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Our list of the most monumental events of 2008, all of which should influence the IT industry for years to come.
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- HP swallowed EDS, creating a worthy competitor for IBM in the heavyweight division of the IT-services industry.
- The Net continued to remake the media marketplace, with major implications for advertising, marketing, and corporate communications.
- Business slowed for big outsourcers, who responded by moving up the value chain and purchasing western companies; terror attacks in Mumbai made companies wonder how safe the flat world really is.
- High energy costs made Green the color of the year, as those incessant IBM ads featuring gimlet-eyed business types going all Disney demonstrated.
- Most companies still aren’t so good at public-facing blogs and social networks, but the technology has permeated the culture, inside and outside the firewall.
- Early disgruntlement at Microsoft’s latest operating system didn’t go away, but after another lukewarm year, it looks like Vista will.
- Cloud computing became so mainstream that Dell tried to copyright the term. IT shops, big and small, stopped asking if the cloud was real and started integrating it into everyday operations.
- As iPhone-mania swept the consumer market and began to seep into the enterprise, RIM pushed back with its hot new models. The age of mobile computing is here.
- Barack Obama integrated technology into every phase of his campaign, leveraging the net as a tool not just for communications but organization. Politics, governance, and business will never be the same.
- The financial crisis and recession created the lens through which all other stories— including IT stories—will be viewed, looking back and looking forward.
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IT Management 
