, so it's not possible for the CIO to simply say "this is not an investment year". The trick is in investing in network flexibility that can be used in many ways to cut operating expenses and to innovate as conditions change.

David Miller, president, Lenovo Asia-Pacific

techoutlooklenovodavidmiller.jpg
David Miller,
Lenovo
I am always talking about my top three priorities in life--faith, family and work--and I have no qualms telling my team at Lenovo that those priorities are in that order.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Miller: Certainly one of the most anticipated technology releases of the year was Windows Vista. 2007 will probably be remembered as the year that the electronics industry, along with many others, went 'green'. Lenovo raised the bar for PC innovation with the introduction of some of the most environmentally conscious products in the PC industry.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
We'll continue to see user demands increase in terms of mobile computing and the features and functionalities offered in notebooks. Consequently, security will continue to be important, and particularly to notebook users. The quest for green products, more robust mobile computing solutions and enhanced security--these are some of the trends we see continuing into 2008.

While 2007 was a busy and exciting year for Lenovo, we plan to continue developing new innovations related to biometrics, wireless technology and design in the year ahead.

Work-life balance is...
... A critical factor in employee satisfaction, and this is an area where I firmly believe is important for management to lead by example. I am always talking about my top three priorities in life--faith, family and work--and I have no qualms telling my team at Lenovo that those priorities are in that order.

When they see me heading home, I hope that it inspires them to optimize the way they work so they can also head home and spend time with their families.

Achieving a healthy work-life balance is more within the control of individual employees than most realize. It's about translating the desire for a better balance into actions that help achieve that goal. To achieve this, managers and their staff need to work together.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The ongoing challenge of achieving the objective of maintaining systems that operate on the most current technology while working with limited budgets. This is something we have worked hard to address; we built "mini IT teams" into our products with our award-winning ThinkVantage Technologies (TVTs).

This year, to help IT departments get the most out of their investment, we integrated our TVTs with Windows Vista. We've continued to evolve these technologies over the years to help ThinkPad users, whether individuals or organizations, lower the total cost of ownership of their PCs.

Ashley Wearne, McAfee's vice president for Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and India

techoutlookmcafeeashleywearne.jpg
Ashley Wearne,
McAfee
As threats evolve and grow, enterprises can no longer depend on a motley collection of standalone security products, and they need an integrated security approach.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Wearne: The business reality is CIOs and security managers have always had to compete with other corporate functions for funds. CIOs are well-schooled in doing more with less.

At McAfee, we are able to help our customers with ways to model the benefits of security technology and show their impact on risk reduction. This allows them to have a quality conversation with the business people regarding their security spend.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008, and explain why.
The first is data loss prevention. Enterprises are realizing that loss of data and leakage of confidential information is the most important security threat. As enterprises give employees more access to information, there are more opportunities to lose information--through USB thumb drives, e-mail, disk drives, employees who cut and paste data or post information on online forums and Web sites. While organizations want to give employees a lot of tools, they also need to identify the most important data, who has access to those data, and how to control access.

A McAfee study found that six in 10 companies suffered loss of confidential data last year, and one out of every three IT decision makers believes that a major data loss incident could be serious enough to put their company out of business. Enterprises are beginning to invest in security solutions that will help them control data loss and leakage. Analyst predictions are that every company will adopt data loss protection technology over the next three years.

The second is network intrusion prevention, integrated with network access control (NAC). As soon as a user connects to the Internet, he is exposed to threats that can come from anywhere in the world and from any source--e-mail, Web surfing, spyware. In addition, today's attacks are stealthy and complex.

The deployment of network intrusion prevention devices remains a high growth component in enterprise security strategy. IPS systems keep networks and network-connected devices safe with comprehensive threat prevention. Today's IPS technology is much advanced, with ability to monitor access policy and the users who have already connected to the network. If the network traffic from those users subsequently breaks corporate policy (for example, due to rogue programs or illegal sign-ons or virus) they can be removed from the network to a quarantine area and remediated automatically.

The third is blade appliances to handle security functions. The increasing speed of networks from 1Gb to over 10 Gb leads to massive increases in the amount of traffic to be inspected at the gateway for malicious content. Additionally the continually increasing volumes of spam and legitimate e-mail are resulting in demand for much higher throughput at the gateway. Of course, with these increases in speed and data volumes, downtime is even less acceptable, and the need for expansion an even more important criteria.

Blade appliances with extra high speed throughput will make a big entry into the security space in 2008 to handle gateway traffic inspection.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... Undertaking new security technology projects without including integration between technologies as a criteria. As threats evolve and grow, enterprises can no longer depend on a motley collection of standalone security products, and they need an integrated security approach.

As they are likely to use products from more than one vendor, it is important to ensure the products automatically communicate with each other, and in the event of an attack on the network, the different technologies are able to put into motion a series of events to identify, contain and fix the problem.

Work-life balance is...
... A false expectation. Expectations are not realistic because of two reasons. One, people think that the balance must be there every day and, two, people think that to have balance, time spent at work and outside of work must be equal. Work needs to be a subset of our life, and since it's our life, we must take more control of it and not just hand it over to the company.

E.L. Tay, president, Motorola Singapore

techoutlookmotorolaeltay.jpg
E.L. Tay,
Motorola
By creating a complete platform where the mobile device is open and integrated with the Internet, everyone in the mobile ecosystem--the OEMs and carriers, the developers and the consumers--will benefit.

Q. The debate on open source is...
Tay: ...Useful for the industry as it provides a starting point for innovation, especially for the mobile phone industry, as manufacturers and mobile operators spend a significant amount of time acting as system integrators of disparate suites of technology from multiple providers. This integration effort distracts these companies from the real task at hand: creating innovative and differentiating features for their customers.

As Motorola has long been an advocate of open software, we have been active around the world in creating, participating and supporting development communities for mobile platforms. We have a rich ecosystem of hundred of thousands of applications and services partners in the mobile space. Therefore, we have just recently joined with Google and other members of the broader Linux community to form the Open Handset Alliance, to advance the development of a connected, vertically integrated Mobile Linux-based platform and a rich set of connected Java applications. With Android, the Alliance has created a complete, open, and freely available next-generation mobile platform.

Today, both the cost and the complexity of mobile software development are on the rise, even as mobile hardware costs are dropping. By creating a complete platform where the mobile device is open and integrated with the Internet, everyone in the mobile ecosystem--the OEMs and carriers, the developers and the consumers--will benefit.

What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
One of the most impactful pieces of news for the telecoms and broadband space has been the inclusion of WiMax into the IMT-2000 family of technologies by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Prior to this development, many of the regulators were sitting on the fence with regards to the award of licenses, especially in the 2.5GHz band.

Recent decisions to open up the spectrum and award WiMAX licenses to both incumbents and greenfield operators has been greatly influenced by the ITU's decision. This not only brings the promise of broadband connections and services to a larger cross section of the population but allows for an evolutionary leap in technology leading the way to more user-involved participation in the development of Web-based content.

Work-life balance is...
... The expression "work-life balance" was created to help explain the unhealthy life choices that many people are making; they were choosing to neglect other important areas of their lives such as family, friends and hobbies, in favor of work-related chores and goals.

WLB is at the heart of Motorola as a responsible and caring employer, and through HR policies and wellness activities, we encourage our staff to strive for a healthy balance between work and private life.

But, at the end of the day, work-life balance is in the mind and body of people, not something an organization can enforce. The individual has to decide what work-life balance means to him or her, what practical compromise they need to make and then how to leverage on the work-life balance programs made available by the company they work for.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Especially after the mentioned ITU decision, we expect to see more decisions towards WiMAX network implementations across the region in the next year. At the same time, we anticipate the first WiMax-enabled chipsets to hit the market, making broadband connections available to an even wider population through all kinds of devices--both stationary and mobile.

This will also further drive the trend towards unified communications as fixed and mobile networks will converge, allowing not only for more cost efficient network management, but also enabling new, more user focused communication solutions.

For the mobile phone industry, it will be interesting to see the first Android-based solutions hit the market, as this platform has the potential to revolutionize the market. Motorola and, of course, other members of the Open Platform Alliance plan to leverage the Android platform to enable seamless, connected services and rich consumer experiences in future products.

Andrew Namboka, chief technologist, Asia-Pacific, Nokia Enterprise Solutions

techoutlooknokiaandrewnamboka.jpg
Andrew Namboka,
Nokia
Mobile access technologies need to provide confidentiality, to prevent unauthorized parties from eavesdropping or interpreting the transferred information. Secure links must be retained when the network changes.

Q: Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Namboka: As information continues to move to the edge of the organization with deployment of business mobility, and more personal devices being brought into the business space, organizations are looking to strengthen their security measures around the perimeter and beyond.

The three key security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008 include:
•  Being vigilant with Wi-Fi access. The convenience to access information using wireless does have its issues, due to their very openness. With no encryption or filtering protections for users, most public hotspots are easy prey for cyber criminals.

