Pressures on application development will "boil over" in the near term. As services-oriented development of applications emerges, AD organizations will change, tool vendors will face paradigm shifts and legacy portfolios will be reshuffled.

“Application development is destined for radical changes during the next five years.”

The new year, 2003, will be a mixed bag for vendors and users alike. Although major innovations are unexpected, progress will inevitably occur.

“During 2003, many enterprises will struggle to deploy data warehouse and BI technologies due to overall complexity, a lack of needed skills and lukewarm management commitment. ”

Through 2007, changing business conditions will drive the evolution of new business models. These transformations will have a major impact on the development of business applications.

“Through 2007, evolving business conditions will drive enormous changes in business models, which will cause the continued evolution of new and improved business applications.”

During 2003, IT operations groups that preserve staffing for project work can deliver significant cost reductions while building a foundation for the IT infrastructure agility that will be needed when the economy improves.

“IT operations groups are at the center of nearly any cost reduction effort that involves IT infrastructure.”

The coming year will be a period of intense strategic re-evaluation and realignment for financial services providers.

“Despite the prevailing atmosphere of uncertainty in the industry, the markets and the overall economy, 2003 will present many opportunities for forward-thinking FSPs. ”

Pragmatism, not technology innovation, will dominate in 2003.

“The year 2003 will be another buyers’ market, which will lead to further vendor consolidation as users mitigate risk by selective spending and choosing trusted suppliers”

Tightening budgets and pressing security concerns will require higher-education institutions to find better ways to address business value and their academic goals in 2003.

“... e-learning is entering a new phase of scale, complexity and cost.”

Only innovators will survive the current IT services industrywide malaise.

“Simple cost management, trimming the excesses of the 1990s and watching the bottom line will not lead to growth. ”

Significant evolution in security technologies and processes will occur in 2003, from enhancements in security platforms and firewalls to the increasing deployment of Web services.

“The growing deployment of Web services will be another key factor in information security initiatives ...”

SMBs can't overlook opportunities while awaiting an economic upturn. IT investments that support business processes, improve customer service, drive top-line growth and cut costs should be considered.

“To remain competitive, SMBs must plan for the long term - even before signs of an economic recovery become visible.”

Enterprises under pressure to cut IT costs have put external service providers under pressure. 2002 was marked by caution and anxiety for both enterprises and ESPs, and significant changes are on the horizon for 2003.

“Enterprises have focused so much on near-term cost reduction that they are in danger of losing sight of their overall sourcing strategies. ”

Wireless LANs made good progress in 2002, but disillusionment followed poor growth in WANs. We expect further improvements, and radical changes, in 2003.

“... mobile operators will continue to suffer from the current poor financial conditions and lack of strategic vision and will start to consolidate through acquisitions, or leave the market.”

Rapid change will continue to be the norm in the application integration and middleware markets in 2003. Service-oriented architecture, business activity monitoring and business process management will capture "mind share."

“Even in the current economic downturn, enterprises continue to expect vendors to be innovative and competitors to seek return on investment through strategic technology deployments.”

Tight purse strings in 2003 will force the IS group to better manage enterprise IT investments.

“IS organizations can either sit back, ... or they can begin to examine how this transformation will affect them.”

Many much-hyped ideas have recently been discredited. Nevertheless, we report here on areas where technology advances are substantial and will have a significant impact.

“Disruptive advances in physical and logical connectivity, and in smart, embedded chips, will transform key business functions in the next decade.”

After 2002, a year of "pain" in the networking and telecommunications industry, we look ahead to 2003 and see (unfortunately) much of the same.

“Enterprises must sort through the product hype and vendor pressure, and use this 'buyers' market' to their advantage.”

Budget constraints, government reorganizations and the looming presence of the Internet as a revenue source will present the public sector with challenges and opportunities during the coming year.

“The coming year will still be difficult for government at all levels.”

In 2003 and beyond, healthcare organizations must deal with issues such as the future of universal coverage and medical error reduction to chart a successful course and set business and IT strategies.

“... we expect there will be an eventual movement toward universal healthcare coverage as part of a tiered healthcare system”

Internet-era technologies are bringing enterprises strong business benefits through improved flexibility and agility.

“The closer you come to being a real-time enterprise, the better will be your interactions with your suppliers, partners and customers.”

In 2003, products and services will change as markets collide and merge. IS groups will be tactically focused due to budget constraints, and users will demand and buy tools to help them get their work done.

“Suites will become the focus for knowledge management, collaboration and e-learning, due in part to the need to reduce spending and support costs for multiple products.”

Moderate growth is expected amid big changes in semiconductor applications, weak demand for devices and growing opportunities in outsourcing. Asia, particularly China, has the most potential for high growth.

“Users should be cautious, particularly in terms of potential vendor instability and, later, product undersupply.”

Consolidation and contraction are the key words for the major software markets in 2003.

“IT spending is additionally impacted by reduced confidence in the value and return on investment (ROI) of past IT projects.”

The telecommunications industry faces another tough year in 2003 but is expected to begin recovering to more traditional levels of growth during the next 24 months.

“... the key driver for recovery is demand for services and equipment. ”

The workforce and workplace will fuel business agility in 2003. Performance, productivity and technology will therefore all need to be approached in different ways.

“The business environment in 2003 will include the usual 'future uncertainties,' and some unusual challenges as well. ”