Reacting to Application Development Challenges With Management and Automation
Investment is increasing in tools and techniques to overcome the difficulties of developing code efficiently when teams are dispersed globally. Smaller, inexpensive platforms offset hardware costs, but better tooling and management must be used to control the costs and risks of software development.

The Strategic Impact of SOA Broadens
The continued rise in the popularity of service-oriented architecture has resulted in new technologies and directions but requires disciplined governance to achieve the promised reuse.

The Evolution of Integration Products Will Continue to Affect How Integration Is Pursued
The use of integration products and features is expected to increase. However, challenges will accompany this growth, particularly regarding metadata management.

CRM Marketing Strategies and Technologies Mature
In 2006, marketing will be a major area for organizational investment in customer relationship management (CRM). Marketing applications will continue to mature, offering greater functionality, improved analytics, more deployment options and the emergence of service-oriented components.

Renewed Interest in Selling Technology
The ripple effect of Oracle's acquisition of Siebel Systems, continued on-demand user adoption and a renewed emphasis on e-commerce will be the biggest drivers for sales organizations during the next few years.

CSS Will Require Increasingly Close Coordination With IT
Investment in business process improvement, wireless-enabled workers and customers, and integrated communications infrastructure will be more critical to customer service and support than packaged applications. Close cooperation between the CSS and IT organizations will be more important than ever.

Market Consolidation Headlines Developments Among Top CRM Software Vendors
Oracle's acquisition of Siebel Systems and its battle with SAP for market leadership will make headlines in 2006. The real news will be that growth rates in spending on Microsoft, RightNow Technologies and Salesforce.com will far outstrip SAP and Oracle, and Open Source CRM will emerge.

E-Learning Will Become Intrinsic to Your Business Process
Successful e-learning implementations require strategy and technology, supported by appropriate stakeholders. In 2006, governance and management will be the key themes for e-learning to address.

Emerging Trends Drive New Opportunities
Opportunities for process and business improvements will derive from a "real-world Web" of smart objects and ambient intelligence, and from consumer-oriented trends such as Web business platforms, aesthetic design and mobile robots as they move into the business world.

Server Market Braces for Change
The server market will see big changes in the next three years. Multicore and multithreading technologies will mature, Linux will challenge Unix in data centers, and hypervisors will be the main virtualization software.

Web Services Continue to Mature
Web services are evolving, and enterprises are seeing the opportunities they present with increasing clarity.

Organizations Start To Think About Big CRM Again
Sales, marketing and customer service projects have been more popular than big CRM since 2001; however, in 2006, the scope of CRM initiatives will widen. There will be a boom in projects to create a single view of the customer accompanied by a rejuvenation of "build your own" CRM.

Emerging Data Management Drivers and Strategic Imperatives
The ways that organizations manage and integrate data affect virtually all their business and IT initiatives. Understanding data management and integration business drivers, establishing a strategy, and applying best practices are the keys to success.

Data Management Market & Usage
As organizations focus on data management issues, the deployment of data integration tools, database management system products and data warehouses takes on an increased strategic importance. Navigate market volatility and design for flexibility to ensure success.

Enterprise Content Management Is Strategic, Yet Tactical
Enterprise content management is becoming a higher priority to link disparate repositories and to expand the penetration to all knowledge workers via basic content services.

The HPW Will Influence Users' IT Choices
High-performance workplaces make workers more effective in supporting business goals and adding value. Web-based technologies are becoming part of the HPW environment, as users influence the configuration of their tools. In 2006, it will be important to define guidance and governance best practices.

IT Management Scenario for 2015: IT Investment Drivers Change in Four Possible Futures
Four possible futures may define the context for IT management during the next 10 years. How these futures unfold will greatly affect IT management.

IT Operations and Infrastructure Management Continues to Mature
Organizations will continue to raise their IT management process maturity to optimize costs, service levels and risks. Meanwhile, regulatory requirements will spur adoption of configuration management automation, change management, and identity and access management.

The Effects of Open-Source Software on the IT Software Industry
Open source is entering the mainstream. IT organizations will shift to a strategy of maximizing the value of open source, while maintaining control of their high-level technology strategies.

Collaboration Comes Of Age
Access to well-understood collaboration support technology will broaden and deepen due to integration, rationalization and the emergence of product suites. At the same time, new demands for collaboration support will continue to require a more targeted approach.