Hackers often lurk on public Wi-Fi nets, sniffing network traffic as it passes by for things like passwords, credit card numbers, or means of attacking devices that are using wireless. For example, they can also look for users who have turned on file sharing, and get direct access to the locally stored data. This can allow access to key corporate assets and put the organizations at serious risk.

Hence, network authentication is critical. Only authorized and authenticated users can be allowed to access information or corporate services. Mobile access technologies also need to provide confidentiality, to prevent unauthorized parties from eavesdropping or interpreting the transferred information. Secure links must be retained when the network changes.

Network authentication further defends organizations against a less well-publicized vulnerability, bandwidth robbing, which leads to genuine employees experiencing poor network connectivity service due to unauthorized Wi-Fi bandwidth usage.

•  The second is managing the disconnect, proactively. Mobility is a grass-roots development. Individuals have recognized the value of mobile access to data, e-mail and other applications when away from their desks, even if they are still on campus.

However, they are circumventing the IT department and adopting mobility personally. As such, it is likely that there are far more mobile devices in circulation in any organization than its IT department knows about. This means corporate data is daily walking out of the door with employees and regularly transferred on unsecured public networks. Furthermore, employees are accessing the corporate network with mobile devices that are not subject to corporate safeguards.

With device management, organizations can maintain total control of sensitive corporate data, synchronize user data, configure device settings, and install software applications remotely--all through a single, easy-to-use administrative console. In the event that a device is lost or stolen, a quick call to the IT department can help rectify the situation by immediately preventing any other user from accessing confidential information. Within moments, it is possible to delete email, PIM data, and other sensitive files, as well as wipe the device and restore the original factory settings.

•  Finally, preventing intrusions. In most organizations, the IT infrastructure is in a constant state of flux. From one month to the next, the changing number of network entry points in the form of wireless networks, new business ventures, mergers and acquisitions, collaborative web services for customers and suppliers, outsourced business processes and offshore partnerships, all represent an opportunity for compromise. As such, there is a need to detect and quarantine attacks and address vulnerabilities in real time without significantly degrading the performance of legitimate network traffic.

Intrusion prevention appliances can help to prioritize known threats dependent on their business impact with the minimum of human prevention and business disruption. These systems work on two principal levels: comparing network traffic with known threats; and passively scanning traffic to deduce information about the network from application behavior.

They work in real-time, rather than based on active timed scans, so they have a constant view of an organization's extended and virtual infrastructure. By aggregating and prioritizing event information from the sensors, the most critical events to an organization's business can be determined by comparing them with defined policies and appropriate actions then taken.

To combat the less predictable unknown threats such as those generally classed as zero day threats, a comprehensive threat management approach is required, to go beyond inline intrusion prevention defenses and to execute a co-ordinated threat response to distributed, unknown and unpredictable attacks leveled at network assets and resources.

Lim Khiang Tong, head of technology for Singapore, group operations and technology division, OCBC Bank

ocbckhiangtongsmall.jpg
Lim Khiang Tong,
OCBC Bank
In the case of open source software, we still see it at its infancy stage at an enterprise level. For organizations, it is a risky proposal for enterprise or critical deployments. Although considerably cheaper than packaged alternatives, it is still dependent on a community of developers and users.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Lim: With the recent turmoil in credit markets and general economic uncertainty, we are beginning to see many businesses feeling the global effects of the crisis in U.S. credit markets and the drop in near-term economic confidence. This will affect organization's expenditure, and IT heads have to be watchful with the way they are spending each dollar.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
The first is more efficient and greener data centers. Data Centers are growing rapidly, and there is a need to consolidate and optimize data centers which today account for a considerable percentage of power consumption, and as business grows, correspondingly the scope and nature of data centers grow. Companies have to start re-thinking how to apply new cutting-edge technologies, smarter investments to optimize data center's space and utilization.

There will also be a convergence of security infrastructure and applications, especially in financial institutions. We have to continuously invest heavily to enhance our IT security infrastructure to safeguard and protect customer information. Financially-motivated attacks will continue and this is where fraud prevention is essential. Web-based threats will continue, with Web sites becoming easier to access personal information and users are increasingly open to "phishing" attacks. As the use of new mobile platforms become more popular, downloaded applications with security loopholes can be easily exploited as well. Hence, IT security is something we cannot compromise.

The third is technology channels convergence. There will be a growing trend in technological convergence, for companies to offer services to customers through various types of technology channels, at cheaper costs and more accessibility.

Name one prediction that the analysts got wrong or right.
One area that analysts predicted correctly is the speed of vendor consolidation which was fuelled by an increasing business demand to offer end-to-end service. It was difficult for organizations to have so many piece-meal applications solely for the purpose of servicing one customer. Vendors saw the need to acquire new technologies, know-how to offer such products and services to organizations which are looking at consolidating internal systems to achieve higher productivity and economies of scale.

In the case of open source software, we still see it at its infancy stage at an enterprise level. For organizations, it is a risky proposal for enterprise or critical deployments. Although considerably cheaper than packaged alternatives, it is still dependent on a community of developers and users. It is on this point where predictions did not materialize as expected.

What is the biggest myth about virtualization, and why?
A perennial myth is that it isn't safe to virtualize mission-critical applications. I am of the view that by virtualizing, we are able to move applications between data centers for disaster recovery without any downtime for users. It provides a more stable environment. If your company is driven by business, you need flexibility, and virtualization is an option.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
They would be network security, information security management and fraud detection

What is the one mistake a CIO cannot afford to make?
IT definitely can deliver business value when an organization's IT team is proactive, anticipate business needs and have a clear view of how technology contributes to the business. When such a culture is embedded in an organization's culture, you can expect better and faster IT response to business needs.

What is needed to have IT actively participate in business strategy meetings, support a strong system of performance measurement driven primarily by business value measures, and drive the business strategy in many cases. For such meetings, it is essential to include the involvement of key IT team members and business people to brainstorm on possible ways for using IT to improve your company's revenue, reduce costs, improve your company's competitive position and change the industry competitive dynamics.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Balancing the increasing IT cost against the quality of service provided by our IT vendors. And with it comes the additional challenge of delivering service differentiation where it becomes a top strategic mandate to leverage on innovation and/or technology optimization to deliver an end-product for customers at a cheaper cost.

Another challenge faced is the presence of a tight labor market where it becomes difficult to recruit technology people who posses a strong background in banking. What we really need are people who are not just good technologists, but who possess good banking domain experience as well. For example, talents with specialized skills in the business of trade finance, payments, treasury or credit cards.

Frank Koo, managing director, Oracle Singapore

techoutlookoraclefrankkoo.jpg
Frank Koo,
Oracle Singapore
The key challenge for organizations will be to distill meaningful, reusable knowledge by bridging the traditional structured world of corporate data, with the unstructured world of Enterprise 2.0.

Q. Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Koo: The three major technology solutions to watch in 2008 to help organizations to keep pace are:

•  Governance, risk and compliance management. 2007 saw the reputations of many organizations--from global manufacturers, and banks to even governments--come under scrutiny as they faced explosive product quality issues, serious data breaches, unethical business practices, and the list goes on.
As a result, 2008 will see a renewed focus on risk management and compliance--whether it is a business executive looking for better ways to manage risk, a finance manager tasked with regulatory compliance, an IT director managing multiple Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) project requests, or a supply chain manager tasked with enforcing compliance across the company’s ecosystem.

•  Easier integration. 2008 will also see innovations in application and data integration. In what is an imperfect and heterogeneous world, one of the biggest challenges is to mesh a variety of applications from different vendors, and to connect disparate pieces of structured and unstructured data to gain greater business agility. At the data integration layer, we will see innovations in database technology to connect disparate pieces of pertinent information so that companies can make timely decisions. At the application integration layer, we will see a shift away from the ad-hoc, point-to-point integration connectors offered by numerous vendors, to an architectural approach to application integration.

•  Enterprise 2.0 and data flexibility-–In 2008, we will start to see Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, social networks and blogs pervade the workplace. The key challenge for organizations will be to distill meaningful, reusable knowledge by bridging the traditional structured world of corporate data, with the unstructured world of Enterprise 2.0. It's about how to leverage existing tools and services in new ways; it's about how to reflect contextual relationships between apparently unrelated services to produce a holistic view of things--to create systems that people want to use, rather than have to use.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
... Taking a piecemeal and tactical approach to building the information architecture. This myopic thinking results in integration challenges as well as problems arising from working with multiple vendors. There is inflexibility in the IT infrastructure to cope with the rapid changes and demands from businesses.

CIOs need to consider a future-proof, end-to-end information architecture that is based on open standards--built around a single technology stack spanning applications, middleware and database--with strong industry processes. This will ensure that the information architecture is flexible and scalable to keep up with the unrelenting pace of business today. For example, with a service-oriented architecture (SOA), organizations can develop modular business services that are easily integrated and reused.

