Market Watch: Opinions

Last year, IT budgets declined by 10 per cent to 20 per cent, depending on who you believe. Jobs were lost. And the pool of vendors is constantly shrinking, given the tsunami of bankruptcies and mergers over the past few years. (Adios, Nortel.)

Google has already achieved the enviable marketing distinction of turning its name into a verb. But its enormous popularity and global reach place an unintended burden on the search giant: When it goes down, the entire Web is shaken.

After more than a year of effort, Commander’s receivers have finally brought the company’s story to its conclusion. McGrathNicol told ARN last week it had sold-off Commander’s final business assets and was now tying up loose ends before signing off.

Nadia Cameron takes a look at the continuing impact of the economic downturn.

To Vista or not to Vista? If that’s the question, the answer is money. Microsoft would really, really like IT shops to quit waffling and start migrating to the latest version of Windows. After all, Vista has been out for years now. It’s stable. It’s secure. The new software has even been paid for already under many volume licences.

The changing face of the channel was a key theme running through the July 8th edition of ARN. Following news of one of the biggest consolidation stories to hit the integration and reseller space this year, ComputerCorp, S Central and Synergy Plus announced plans to rebrand under the Synergy Plus masthead and appoint S Central founder and BRW 2008 Young Rich list notable, Peter Mavridis, at the helm.

The high-stakes, but still under-the covers battle by IBM to take over Sun Microsystems Inc. is still in play, but IBM may be rethinking what it is willing to pay for the enterprise vendor.

A celebrity caught breaking traffic or substance-abuse laws is apt to haughtily ask the arresting officer, “Do you have any idea who I am?” It’s hard to imagine any IT professional doing the same. (A very good thing, too, since I doubt that query has ever done an offender an ounce of good.)

Microsoft cuts 5,000 jobs. That's the big news of the week. Not just because the layoffs will cut one in 20 of Microsoft's 91,000 employees. Not only because it signals just how hard Microsoft has been hurt by the failure of Vista and by shifts in the way big customers license and use software. Not even because of the grim sign it represents for the rest of the IT industry.

Well, it's that time of the year again. Time to enjoy the glow of a nice LED backlit display and huddle with the warmth that only an overclocked PC can produce. Yep, it's time to take a look at what's going to happen in technology in 2009. Here are my five predictions for the new year.

It’s been a challenging and interesting year for the Australian IT channel. Every year it seems we witness the sensational collapse of an industry stalwart and the rise of several innovative movers and shakers. And 2008 was no different, with the demise of Commander and Optima, and expansion of channel players like UXC, ASG and Data#3 through acquisitions and growth.

It’s that time of the year when we gaze into the crystal ball and try to forecast the hot technology and customer IT trends for the New Year.

It’s just over a year since Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party waltzed into the Australian history books by squashing the Howard Government in a landslide victory.

It may have lost its place as a viable local PC maker some time ago, but news the Ipex business is being wound up is still worth taking time to ponder over.

At just about every meeting, client catch up or industry event I attend these days, people ask me the same basic questions: “How’s business, what’s going to happen next and when/where is it all going to end?”

In some respects, the Internet has a lot to answer for. On the positive side it’s arguably the most important technological invention in history, one that has changed so many aspects of our daily lives for the better; but from a commercial perspective it has heightened the sense that ‘price is king’ to a point where nothing else matters for many of the goods we buy.

With the economy continuing to slow, many businesses are now experiencing tough times. Some managers are beginning to ask the question, ‘what can I do to make sure my business survives?’.

The end of financial year crystal ball is proving a murky one, according to many industry representatives.