Trend 2: Necessity Is the Mother of Velocity

Don't expect any letup on the pressure to speed up processes. In physics, velocity equals speed plus direction. In business, velocity is a characteristic of successful, well-aligned companies. CIOs will continue to focus on speeding up processes and networks, implementing emerging technologies faster, and embracing innovation—but not for the sake of speed alone.

At many companies, the priority will be on increasing sales volume, in order to overcome deteriorating profit margins in their industries. Others will increase their ability to respond in real time to changing business conditions and customer needs. Even if there's an economic slowdown, there's no slowing this trend down.