As organizations search for their competitive edge and try all sorts of new business models, a one-size-fits all approach will no longer suffice. Organizations need to leverage on applications fine-tuned for specific industries and situations, which are easily integrated into the infrastructure. This means that CIOs and their teams can spend minimal time and resources on integration and maintenance chores, but provide more support on revenue-generating activities and innovation for their companies.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Data management. Data, structured and unstructured, is growing at an exponential rate. Beyond maps, images, documents and e-mail, IT departments have to deal with new data types such as 3D spatial models representing transportation models or construction simulations. What's more, the brave new world of Web 2.0 has brought about free-form collaboration tools like wikis, social networks and blogs that are infiltrating the enterprise.

There is an urgent need for organizations to bridge the traditional structured world of corporate data and the unstructured world of Enterprise 2.0. By consolidating the silos of structured and unstructured data across the enterprise into a centralized database, there will be improved business process integration, simplified management, and increased accessibility and availability of pertinent information to make timely decisions.

Robert Kleinschmidt, managing director, Panduit Asia-Pacific
techoutlookpanduitrobertkelinschmidt.jpg
Robert Kleinschmidt,
Panduit Asia-Pacific
There is now a renewed focus on increasing server density in data centers with blade servers while controlling cooling cost and power consumption through more efficient airflow and cooling techniques.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Kleinschmidt: The biggest industry news in 2007 centered on the rise in office rents and power price hikes coupled with the elevated awareness of the need to be ever more environmentally friendly.

In the context of IT deployments, the pressure on enterprises is to lower cost by lowering their physical footprint requirements and dropping unnecessary power usage by designing and deploying efficient computing facilities. There is now a renewed focus on increasing server density in data centers with blade servers while controlling cooling cost and power consumption through more efficient airflow and cooling techniques.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
There are many ways to look at the economy in 2008, and Gartner really has a couple of important predictions in its findings--that the US economy will go into recession and that Asia-Pacific will remain largely unaffected, with IT budgets expected to grow 5 percent.

That said, what matters in a budget depends very much on the priorities of each individual company, as well as the characters of the CEO, CFO and the board. Yes, they could contract spending in Asia-Pacific, going in line with what's happening in the U.S. market. However, a better strategy could be to continue to invest in Asia-Pacific to take advantage of the expected continued growth trends and therefore, in a way, compensate for the expected U.S. recession.

As the United States goes into recession, this usually translates into outsourcing opportunities for Asia. As a result of this, plus the continued regional growth, a significant trend in Asia will be the growth of data center services. According to the Broad Group, a global data center consulting group, the market in Asia for data centers will grow from US$1.2 billion in 2007 to US$2 billion by 2010.

In the light of rising energy costs, this growth will be led by data center operators that have an efficient design and sustainable business models. For example, the Broad Group also predicts that data centers will start to charge by power consumption. Internal and external data center service providers would do well to realize this trend and think about how to prepare for it.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
•  InfiniBand--We expect the demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and storage networks to drive up demand for enabling technologies such as InfiniBand. In the old days, HPC meant fast servers packed closely together. However, InfiniBand technology is challenging this practice.

Typically thought of as a clustering protocol best applied within the walls of an IT center to connect servers to storage, Panduit is now seeing an increase in demand for use of InfiniBand to merge InfiniBand fabrics into a unified network, connecting high-performance computing clusters. The InfiniBand of today and tomorrow is expected to provide high performance, moderate cost, high bandwidth and low latency for data transport that will further drive HPC solutions.

•  10 Gigabit Ethernet over copper--With Gigabit networking becoming a standard on desktops and notebooks, technology departments are suddenly faced with the prospect of aggregating the bandwidth on the backend with 10 Gigabit (10G) trunks in the data center.

Previously, costly fiber links were the only way to run 10G but now, network managers can run 10G in the data center over standard lower cost Category 6A copper cabling. In addition, the availability of low cost 10G bandwidth is also driving the migration of storage area networks from fiber channel onto standard IP networks.

•  Cooling technology--Rising energy costs have made the issue of energy efficient infrastructures more prominent. Additionally, with the global focus on reducing climate change and being environmentally responsible, Panduit believes that there will be more innovation with regard to environmentally sustainable solutions.

Data centers constitute a large portion of enterprises' energy usage needs, with 'cooling; accounting for a substantial amount. The rapid shift to blade servers for lower 'cost per space' has exacerbated the thermal issue and thermal management solutions will be in high demand to reduce business costs, yet allow for adequate protection of IT assets.

For example, in a high-density blade server environment, eight server cabinet doors using advanced water cooling technology to provide direct cooling to the blade server cabinet can replace one Computer Room Air Conditioner (CRAC) while doubling servers and halving the number of cabinets.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... How to move to a converged IP network while dealing with the proliferation of devices, like wireless access points, VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) phones, and security cameras, that need to be connected to the network.

When moving toward a converged network, proper planning and network design are essential, as are enabling technologies like Power over Ethernet (PoE) that will manage power to devices across the enterprise. PoE also helps business continuity in a converged environment as continuous power supply systems can be centralized for all PoE-powered devices such that in the event of a power failure, critical communications are not affected.

Jim Simon, Asia-Pacific marketing director, Quantum

techoutlookquantumjimsimon.jpg
Jim Simon,
Quantum
Some successful organizations "turn lemons into lemonade" by taking advantage of a recessionary budget cycle to accelerate ahead of their competition by investing, when others aren't.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Simon: Business cycles come and go. Some successful organizations "turn lemons into lemonade" by taking advantage of a recessionary budget cycle to accelerate ahead of their competition by investing, when others aren't. This will make the organizations more efficient and in a better position to capitalize when the business cycle begins to expand.

Most IT heads often forget to...
… Routinely practice a data recovery emergency. Like any rescue team it takes practice so that when a real emergency arises the team has the confidence and skills to address it quickly and effectively.

Work-life balance is...
... Essential. Too much time in one pursuit or the other can oftentimes end in less than desirable outcomes!

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Data growth. For the past few decades, data has been growing between 50 percent and 100 percent per year.

Ensuring that a company's critical data from laptops to data centers is protected in a highly available yet cost-effective manner has been a challenge, but Quantum's mission is to help address our customers' challenges with backup, recovery, and archive.

Gregory Wade, vice president, SingTel Bharti and 3 Hong Kong business unit, Asia-Pacific, Research In Motion

techoutlookrimgregwade.jpg
Gregory Wade,
Research In Motion
Organizations also increasingly understand that work is not a place employees commute to, rather, it is something they get done. Thus, mobility and technology play an important role in attaining a better work-life balance.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Wade: 2007 marked an increase in mobile convergence with the widespread availability and adoption of smartphones. As wireless technology is evolving, so are consumers' needs. More and more, consumers are looking for a feature-rich experience through enhancements such as Wi-Fi and GPS.

In fact, ABI Research states that by 2011, over 325 million converged Wi-Fi/cellular phones will be shipped worldwide. This comes as no surprise as businesses today operate in a global economy and there are high demands to mobilize the workforce and operations.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
As a result of the increasing popularity of mobile solutions, and the need for effective communication and collaboration, we see the following three key trends developing:

The first is the increased adoption of mobile beyond e-mail applications. Today's workforce is more mobile than ever. Enterprises are seeing an increasing need to use mobile technology as a means to increase productivity and enhance revenue. Mobile users are also becoming increasingly demanding that their smartphones provide functions that are beyond basic telephony and mobile e-mail.

Salesforce automation, business intelligence, CRM and IT systems management applications that are available on the BlackBerry platform, for instance, not only provide companies with increased flexibility and visibility on-the-go, but also allows companies to drive greater user adoption, and get real-time updates from the field by giving their professionals access to customer, sales, and service information.

The lines between an enterprise smartphone user and a consumer smartphone user are also blurring as the needs and lifestyle of today's mobile professional becomes more sophisticated. Instant Messaging programs such as GoogleTalk, BlackBerry Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger can now be downloaded onto a smartphone easily and securely. Recently we also announced the availability of Facebook as an application for BlackBerry smartphones, making it faster, easier and more convenient for consumers to stay wirelessly connected with their Facebook contacts.

The second is an increased demand for secure platforms to address security concerns of enterprise mobility. Smartphones today have gone beyond simple voice functions such as call dialing and voicemail. They have become a crucial asset to today's mobile professional, containing confidential and crucial business data such as contact lists, account passwords, e-mails records and file attachments. As such, the security risks for such devices increase as well, and serious security breaches can happen and business data potentially jeopardized if a mobile device is lost or stolen, or when employees are not adequately educated on security risks associated with mobility devices.

Expect to see further convergence as well. With mobile technology advancing and undergoing convergence, mobile devices are now able to provide location-based services such as GPS, include both cellular and Wi-Fi networks and can switch seamlessly between the two. Consumers can now unify landline and mobile calls with built-in Wi-Fi functionalities, detecting the most advantageous network in terms of cost or signal strength and route data over the network.

Social networking sites...
... Are now accessible through smartphones. For example, we recently announced the availability of Facebook on BlackBerry smartphones in the form of a free download application. This means consumers can now get fast, streamlined and optimized mobile access to the popular Facebook social utility using a BlackBerry smartphone

Work-life balance is...
... Growing in importance as companies realize that a balance must be found personally and professionally to boost productivity. Organizations also increasingly understand that work is not a place employees commute to, rather, it is something they get done.

