Is free IT too good to be true?

Consultancy Deloitte has been busy making all sorts of predictions about the telecoms and technology sector for 2007. It has produced a report that is full of interesting stuff about how social networking sites have come of age but must now face up to their responsibilities more vigorously. Deloitte predicts that as the social networking industry matures, operators will begin to offer premium services to members who are willing to pay for, say, greater assurances of data privacy, or advertising-free pages.

As the report says, there will be a "growing willingness to pay for services in return for solutions which insulate [customers] from the perils of the free-technology world". And this extends to another area I've covered frequently in recent months, namely that IT managers are increasingly likely to demand email, instant messaging (IM) and voice over IP services that require extra financial investment but guarantee better levels of service. Email packages with antivirus and anti-spam capabilities are already gaining popularity among corporates, for example.

The number of providers offering these services is likely to increase in the coming months, giving IT managers more choice, but, as Deloitte's Dave Tansley told me, IT managers will also need to ensure that employee attitudes to these mission-critical enterprise technology resources change.

As more time and money is invested in maintaining the high performance and availability of these systems, the stakes will surely be raised and staff need to realise these are no longer free, infinite resources. This is no mean feat, of course, as ingrained cultural habits are always the hardest things to change. Perhaps penalties for misuse or overuse of systems would help things along a bit?

Of course, no technology forecast is complete these days without copious references to green IT, carbon footprints and energy efficiency. Deloitte predicts a massive growth in demand for more environmentally-sound technology, whether in the form of more efficient, power-saving equipment or solutions like video conferencing that offer viable alternatives to environmentally damaging business practices.

Whether you are a true believer in man-made global warming or a cynical pooh-pooher, and to be honest I think most of us stand somewhere in between, the chances are your board has already got environmental issues very much on its agenda. And once again the IT department will be under pressure to deliver, ensuring for example that teleconferencing systems are fully operational, and that communication tools like email and IM are secure and perform to a high standard.