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Predictions for the Coming Year - 2009

Written by Andrew Madejczyk

Monday, 19 January 2009 14:47

An executive's predictions for the coming year.

[Editor's note - I have been in touch with Andrew Madejczyk for some time now. I asked him to give his predictions for the coming year so that we could have a view from a Senior IT Executive's viewpoint. Join me as we hear from the executive decision maker directly.]

Financial meltdowns, a new President and the appointment of the country's first CTO are just the start of a seemingly unpredictable year.

Many of my colleagues are talking about the effect that our battered economy is having on their budgets and more specifically head count and salaries. As such, we're all taking a moment to pause and rethink our approach to technology while keeping the business running and competitive.

And so what then about 2009?
Here's my short list:

1. Do more with what you have.
Yes, that means your CapEx budget just got hijacked. It means virtualization to maximize CPU and hardware utilization, policies intended to manage data more efficiently (you know less garbage sitting on your SAN), tighter governance, thus driving out the science projects and only spending on that which is unequivocally needed.

2. Time to pitch in and help.
" Ask not what your company can do for you, but what you can do for your company." Ok, you got me. But, I couldn't help it. The point is, with less money, your staff needs to pitch in and, in some cases, learn more to do more.

3. Go Green.
While this still remains a buzz phrase, we will see more and more effort in conservation of power, paper and hopefully stress...

4. Rethink the Data Center.
With skyrocketing costs fueled by energy price increases (yeah, I know oil is down, but no one told the collocation providers..), we'll see people getting creative regarding how they host production on down to development environments.

5. Control.
Yep. This one is a little vague, but now more than ever, like a sensible and effective SDLC, smart controls can go a long way. We've all seen development projects eat up cash and deliver nothing but a vision of the future that never arrived. In a time where 'cash is king', the future better be real and usable.

There you go. I'm afraid my short list for 2009 is less about technology and more focused on behavior. That is, good behavior as we all do our best to stay afloat.

Andrew T. Madejczyk is Vice President of Global Technology Operations for Sterling Infosystems Inc.. Based in New York City, Sterling is a leading provider of employment and background screening services for many Fortune 500 companies. Andrew is a 20-plus-year technology and engineering veteran whose prior engagements have traversed various industry sectors including Financial Services, Aerospace/Government and Healthcare. His experience includes Sig Sigma quality practices that result from years spent as an industrial/systems engineer in the aerospace community as well as studies with Villanova University. Andrew has been a longtime member of ISACA, IEEE, ISSA and most recently, the New York CTO Club. You can reach Mr. Madejczyk through linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/in/madejczyk

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