Thus, mobility and technology play an important role in attaining a better work-life balance.

Andy Solterbeck, CTO, SafeNet

techoutlooksafenetandysolterbeck.jpg
Andy Solterbeck,
SafeNet
The single biggest issue facing today's CIO/CSO is ensuring that they meet their internal and external audit requirements. To date there have not been real solutions to allow them to meet this obligation without significant cost.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Solterbeck: Looking back at 2007, I believe the biggest story in wide area networking was the advent of Ethernet as a transport technology in conjunction with the explosion in bandwidth requirements.

Today the sweet spot in networking is 1 Gb on the edge and 10 Gb in the core, and we expect that number to be 10 Gb on the edge and 40/100 Gb in the core by 2009. We also expect that our customers will migrate from Layer 3 IP services to high-speed Ethernet in the core.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
While we do expect IT spend overall to decrease as a percentage of revenue, we expect security solutions to go against that trend. We also expect to see consolidation of the vendors that service the security market.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Ethernet wide area networking: The cost/performance and simplicity of deployment will drive adoption, while continued enhancement of the standard will allow Ethernet to carry mission critical data.

Enterprise mobile applications: With the continued advancement of standards such as OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform) we expect to see mobile devices emerge as trusted platforms prompting Enterprises to begin deploying mission critical applications to mobile devices.

Enterprise compliance systems: The single biggest issue facing today's CIO/CSO is ensuring that they meet their internal and external audit requirements. To date there have not been real solutions to allow them to meet this obligation without significant cost. We expect to see the initial offerings that automate these requirements to appear in 2008.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Application security: We expect to see security embedded into more and more applications, as this is the correct architectural approach. We also expect that these security functions will be managed by security applications servers (such as Hardware Security Modules).

Emergence of Ethernet network security: Due to the inherent complexity and overhead of IPSec we expect to see the adoption of Layer 2 Ethernet security through the adoption of MACsec.

Device embedded security: We expect to see more devices where cryptographic function is embedded in the device, which will in turn lead to the requirement for large scale key management systems.

Steve Russell, president and CEO, Asia-Pacific, Salesforce.com

techoutlooksalesforcesteverussell.jpg
Steve Russell,
Salesforce.com
Every major vendor acknowledged that the future of software industry is not tied to a set of heterogeneous software delivered on CDs, but to a set of heterogeneous services delivered over the Internet.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Russell: Every major vendor acknowledged that the future of software industry is not tied to a set of heterogeneous software delivered on CDs, but to a set of heterogeneous services delivered over the Internet--services that are scalable, reliable, available and offers ease of integration.

Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and many others are now pursuing the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model that salesforce.com has been pioneering for almost a decade. Whether they in fact survive this market-driven shift may well be the biggest industry news in the next few years.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Gartner have also reported that "US$8 out of every US$10 spent on IT is dead money--not contributing directly to business change or growth".

The reality is that too much money spent on IT is allocated to simply keeping the lights on. I would expect that a recession, while not desired, would accelerate the adoption of SaaS as IT heads more proactively seek alternatives to current software distribution and licensing models, which are characterized by the seemingly endless and costly install-update-upgrade cycles.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008, and explain why.
1) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Companies are increasingly wanting to manage all of their business information on-demand. I expect that companies will increasingly embrace PaaS (platform vs. applications) to develop, customize, integrate and deploy an endless range of applications beyond CRM.

2) Application Directories: Companies will increasingly source their applications as services over the Internet. Common aggregation points--directories such as The AppExchange--will become the starting point for evaluating software applications

3) Social networking becomes ubiquitous: Companies will tap the "wisdom of crowds" (employees, customers, partners, etc.) to set strategy. To do so, they will leverage Web 2.0 technology to build business-oriented communities in a similar fashion to consumer Web sites such as Facebook. A great example is Dell's IdeaStorm.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Not making decisions that they will regret in three years' time. There has never been more innovation in the software industry than there is today. The rules of how software is developed, delivered and consumed are fundamentally changing. Savvy IT departments are increasingly realizing how to provoke an unprecedented level of business innovation without a heavy reliance on infrastructure and large capital budgets.

Just as we saw the evolution of CIO from Chief Infrastructure to Chief Information Officers in the last decade, next generation CIOs will be focused on business innovation (Chief Innovation Officers), enabling enterprises with extremely agile business models.

IT needs a new vision for software...not simply another version of it. This vision is "Innovation. Not Infrastructure".

Camille Coles, regional marketing manager, Asia-Pacific, SAS Institute

techoutlooksascamillecoles.jpg
Camille Coles,
SAS Institute
The concept of "Best of Breed products" is overrated as piecing together the best car parts does not mean you will have a smooth running vehicle.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Coles: Consolidation has changed the dynamics of the business intelligence space globally and in Asia-Pacific. It will be interesting to see how long it will take before customers are impacted by product integration from such acquisitions.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
The pace at which the Asia-Pacific region is growing and projected to grow independent of the U.S. economy suggests a recession is not a near horizon issue. We have grown exponentially with our customers and partners who have experienced a similar pattern of sustained growth.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
1) Next-generation business intelligence software (as opposed to traditional query and reporting tools) that create true enterprise intelligence will grow in demand. An intelligent enterprise platform (combining BI, data integration, intelligence storage and analytics) is anticipated to be a growing priority for many organizations as they strive to surface accurate operational data and then accelerate the speed in which it is optimized to enable innovation.

2) Green technologies. We will see strong demand from companies for technologies that help them address sustainability, compliance and regulatory issues.

3) RFID. Although not new, we will see wider adoption across industries outside of retail and security. Watch out for new and interesting applications.

What was the most overrated technology product in 2007?
The concept of "Best of Breed products" is overrated as piecing together the best car parts does not mean you will have a smooth running vehicle.

Name one prediction that the analysts got wrong or right.
What they got right: BI market consolidation leaving SAS as the largest independent BI provider.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
The addition of advanced analytics to the ability to monitor diverse security events relevant to an enterprise is a key development. Many organizations will need both monitoring and analytics elements to efficiently utilize security information, and effectively detect and respond to an increasing variety of threats across a large, complex computing environment

Social networking sites...
... Are as time consuming as face-to-face networking. Why? Users are given instant access to much larger networks. It is great for keeping in touch with busy people, though, in other geographies. Social networking is rapidly becoming ubiquitous, both online and through mobile channels. Savvy marketers are already using social networks to optimize their marketing efforts through the provision of relevant content, platform and applications.

The debate on open source is...
... Not limited to technology, it is a culture propelling innovation in business models.

Most IT heads often forget to...
... Plan for the ongoing cost of governance.

Work-life balance is...
... In the eye of the beholder.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Shifting to become a holistic division enabling business transformation rather than a siloed department reacting to wish lists.

K. C. Yee, vice president for Asia-Pacific, Serena Software

techoutlookserenakcyee.jpg
K. C. Yee,
Serena Software
Given market conditions, IT departments will have to be even more careful when managing their budgets, even though they still need innovative IT to keep ahead of the competition.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Yee: It has to be the emergence of Facebook, which has been a showcase of how Web 2.0 mentality can breed innovation in unimaginable ways. Facebook started as a simple application designed to let college students keep track of each other. It quickly attracted millions of users and expanded beyond the college scene, connecting people all over the world in a virtual community.

But, Facebook's popularity reached unprecedented levels when earlier this year, they published a public API so that third-party developers could extend the Facebook platform and within days new applications were being created for Facebook. Within months there were thousands of applications, all being used by millions of Facebook subscribers. Next year will be exciting as we see the business community harness that innovation and use it to drive productivity.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Three technologies which are poised to change the way we do business in 2008 are Web services based on service-oriented architecture (SOA), software-as-a-service (SaaS), and business mashups.

More companies will move to SOA-based development next year as strong governance frameworks come to the fore, helping to reduce the chaos sometimes associated with SOA adoption. This is supported by the increasing number of SOA-compliant services applications which will deliver the savings and make a reality of the promises of SOA.

In regards to SaaS, to date the market has been dominated by the pure-play on-demand technology firms in addition to the likes of Oracle and Microsoft, but in 2008 other vendors will make giant leaps with their SaaS offerings.

In 2007, Web 2.0 made it possible for millions to create custom Web applications using open APIs and tools from the likes of Facebook and Google. In the same way, business mashups will come to the fore in 2008 as companies look to automate common business activities. In our challenging business environment, business mashups will enable companies and their business users to quickly address their everyday needs, freeing-up scarce IT application development resources to focus on more complex tasks.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Keeping up with the fast moving pace of IT innovation and their response time to their end-users. 2008 will be a year that will see the introduction of many new technologies. Therefore, the way that IT departments manage the impact of these technologies on the business is extremely important.

