2011 Predictions For Google, Microsoft, Oracle And More

Image by AFP/Getty Images via @daylife

Top 10 IT Predictions for 2011 from Nucleus Research.  What about Apple?

1. Oracle and IBM are the last ones standing, going head-to-head after enterprise software partners and/or acquisitions.
2. Microsoft needs an inspiring visionary or a tactical general.  Steve Ballmer should go.
3. Smaller vendors with specialized expertise that deliver value to customers continue to thrive.
4. Google needs to actually finish products and not just gravitate to the next big thing.
5. HP needs to get beyond boardroom scuffles and define itself in the modern software world.
6. SAP will shrink as companies now have credible alternatives (Oracle, NetSuite, and others).
7. Politicians are out of touch with the realities of IT. The cloud enables white-collar workers to work anywhere, allowing smart companies to seek locales with low taxes and overhead.
8. No more social networking nonsense, as organizations move employees away from social sites at work.
9. The cloud changes everything – still.  Companies large and small are taking advantage of the economic and environmental advantages of developing and computing in the cloud.
10. AT&T provides a valuable lesson on how a lack of customer service and inability to address service issues can cause customers to band together through the Internet with a powerful and collective voice.

The full report is available for free download at: http://nucleusresearch.com/research/notes-and-reports/nucleus-top-ten-predictions-for-2011/