Bold Predictions for 2006

Computerworld - We asked some industry leaders for their most provocative predictions about the future of IT, no holds barred. Here's our collection of their most interesting thoughts.

On Leadership...

• Most critical to the IT industry in the coming year will be the technologies of storytelling and persuasion: In 2006, we stand on the cusp of an amazing technology renaissance. We have three-plus years of accumulated tech innovation champing at the bit waiting to be let out and generate value. IT professionals are going to have to open the gates. To do this they must paint -- via simulation, process visualization and financial modeling what the future could look like. Picture painting/persuading will need to be linked with portfolio management and project management tools.
  -- Thornton A. May, industry observer, management consultant and commentator; and a Computerworld columnist
  
  
• IT agility will be hot in 2006. Companies need people who can quickly size up business situations and develop new systems that effectively leverage existing IT infrastructure. This means using SOA and EAI to combine components of existing systems with new components made of small chunks of program code or packaged software. Agile system builders will roll out usable subsystems every 30 to 90 days. They will know what features to deliver immediately and be able to add further system features as the business situation evolves.
  -- Michael Hugos, CIO, Network Services Co., Chicago, and a Computerworld columnist
  
  
• I predict that 2006 will be the year that IT organizations begin to think seriously about leadership development. As baby boomer managers approach retirement age, preparing a new generation of leaders will become increasingly urgent. Outsourcing and offshoring will not relieve the burden on organizations to supply oversight and leadership for their technical functions. And once they begin to think about development, employee loyalty will become more important. The trend toward thinking of staff, or at least managers, as a commodity will begin to slow.
  -- Paul Glen, consultant, C2 Consulting, and a Computerworld columnist
  
  
• Our greatest challenges in 2006 will likely lie beyond technology. Hurricanes, terrorism, and avian flu are just a few examples of threats that we face today. How we prepare for these threats with technology resembles our activities to prevent mass failures prior to Y2k. IT leaders would be wise to create and test real business continuity plans. How would your overseas IT outsourcing arrangements be impacted? What would travel restrictions or quarantines mean to your IT infrastructure? How would you interact with customers, vendors, and suppliers? These questions may face you sooner than you think.
  -- Wendell Fox, senior vice president, North American Information Resources Field Services, Marriott International Inc., Washington
  
  
• CIOs will be challenged to become marketers. They must absorb, translate and implement the business vision, but they must also remarket, repackage and promote their work to the business.
  -- William A. Mougayar, vice president and service director, Technology Research Practice, Aberdeen Group Inc., Boston
  
  
• The biggest challenge facing every CIO is to conduct a reality-based inventory of the capabilities and competencies of their staff. There is nowhere to hide in the high-performance IT organization of the future. IT leaders will have to figure out who they want on the bus and exfoliate those who don't have the skills and attitudes necessary to move forward. I expect some very visible skill pogroms in 2006.
  -- Thornton A. May, industry observer, management consultant and commentator, and a Computerworld columnist

• The hot skills in 2006? Wireless network design, ITIL compliance management, portfolio management and Ajax programming.
  -- Andres Carvallo, CIO, Austin Energy, Austin
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