Given market conditions, IT departments will have to be even more careful when managing their budgets, even though they still need innovative IT to keep ahead of the competition. Therefore, managing IT budgets will also be a major challenge. Solutions such as virtualization, business mashups, and strategic outsourcing will allow companies to take advantage of innovation without increasing budgets.

Social networking sites...
... Have reached a new level of popularity over the last year, attracting tens of millions of users. Next year, more social networking sites will emerge, but these sites will be tailored to customers, employees, friends, and fans. For example, Serena had adopted Facebook as its corporate intranet, Nike has started its own social Web site, and even presidential hopefuls have started up their own social networks created for their campaigns.

Chee Heng Loon, vice president, Asia-Pacific, SonicWALL

techoutlooksonicwallcheehengloon.jpg
Chee Heng Loon,
SonicWALL
Network security and personal data integrity will continue to be a key concern, especially in the Web 2.0 era. More companies will look at security as a process, rather than an appliance, a technology or a certain configuration.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Chee: We shouldn't confuse forecasts of slower IT spending in the United States with the extreme scenario of a total halt in IT development investment. Companies will still need to upgrade their infrastructure and make planned investments to strengthen their businesses. SonicWALL has always been committed to engineering down the costs of creating a secure infrastructure and we believe the current economic environment is likely to work to our advantage.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Network security and personal data integrity will continue to be a key concern, especially in the Web 2.0 era. More companies will look at security as a process, rather than an appliance, a technology or a certain configuration. Firewalls, appliances and security solutions need to fit into risk management, rather than risk management being designed to fit into existing solutions.

At SonicWALL, we see three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008: Software as a service combined with Web 2.0; de-perimeterization; and network access control and anti-data leakage.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) and Web 2.0 together are making Web-based applications more comparable to locally hosted "fat client" apps. According to IDC, SaaS is expected to grow from US$9.3 billion today to US$21.4 billion in 2011. Technology is no longer a barrier--service-oriented architecture (SOA) creates a highly distributed, modular infrastructure with Web services standards in place. Networks and bandwidth are ubiquitous, and communities exist to build on SaaS platforms.

In the customer environment, the greater ease of matching demand and supply is bringing about cost reductions, and large software deployments are frustrating, making frequent updates difficult and expensive to manage. Along with the Gen Y coming into workforce and the increased use of consumer technologies in the enterprise, such as blogs, wikis and podcasts, these create new security challenges that are not being addressed by vendors yet.

The "big circle" around the network has been the enterprise security model since the 1990s. Times are changing, and this model is under pressure. Enterprises are shifting to a new architectural philosophy, protecting information clusters as opposed to the entire infrastructure. At SonicWALL, we see a move towards a contextual focus on users. As such, we will see firewalls move to lots of little circles for Web and identity-aware applications.

Network access control (NAC)/identity management was not as big (or as simple) as predicted in 2007. However, this might change with NAC integrating transaction security with IAM. The most dangerous users are internal personnel, not outsiders. With an increasingly mobile workforce, vendors need to make IAM relevant to the entire enterprise. IT heads will need an expanded IAM framework which defines the user, the role and the context. Transaction security with anomaly detection is expected to be baked in by 2010.

Social networking sites...
...Are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they can be a serious bandwidth and productivity drain during business hours. On the other hand, knowing what my child is doing on Facebook helps me to know even more about his/her interests and friends. It could be a good way of bridging the generation gap!

Work-life balance is...
... An important HR practice for a company such as SonicWALL as it helps to attract and retain talented staff, especially in today's economy. In fact, the senior management actively encourages the staff to achieve a balance in their work and private lives, and flexi-work schedules are worked out wherever possible to help employees better manage their time.

Such an arrangement is possible, thanks to the use of advanced wireless and mobility technologies that empower our employees with greater flexibility and the freedom to work anytime, anywhere.

More recently, we adopted a "Monday Morning Breakfast Gatherings" where weekly meetings are held but with a twist. Each employee takes turn to buy breakfast for the team on Mondays, and the otherwise stressful session is transformed into a casual gathering where people can get together, interact with each other in a semi-social surrounding and at the same time, have a discussion about work.

In fact, we've added a rating system to rate the breakfast brought in by our co-workers. We think that having a good Monday is essential to a good, smooth start to the work week ahead, just like driving a top performance sports car that is well oiled.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Driving down the costs and complexity of IT security solutions. With more businesses leveraging Web 2.0 tools, online advertising and an increasingly mobile workforce, the need for enterprise network traffic inspection continues to grow to protect against more intensive, application layer threats, increasing security processing load and protection requirements. As such, IT departments face the major challenge of driving down the cost and complexity of current network infrastructure options.

Saumil Nanavati, president, Sydus

techoutlooksydussaumilnanavati.jpg
Saumil Nanavati,
Sydus
Hopefully, in 2008, we will see more "juiced" up versions of "local" search as envisioned at the beginning of 2007. Services and business will need to be listed accurately in local search engines and applications that are integrated with mobile search, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008, and explain why.
Nanavati: The first is mobile music by streaming or on demand. The mobile music market is set to explode in the coming year. Companies are moving more toward digital advertising with mobile set to take a large share of the pie.

However, for consumers that the brands want to reach out to, advertising is not the key issue. DRM (digital rights management) and the associated initiatives by RIAS and similar bodies are intent on raising awareness and punishing those they feel infringes rights.

Sydus sees that subscription and download-based models are part of the solution but to really serve customers and grow the mobile content scene and the associated mobile data market, companies need to move towards other alternatives like streaming and on demand services.

Next is social networking in countries like India. Social networking sites/software will be one of the hottest technologies to watch in India in 2008. Google's Orkut currently has about 64 percent market share, making the service one of the most popular social networking sites in India.

Nasscom estimates that there will be around 20 million broadband subscribers in India by 2010. Social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook provide a virtual place for India's netizens to gather, connect and share anything from ideas, to multimedia, to social relationships.

Mobile telcos like Airtel, Essar, etc are jumping onto the bandwagon, seeking to add social networking applications to their mobile offerings in order to retain and capture their audiences.

And, of course, search will become more mobile as it moves beyond the traditional confines of being browser-based. Applications, widgets will serve to provide that additional mobility to laptops and mobile devices for consumers who need information on the go. Coupled with cheaper unlimited data plans, like what we have seen with the Blackberry, iPhone, etc, we can expect search to become more mobile as road warriors stay longer away from traditional office environments.

Hopefully, in 2008, we will see more "juiced" up versions of "local" search as envisioned at the beginning of 2007. Services and business will need to be listed accurately in local search engines and applications that are integrated with mobile search, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

What is your prediction for the mobile Internet in 2008?
Sydus predicts that the Internet-capable mobile device will become even more personal in 2008. Functionalities are ever-increasing in the device but importantly more consumers will be willing to download more applications/programs like the Sydus player, video and other multimedia tools to enhance their lifestyles.

These lifestyle applications will make use of the Internet to provide access to either content, services or products. We note that industry players such as Yahoo, Google, Universal, and Apple are making huge investments in producing mobile applications for use by consumers and opening their SDKs (software development kits) for developers to create more tools. This can only serve to make using the Internet through mobile devices more attractive and productive for the individual.

The mobile Internet will be the enabler of emotive connections, providing for more content and services to be offered directly to the consumer and will serve as a platform for brands to customise their outreach efforts.

Mobile marketing will be refined through consumer choice. 2007 saw the development of various models and the success and demise of many businesses. 2008 will see the control of power shift to the consumer and foster an approach where high-level segments and communication to niche groups occur. The mobile platform (from hardware to Internet to marketing) will allow brands to reach out to consumers on a truly one-to-one level based on their desired manner of interaction.

What was the most overrated technology product in 2007?
The most overrated technology in 2007 was the iPhone. For a device that has changed the perspective of many consumers as to what a phone "should be", it has rather basic multimedia functionality.

We appreciate that Apple has encouraged the development of third party software for the iPhone. This can only serve to increase the attractiveness of the iPhone. Compatibility with other Apple assets, hopefully in upcoming versions, will also help to convert more people to the iPhone. As will ensuring that it remains unlocked when it comes to Asia.

The Asia-Pacific region is a leader in terms of mobile handset ownership and will be expected to continue to lead the way in forming sustainable mobile music consumption habits. The current iPhone arriving in Asia officially a year later than the US is an issue that Apple needs to reconsider for its successor version.

Social networking sites...
... Are doors to provide targeted outreach to niche communities that are not interested in mass messages. These sites allow for more targeted communications to take place between brand and customer without the traditional need to push mass messaging.

As a trend in 2008, we will see more consumers veer towards entertainment on the PC or mobile and will download applications that allow them access to content, wherever they are. Social networking sites like Facebook have developed widgets that sit on mobile devices allowing this form of instant access and gratification.

Applications that are compatible, through embedding code into social sites, or mobile downloads (through WAP) are key to reaching out to targeted audiences since they provide value to the consumer and a platform for brands.

Eric Hoh, vice president, Asia South, Symantec

techoutlooksymantecerichoh.jpg
Eric Hoh,
Symantec
Social networking Web sites are particularly valuable to attackers since they provide access to a large number of people, many of whom trust the site and its security.

