IT Predictions for 2004 Could Mean New Approaches to Security

Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick, in the Jan. 7 Network World Convergence Newsletter, have offered up their top 10 IT predictions for 2004.

Among the pair's predictions is a radical idea that says at least three of America's leading firms will move away from desktop computing and toward display-only desktops, with data and applications hosted by the corporate IT department. Taylor and Hettick say the companies will make this move to improve on the highest possible levels of business continuity and security. In the current business environment, managing security can be difficult because of PCs, power and data spread out across an enterprise.

Some of Taylor and Hettick's other predictions include the possibility that a major service provider will offer VoIP services, a major supplier of cell phones will market a hybrid phone that includes cellular and 802.11 wireless connectivity and that unified messaging and communication portals will become more common.

As with all new IT trends, the pair's predictions, should they come true, could have an effect on business continuity planning and data recovery, as companies will have to create new continuity and security approaches to deal with these technological changes.

To read all of Taylor and Hettick's predictions, Click HERE>>