23 Jan 2009
On January 22nd 2009, IRIS NFP
Solutions hosted its inaugural ‘Technology Trends 2009 Lunch’.
Twenty eight guests attended including leading IT consultants,
clients, sector bodies, media representatives and senior managers
from IRIS.
Over twenty ideas were brought to the table by attendees,
followed by interactive debate to group these into key themes.
Voting took place on what the room predicted would be most
significant for the not-for-profit arena in 2009.
Top Six predictions:
| 1. |
Social Networking/Blogging will continue to increase and become
more relevant to the NFP community |
| 2. |
More demand for Data Integration – “what we have already must
work better together” |
| 3. |
Software as a Service (SaaS) will become more prominent |
| 4. |
Virtualisation and hardware will need to support 24/7
working |
| 5. |
@ Home - more work and leisure time will be spent at home which
will pose technological challenges and business opportunities |
| 6. |
People will want ‘more for less’ from their software
vendors |
Much debate focused on how the sector and IT suppliers might
respond in the tough economic climate ahead. There was a wide
consensus that organisations will continue to invest in technology
as a key way to help them through the recession. The final
predictions are largely framed in this context.
Guests included well-known sector technology experts Sue Fidler,
Peter Flory, Howard Lake and Ivan Wainwright. There were also
representatives from the National Council for Voluntary
Organisations and the Institute of Fundraising. Other clients
included Cystic Fibrosis Trust, College of Optometrists, Marie
Curie Cancer Care, Royal College of Radiologists and Royal Society.
Consultants from Brakeley, Indigo Blue, Mayflower Services, Purple
Vision, and Sayer Vincent were also key contributors.
With over 1000 not-for-profit clients, IRIS is able to
facilitate a unique forum that brings together their many contacts.
A key reason that IRIS NFP Solutions hosted this unique event was
to ensure that their products and services continue to stay in-tune
with the sector. IRIS is known as ‘The Sector Specialists’ and this
thought-leadership event is planned to happen again in January
2010.
Photography and wider script of the predictions is available by
contacting Louise Eagle, Marketing Manager, IRIS NFP Solutions at
louise.eagle@iris.co.uk