Q: Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Hoh: 1. Using software or green data center management. As the largest consumers of energy, data centers have become a natural target for social and political groups, to adopt environmentally friendly policies. However, data center managers also realize during the process that cost savings and other benefits of implementing such practices are worth the effort to "go green".

In 2008, Symantec expects to see more enterprises adopting a software based approach to reduce energy consumption and help data center managers implement "green" solutions. As data centers battle with rising power and cooling costs, and increasing complexity in data center management, the future will be about leveraging the power of software to consolidate and create a management experience that is more consistent, uniform and simplified.

A software based approach is easy to implement and less expensive than many hardware and cooling solutions. Such an approach can help by improving storage consolidation and utilization, consolidating servers and dramatically reduce storage requirements by eliminating duplicate files. Enterprises are able to double their server utilization rates, and reduce storage capacity requirements through data deduplication, by more than 500 times by using software.

2. Virtualization
Virtualization made headlines in 2007 with several companies making announcements around virtualization technologies. Businesses have increasingly adopted virtualization technology to maximize hardware usage, increase scalability, provide segregation and lower total cost, and this trend will continue into 2008. The security implications of virtualization, however, have not been taken into consideration by many enterprises.

The speed and ease of provisioning and deploying virtual machines may lull people into complacency about considering proper security of the virtual machine and the environment into which it is deployed. Most data center managers put a lot of thought into architecting the security of their systems and deployments, and the same care should be done for virtual machine configuration and deployment.

Virtualization technology was not designed as a security solution in most cases, and significant risks exist in the ways some companies are deploying this young technology and the security implications are only now starting to be understood.

In assessing virtualization from a security standpoint, Symantec has found some key limitations that illustrate what could be possible as attackers focus their energy on virtualization technology:

  • Escape from virtualized environments. In a worst-case scenario, a threat that compromises the guest operating system may utilize a vulnerability to break out of the guest and compromise the host operating system.
  • Use of virtualization by malicious code. This is considered one of the most advanced Rootkit methods and research projects such SubVirt, BluePill and Vitriol demonstrate how this might be achieved.
  • Detection of virtualized environment. Software virtual machines are relatively trivial to detect. Malicious code may use this knowledge to either exploit a known vulnerability in the virtual environment or to modify their behavior when in a virtual environment as a defense mechanism.
  • Denial of service. Attackers can crash the VMM (Virtual Machine Monitor) or a component of it, leading to a complete or partial denial of service.

While virtualization presents security concerns, Symantec also sees an opportunity to explore entirely new security models that leverage it. Symantec's collaboration with Intel is an example.

In April 2006, Symantec announced a partnership with Intel to build security solutions for the new Intel vPro technology. The technology allows IT managers to manage security threats outside the main PC operating system in an isolated virtual environment.

Symantec's Virtual Security Solution moves security to the hardware layer, providing new layers of system protection. It utilizes Intel's virtualization technology to create a virtual security solution on the PC.

3. Archiving and compliance technologies
As compliance requirements get more stringent, archiving processes and technologies to fulfil compliance regulations will receive more corporate attention. Symantec expects that automated archiving and compliance software will be a key technology on the radar of many corporations that intend to get ahead of the curve and enforce more iron-clad risk management programs and policies.

IT security continues to be a perennial problem. Please name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
Bot evolution
Expect bots to diversify and evolve in their behavior, which may result in technologies like phishing sites hosted by bot zombies, for example. Bots tend to be "early adopters" of new functionality and, as a result, they can be used as test environments for deploying new malicious functionalities on a variety of targets before making widespread use of them.

Bots might be used in client-side phishing attacks against the legitimate owner or users of an infected computer; this approach would allow phishers to bypass traditional phishing protection mechanisms and eliminate the need to rely on a Web site that could be taken down if detected.

Bots might give attackers specific access to infected computers that attackers can then use to their advantage; if a bot owner could advertise that he or she controls a computer within a specific organization, then parties with interest in that targeted organization might pay to use the compromised computer to gather information or conduct attacks.

Bots might be used to artificially increase apparent traffic to certain Web sites by hijacking browsers and steering them toward sites that allow users to submit and vote on or recommend Web sites. By making it appear to be a high traffic site, a malicious user could then use the site to generate advertising revenue or to serve malicious code, which could then be used in subsequent fraudulent activities.

IT heads should look out for the use of new and more sophisticated bots that attempt to evade blocks by reputation-based systems.

Spam evolution
Expect to see spam continuously evolve, in order to evade traditional blocking systems and trick users into reading messages. Here are some of the spam trends IT heads should look out for in the coming year:

  • New attachment types. Expect to see an increase in the use of new attachment types such as MP3, flash and others.
  • Pop culture spasm. Spammers will continue to focus on making content more appealing to readers, capitalizing on highly visible current events such as the US presidential campaigns, the economy and popular fads.
  • Social networking sites. More spam is expected to be delivered via popular social networking sites.
  • Targeted attacks. More targeted attacks that focus on compromising machines and system vulnerabilities with the intent of stealing personal information.

Advanced Web threats
The online presence of an organization is often facilitated through Web applications, particularly as an increasing number of traditional software vendors are complementing their existing applications with Web-based user interfaces, or converting them over entirely. Web applications may be the site of vulnerabilities that can be exploited to gain unauthorized access to computers on which they are deployed.

Over the past several years, as Web applications have been more widely deployed, they have been increasingly targeted by attackers as a simple means to circumvent network security measures, such as intrusion detection/ prevention systems and firewalls.

As the number of available Web services increases and as browsers continue to converge on a uniform interpretation standard for scripting languages, such as JavaScript, Symantec expects the number of new Web-based threats to continue to increase. User-created content can host browser exploits, distribute malware/spyware, most unwanted ads (splogs), or host links to malicious Web sites.

With more businesses establishing an online presence, as well as an increased reliance on Internet services, such as online shopping, banking, and communication, both consumers and businesses are at risk from compromised Web applications. With the improved economics of reducing the cost of transactions, Web-reliant organizations cannot shift back to their old mode of operations. Hence, the interaction between buyers and sellers through e-commerce needs to be protected.

The key ingredient to the continued growth of e-commerce is trust. Without trust, consumers will cease to transact with organizations.

Social networking sites...
... Are changing the human fabric of the Internet. In less than a lifetime, the way we work, play, shop, and communicate with our friends, our family, and our business colleagues has undergone a transformation unprecedented in its scope and speed of adoption.

The growth in online commerce and in the number of ways people can access the Internet has profoundly changed life for the individual consumer--and for the enterprises serving them.

At the same time, the ability to collaborate online, work remotely, and engage in more multi-party transactions has attracted hackers, stealing information for financial gain. Gone are the days when they hack for fame or notoriety.

According to Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report Volume XII, hackers indirectly target victims by first exploiting vulnerabilities in trusted environments, such as popular financial, social networking and career recruitment Web sites. Symantec observed 61 percent of all vulnerabilities disclosed were in Web applications.

Once a trusted Web site has been compromised, cyber criminals can use it as a source for distribution of malicious programs in order to then compromise individual computers. This attack method allows cyber criminals to wait for their victims to come to them verses actively seeking out targets.

Social networking Web sites are particularly valuable to attackers since they provide access to a large number of people, many of whom trust the site and its security. These Web sites can also expose a lot of confidential user information that can then be used in attempts to conduct identity theft, online fraud or to provide access to other Web sites from which attackers can deploy further attacks.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Data leakage. It is becoming a key concern for companies as it is not only costly in financial terms; it also comes at a price to a business' reputation and customer confidence.

Data breaches can cost companies billions of dollars and data loss prevention (DLP) has emerged as a top priority for any company that handles confidential information. Today, companies are no longer focused on keeping anti-social elements from getting into the corporate network, but also from preventing corporate espionage and accidental data leakage by employees from within. It's about ensuring that the information within the organization is not compromised.

According to the Symantec IT Risk Management Report, released in 2007, 58 percent of respondents expect a major data loss caused by events such as data centre outage, corruption of data, or breach of security systems, at least once every five years. Most organizations have basic security at the gateway but these are not comprehensive enough to address data leakage and information risk management. Data security solutions are important, but they do not address the risk involved.

With 75 percent of a typical company's intellectual property contained in e-mail, having content control will prevent good and sensitive information from being sent outside of the organization accidentally or with ill intent thus managing the risk involved.

Having said that, if an organization keeps all electronic communication for the last six years without proper processes in place, it will cost an organization a lot of time, money and resources to discover the relevant information should they be involved in litigation. With 80 percent of all organizations today accepting e-mail as written confirmation of transactions and 75 percent of all Fortune 500 company litigation involving the discovery of e-mail communication, it may not be acceptable in courts if the time required discovering the information far exceeds the allocated time for discovery.

Initially Asia was lagging behind North America and Europe in terms of deploying technology to prevent data leakage but they are catching up as regulations such as JSOX and Basel II currently in place. Corporate litigation and transacting with businesses globally are beginning to help Asian companies better understand the risks involved. We are beginning to see an upsurge of requirements from Asian companies for such technologies to be in place.

