Predictions time again - nearly

As is the way of things as the year comes to an end Predictions of what will happen next year in the industry are rife. Before jumping on that bandwagon I thought I'd look back at last year's and see how accurate they were. So last year I predicted that 2008 would see...

• In January we have new staff joining us (not a prediction, I have already hired them) so I expect there to be more going on in the office and having to make tea less often

This proved to be true. Lots of tea being drunk and less made by me. That's a positive result. Just as I am typing this Stephen is off to the kitchen. Again.

• We have some training lined up in different WCM platforms for most of the techie guys so I predict a lot more geek speak and jargon being bandied around

A little bit. More to do with .Net development than any one platform.

• We will launch a new offering in January but I won't spoil the surprise just yet, we will be getting a lot of attention and new and exciting business in the New Year

Not really a prediction as I knew it was happening. See www.peppersmoothie.com

• I will be more tired (my wife is having our second child next week)

Tired is not a strong enough word. No complaints however as he is a brilliant wee boy.

• Obtree users will start to consider their investment a bit more carefully

They have not only started to consider their investment but several have already moved off the platform. If you are considering an Obtree migration or a Livelink migration then have a look at our Livelink migration software.

• Mimtech will land our first big implementation in New Zealand early next year, this is already at a fairly advanced stage in the sales process

This one went away. Someone fell off a ladder and the project was cancelled. Everyone involved is fully recovered but the project stayed cancelled.

• Lots of new processes, as we grow this is inevitable if a bit dull

Lots but never enough.

• Less chatter about Web 2.0 and more real value add development work being done in general

Web 2.0 is still talked about but people are less impressed with the marketing tag. More real value add development is what we've seen (and done). Have a look at our offering.

• More community activity in the WCM space we operate in

Not really sure what I was on about with this one.

• Software as a service replacing Web  2.0 as the buzz phrase of the moment

This is definitely the case. SaaS is all over the place in WCM and others including DMS and CRM. More in 2009. We do it too.

• Uses have more control over the presentation layer

A bit. Dashboard presentations that are configurable are more common but there are few business drivers so far.

• Celtic and Rangers striking a deal to become one club - Glasgow United. Or maybe an end to world poverty and conflict. Or Microsoft bringing out some bug free software. Or Apple releasing a product that doesn't start with i. Obese being the new size zero. I appear to have run out of sensible ideas.

This was just silly really. Still let's see what I can come up with for 2009. Check back next week for some more crystal ball gazing.