If you can somehow look past the fall's economic meltdown, there actually were other important developments in 2008, from cloud computing to smartphones to social networking and host of other notable opportunities and trends in technology for growing businesses.
What will we remember about 2008? That's easy. The financial crisis that kicked into gear in September easily trumps anything else that happened this year.
But that doesn't mean the ongoing economic meltdown is 2008's only notable event for technology folks at small and midsize companies. There's a slew of significant trends, happenings, products, and technologies that would be competing for our recognition if this were any other year,
So I'm going to be brave -- or stupid -- and ignore the global economic disaster to spread some love to the rest of the year's notable developments.
For small and midsize companies, perhaps the year's biggest trend was the emergence of cloud computing as a viable alternative to traditional software applications and hardware infrastructures. Along with related trends like software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS), cloud computing has gone mainstream to the point where companies must ask themselves if they really need to buy new applications or install new servers.
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Despite concerns about security and access, more and more companies are deciding they can get the same -- or better -- capabilities from the cloud. Often for a lot less money. And for startups without legacy infrastructures, the question becomes whether they really need any of that stuff at all. That's a huge change from the situation a year ago.
For companies that do own their own servers, 2008 was the year to trade the physical for the virtual. Virtualization has taken hold in data centers across the country. With Microsoft jumping into the fray along with VMware and others, any company using a separate box for each server began to look like a technological dinosaur.
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At the same time, storage itself kept getting cheaper and cheaper -- in some cases, all the way to free. Terabyte-sized hard drives can now be found for close to $100, and online storage services like Mozy, XdriveM, FreeDrive and others offer significant storage space for literally nothing. Upgrades don't cost much more. The business world is still sorting out the implications of really cheap storage, but you can bet we'll find ways to fill it up soon enough.
2008 is also the year that mobility finally started to fulfill its promise. With the launch of the iPhone 3G and Android G1 smartphones, you could put serious computing power in your pocket. And millions of people did. So many people wanted iPhones that IT managers at many companies had to give up trying to block them and instead figure out ways to support and take advantage of them.
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But truly advanced smartphones were only one aspect of the trend toward full-featured mobility. 2008 also saw the rise of the netbook, those undersized but seriously portable laptops with enough horsepower to do most of what people use computers for -- with a longer battery life and a lower price (<$500 and heading south fast). As the two kinds of mobile devices encroach on each other's turf, the next question becomes how to tell which one you need.
What else? 2008 also saw Web 2.0 and social networking technologies move into the business space. Facebook became a business tool, and Twitter evolved into a news source. Dell is doing it. Even bMighty is doing it. Join bMighty's Facebook group, check out our Facebook applications (bMighty BizTechUpdate and bMighty Blog Update) or follow me and bMighty editor Benjamin Tomkins on Twitter.
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The common thread here is the overall consumerization of IT -- and the simultaneous personalization of business technology. In 2008, cheap, powerful, and ubiquitous consumer technology flowed into the workplace, often displacing expensive but increasingly obsolete business technology. At the same time, individuals continue to blur the lines in the other direction, using their company's work technology for personal pursuits. That means businesses have to think beyond their firewalls and deal with the implications of their technology being used in ways they can't yet imagine. You can control it to a certain extent, but the reality is that's how today's employees like to work, and how they're most productive. So the smart strategy is to get in front of this trend, not try to stamp it out.
Then there the things that sorta happened, but sorta didn't. Like 802.11n Wi-Fi. Sure, there were lots of new 802.11n products released, and it's not like anyone doesn't want faster, longer-range Wi-Fi. It's just that we're still waiting for the final spec, and there's still an awful lot of equipment being sold using 802.11a/b/g. So while some folks are already taking advantage of n, I'm guessing that most people still don't even know what it is or what it would do for them. Personally, I was hoping for more progress this year.
Finally, let's take a moment to look what didn't happen this year. Just about a year ago, bMighty did a roundup of technology predictions for 2008. Some of them played out as expected. Others, not so much.
As noted above, virtualization and social networking came on strong. But there was also a lot of hype surrounding green IT. And as much as we hate to admit it, we're still waiting for technology's green revolution. Sure, we've seen progress here and there, but as we approach 2009 under an economic cloud, green tech remains a niche market. (If you don't want to wait, try these 7 Green IT tips.)
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On the wireless side, plenty of people looked for WiMax to become ubiquitous in 2008. Didn't happen. May happen in 2009, but hasn't happened yet. As for municipal Wi-Fi, it appears that train is never going to leave the station.
Unified communications remained a vendor-driven pipedream, not a vital goal for businesses of any size.
And finally, there are those things that almost happened, but didn't.
Quite a year, huh?
See more columns by Fredric Paul
Fredric Paul is publisher/editor-in-chief of bMighty.com and SmallBizResource.com.