Lars Ronning, president for Asia Pacific, excluding China and Japan, Tandberg

techoutlooktandberglarsronning.jpg
Lars Ronning,
Tandberg
The growing emphasis on corporate governance and possible shrinkage of IT budgets have led IT departments to become more prudent when considering an investment. However, it is important for IT departments to adopt a long-term view on this issue and implement projects that can potentially give rise to substantial cost-savings or improvements in business productivity.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007?
Ronning: The biggest industry news for 2007 was the increase in the level of awareness and adoption of high-definition videoconferencing, especially the concept of telepresence.

With the emergence of important markets such as Asia-Pacific, many multinational corporations have set up regional headquarters overseas. In order to enhance communication between increasingly dispersed workforces, organizations are beginning to explore implementing high-quality videoconferencing solutions such as telepresence systems.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
The first is telepresence. As the level of awareness on telepresence solutions continues to increase, more organizations will start to explore the possibility of implementing this technology into their business operations to improve business productivity and effectiveness.

In fact, this trend has already begun as we continue to see more requests for demonstrations of telepresence solutions. In this aspect, Tandberg has set up demo rooms in Sydney and Hong Kong to cater to this demand. We are also in the midst of establishing this facility in Singapore.

The second is technology convergence in the IP space. With the advancement of ICT technologies, there are now numerous channels to communicate with mobile employees such as landlines, mobile phones, e-mail and videoconferencing. For employees who are frequently on the move, the organization then faces the challenge of identifying the correct channel to reach the user.

The third is green technology. With responsible environmental behavior fast becoming a strategic tool for business, many enterprises are beginning to make a conscious effort in going green especially through the use of technology such as videoconferencing. By adopting videoconferencing, companies can minimize unnecessary travel and reduce their carbon footprint while improving productivity and reducing costs.

Work-life balance is...
... Achieving a satisfactory quality of life while maintaining or even enhancing business productivity and efficiency. Adoption of videoconferencing will allow organizations to minimize unnecessary work travel for their employees.

By reducing the amount of time spent on the road, employees will have more time to engage in their favorite pastimes/activities and spend time with family, improving their quality of life. On top of that, minimizing unnecessary travel also means organizations will be able to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute toward environmental conservation.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... Managing and justifying the level of returns on current and future IT investments. The growing emphasis on corporate governance and possible shrinkage of IT budgets have led IT departments to become more prudent when considering an investment. However, it is important for IT departments to adopt a long-term view on this issue and implement projects that can potentially give rise to substantial cost-savings or improvements in business productivity.

Girija Pande, executive vice president and regional director for Asia Pacific, Tata Consultancy Services

techoutlooktcsgirijapande.jpg
Girija Pande,
TCS
Web 2.0 has established itself with users all over the world appreciating the value of these new Web-based services. In 2008, I believe these tools will become ever more important in the company not just at home, paving the way for enterprise 2.0.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Pande: The weakness of the dollar and the sharp depreciation against most currencies including the Indian rupee was the biggest industry news. While demand for IT services offered by firms like TCS continued to be strong on a global basis, the sharp appreciation of the Indian currency against the dollar posed challenges for many firms in this sector.

However, this risk was effectively mitigated through strong cost controls, increasing prices and improving the ratio of work done in off-shore locations like India or China.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008, and explain why.
Some of the hot technologies that came to the forefront in 2007 and will accelerate and expand in 2008 are enterprise 2.0, virtualization and green IT.

Over the last year, Web 2.0 has established itself with users all over the world appreciating the value of these new Web-based services.

In 2008, I believe these tools will become ever more important in the company not just at home, paving the way for enterprise 2.0. The combination of Web 2.0 interactivity in combination with SaaS (software-as-a-service) and a change in architectural design to promote SOA (service-oriented architecture) will come together to create a technology environment with service as the main focus. As the popularity of these technologies escalates, Enterprise 2.0 will come to the fore.

Virtualization is already a mainstream tool for companies looking to consolidate applications within a data center. In 2008 as the market becomes more challenging, companies will look to virtualization to reduce costs, increase availability, and increase security. More companies will start looking for virtualization across many platforms-- they will look to infrastructure-wide virtualization solutions that not only deal with servers, but also personal computers, networking and storage devices.

Another major technology trends we'll start to see more of in 2008 is green IT. The shift in consumer opinion and the creation of new government regulations in favor of protecting the environment have pushed green issues into the boardroom of most major companies. Interestingly, IT outsourcing is one way for companies to become more eco-friendly. Companies have the potential to experience energy savings and help reduce their exposure to green legislation. IT outsourcing vendors can exploit economies of scale by sharing the same infrastructure across large numbers of customers, allowing them to reduce overall energy use.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The underperformance of IT projects. In Asia, this is a particularly large problem. According to a recent survey by Dynamic Markets, nearly half, or 48 percent, of Asia Pacific IT projects failed to meet performance expectations, compared to 33 percent for global IT projects. A significant contributor to this problem is getting buy-in from business users. One in four companies surveyed stated that business users were reluctant to adopt new systems once implemented.

Work-life balance is...
... A part of TCS' culture, because we value the wellbeing of our employees. Organizations cannot afford to ignore the issue of work-life balance. Providing your employees with the flexibility to address personal commitments and interests, without compromising the needs of the organization is the difference between a good working environment and a great one.

At TCS, we created an environment where every month there are social events which happen across the globe, and this helps to foster our employees' interests. It is also particularly important to look after employees who are stationed away from their home country. They face additional stresses from being away from their family, friends, clubs, and social communities. When away from home, the company needs to provide for this.

Andrew Dobbins, regional vice president, Verizon Business Asia-Pacific

techoutlookverizonandrewdobbins.jpg
Andrew Dobbins,
Verizon Business
In China and India especially, firms began to see that they could use their information and telecommunications infrastructures as a key business differentiator. This is clear: in our region firms treasure the concept of efficiency, and robust and effective IT and communications infrastructures allows them to make these savings.

Q. What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Dobbins: Basically the strength of the market, despite some predictions in 2006 that we would be in for a rough ride. In China and India especially, firms began to see that they could use their information and telecommunications infrastructures as a key business differentiator. This is clear: in our region firms treasure the concept of efficiency, and robust and effective IT and communications infrastructures allows them to make these savings.

In 2007, we also saw enterprises extend their reach to their fullest potential by implementing the appropriate IT and communications products and services, and become more flexible and adaptable entities. Key has also been the availability of reliable, available, secure and far-reaching and very high-bandwidth networks that support companies' business aims.

Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
CIOs, IT directors and heads of IT should always have a contingency plan to avoid any disruption to the smooth running of operations, so this warning should not really mean any dramatic change for most large businesses. It's hard to predict exactly what impact issues such as the U.S. credit crunch or the price of oil will have on the Asian economy, or regional IT spend. However, all companies in the region, and particularly those operating globally, should always be ready to react quickly to changing market conditions.

What is certain is that most global companies are now looking extremely closely at getting the best value from their IT investments, streamlining operations, realizing cost efficiencies, and most importantly, ensuring that technology truly supports business objectives. The ongoing uptake of managed services for business critical IT and communications is one result of this trend. It shouldn't be forgotten that you can strike managed service deals that flex according to your businesses' needs, whether that is expansion or contraction

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
First, unified communications and collaboration will likely be a hugely significant technology during 2008. All of the required elements to make it work--applications, networks and system integration--will be enterprise-class and global.

Fundamentally, the way firms will derive competitive advantage will be by extending their reach to their fullest potential and becoming more flexible and adaptable entities sharing knowledge, reacting faster and having a more effective supply chain than their competitors. For global enterprises, maximizing the potential of infrastructure and resources across geographical and time boundaries to achieve the twin goals of productivity and profitability will be the number one critical management objective in 2008 and unified communications and collaboration systems will support these aims.

Unified communications is all about making real-time communications manageable and accessible, across multiple devices within the extended enterprise, seamlessly and intuitively integrating business communications solutions with operational goals, with the objective of enabling employees to collaborate easily and naturally. According to a study by research firm Frost & Sullivan, collaboration is a key driver of the overall performance of companies around the world. The research showed that its impact is twice as significant as a company's aggressiveness in pursuing new market opportunities according to the firm's strategic orientation and five times as significant as the external market environment that firms work in.

Second, software as a service (SaaS). As firms look to make crucial decisions regarding their bottom lines and expenditure, one of the most useful weapons in their armory is the ability to stop making unnecessary investment in under-utilized technologies. Over the last year or so one of the most interesting trends in IT as a whole in recent times has been the advent of software as a service, where business critical applications are delivered on a hosted, as-you-need basis.

There's many a successful IT organization that uses hosting solutions for business-critical applications areas such as sales (e.g. Salesforce.com), CRM and enterprise resource systems such as Siebel and SAP. Hosting gives companies the opportunity to take advantage of business enhancing outsourcing deals, thus saving companies large sums of money that would have been spent on capital equipment, but can now be spent on addressing key business and technology challenges.

In 2008 we should see this concept extended to communications as a service (CaaS) where the voice, messaging and conferencing facilities are delivered on a hosted basis

Third, WAN (wide area network) optimization. Companies today are often faced with poor performing applications caused by multiple factors, including rogue applications on a network, bandwidth for non-business use, replication and data backups, that can lead to long transaction times, lowered productivity or an inability of workers to access applications. To address this issue, WAN optimization management solutions will continue to pick up momentum in 2008 through enterprise IT organizations with distributed or global environments, or both, that require standard performance of corporate applications across all company sites.

Organizations will increasingly realize that network optimization solutions--application acceleration, data flow and packet compression, monitoring functions, network security, and quality of service (QoS) capabilities--provide viability and ROI value in various parts of their WAN networks.

We'll also see increased take up of managed WAN optimization services that focus on the performance of customer applications starting with the network layer--and using metrics such as throughput, quality of service (QoS) and application volume. This is different from traditional measures of performance, which primarily center on customer premises equipment (CPE) uptime. Managed WAN acceleration services provide visibility into applications on the customer's network, enhance performance of mission-critical applications, and fine-tune the network to maintain performance.

Name up to three security trends that IT heads should look out for in 2008.
The success of today's extended global enterprise is built on the premise of enabling more workers in more places to 'work smarter' with more technology. Business critical data is stored and processed in increased and more diverse geographical locations, and has to be available not only to employees (both office-based, and remote), but also partners, suppliers or customers, around the world, and around the clock.

We believe that IT heads should now be focusing on securing this global information flow--not only across the network, but also outside the network and into a host of applications, remote databases, and wireless and mobile devices. This approach demands a fundamental reappraisal of "traditional" approaches to security, which focused on securing the business perimeter. Security today should span the entire IT stack, including the network, data, applications and users. And security decisions should be based on an effective assessment of risk, not simply on threats and vulnerabilities.

What does this mean in practice? Firstly, security controls should span the extended enterprise and be executed at the places where they are most effective and cost-efficient. This enables effective identity management to secure trust around users, with security technology encompassing the breadth of all those places where 'trusted users' can access data. The other tangible benefit of this is increased visibility and traceability of information that allows firms to track data usage over time across this wider reach.

Security decisions also need to focus on achieving measurable gains for the systems and services that have been implemented. Of course, measuring 'security performance' can present its own unique challenges, but by adopting this type of working culture, businesses are in a strong position to respond to compliance requirements. The approach gives companies data in a format they can use in a process-centric manner; firms therefore get maximum leverage from the knowledge that they generate and have a mechanism by which this knowledge can be leveraged in future projects. The key is to make sure that firms are able to conduct risk management in the most cost efficient way and from the most effective place.

Security should also be delivered as an ongoing process, addressing all parts of the security life cycle, providing visibility and control, with the aim of constant service improvement--and thus reduced risk. And finally, no one-size fits all; security solutions simply have to align with the business requirements and working practices of the customer.

Most importantly, the ideal security solution works around a customer-focused business model. It aims to meet customers' IT security goals such as information protection, business continuity and compliance through solutions that offer threat and vulnerability management, identity and access management, security and compliance measurement. These are delivered through managed security services, professional services and specific products, deployed where most effective and cost-efficient, completely according to customer requirements, and based around an intelligent, network-centric infrastructure.

Social networking sites...
...This time last year, nobody could have predicted the explosion in use of social networking sites such as Faceboook and MySpace. One other thing that hasn't been realized is just how such an explosion in use places more demands on networks. As businesses increasingly look to use such technologies in the enterprise arena, the demand for capacity can only be set to increase.

In our view, the impact of social networking for business is really tied to the move to a more collaborative working environment. In that sense, it's about much more than just "the business Facebook" but rather how to use any flavor of IP-enabled tools or applications to deliver productivity and direct bottom-line costs savings when deployed across the business and business partnerships.

In addition to building the collaborative enterprise, and the increased networking demands linked to this, the other big challenge with social networking sites will be security--and generating awareness among users the importance of developing good practices when interacting with unknown people on these sites. Relationships are all about building trust between two people, and in the real world this happens when we meet face to face. On the Internet, this often doesn't occur and users should beware of the potential dangers when signing up to and participating in these sites.

This brings together the importance of considering security in the extended enterprise, with the move to building a collaborative working environment. One consideration here is the growing importance of presence and identity management. It will be interesting to see to what extent social networking becomes integrated into the fabric of business life over the coming 12 months.

The biggest mistake I see CIOs make is...
...Not preparing for the future properly. By assuming that the status quo today will continue to support the business tomorrow, CIOs risk losing their competitive edge. Nobody can say for sure what the future brings but it would be a huge error for CIOs not to prepare for business contraction. All good CIOs and IT Heads should have put in place a business continuity strategy; likewise they will be mistaken if they do not have plans in place for how they can use IT to make the business more flexible and quicker to react to change.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
...Coping with downward financial pressures, which is doing more for the business with less resources. Businesses will want to get more and more from their IT and won't likely be giving IT departments huge sums of money to be able to do it. Finding appropriately skilled IT and security professionals is contributing to the demand for more flexible and selective outsourcing and managed service arrangements. Such things could be the perfect solution to satisfy the demands on the IT department.

Jim Lenox, Asia South general manager, VMware

techoutlookvmwarejimlenox.jpg
Jim Lenox,
VMware
Regardless of whether there is a recession, organizations should leverage the benefits of virtualization to aggregate multiple servers, storage infrastructure and networks together into shared pools of capacity that can be allocated dynamically, securely and reliably to applications as needed to increase their hardware utilization and to reduce their IT costs.

Q. Gartner issued a report warning IT heads to prepare a recession budget. What is your view?
Lenox: VMware was actually born around the time of the dot-com business downturn, and we certainly ramped our business during its bleakest periods. So while nobody wants to see a recession, our offering is very compelling for organizations that are tightening their belts. Few IT technologies can provide large cost savings as quickly as VMware and the core value of virtualization doing more with the computing resources you have in place. Today we have more than 20,000 VMware customers of all sizes across all industries benefiting from substantially lower IT costs, choice of operating systems and a more automated and resilient system infrastructure capable of responding to variable business demands.

Most of our customers such as NTUC and Republic Polytechnic have experienced a return on investment in investment within six to nine months after implementing VMware Infrastructure in their IT environment.

Again, regardless of whether there is a recession, organizations should leverage the benefits of virtualization to aggregate multiple servers, storage infrastructure and networks together into shared pools of capacity that can be allocated dynamically, securely and reliably to applications as needed to increase their hardware utilization and to reduce their IT costs.

Name three hot technologies to watch in 2008.
Server virtualization will be hot, of course. The fact is that energy costs are skyrocketing and computing world is about to move into a new era where data center service charges will be based more on power usage and less on servers, storage or bandwidth, which are in plentiful supply. Thus, power consumption will be the strongest driver for virtualization solutions that enable the most power-efficient services. A side effect of this will be the reduction in carbon emissions due to computing.

The second hot technology to watch will be with the virtualization of the enterprise desktop. While enterprises evaluate alternative strategies for hosting the desktop in the data center, virtualization is always considered as part of the solution to keep costs in line and ease management of virtualized workstations.

Finally, 2008 will see more automation technologies deployed to manage increasingly complex data center infrastructures, again with the goal of better efficiency. One example is by using a technology that VMware calls dynamic resource scheduling or DRS that allows data center managers to consolidate loads to fewer servers during non-peak hours and power down inactive servers. Automation technologies will also allow data center subsystems to go into a reduced capacity mode by scaling down CPU frequency or powering down unused memory banks. Another trend is in the linking of server monitoring with air-conditioning systems in order to balance power, cooling and performance needs.

What is the biggest myth about virtualization?
That it is a highly complex technology to deploy. For example, with VMware Infrastructure 3.5 (VI3.5), 99 percent of the administration is done through a Windows-based GUI management platform. In addition, installing the virtualization core, called ESX Server in VMware's case, takes about 9-10 minutes manually or 3 to 4 minutes once scripted. In fact installing ESX Server is faster and simpler than installing a Windows server. Ironically, our install base tells us that simplicity and flexibility are the biggest reasons for virtualizing, so the myth loses steam with experienced users and with the ongoing rapid rates of adoption.

We will continue to see virtualization adoption rates grow. IDC forecasts that the number of servers used to run virtual machines will increase significantly from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, 1.7 million physical servers will be shipped to run virtual machines--14.6 percent of the total shipments compared with 4.5 percent in 2005, according to IDC.

What do you remember as the biggest industry news for 2007, and why?
Without a doubt, the biggest industry news for 2007 was the IPO of VMware in August. It was the biggest tech stock IPO since Google and the share price shot up 76 percent on the first day of trading. This raised more than US$950 million for VMware. As a result of our IPO, the market now counts VMware among the five most valuable software companies in the world.

Editorial standards