It’s always healthy to look back at New Year predictions at this stage of the year and see how these compare with reality. Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, kicked off the year with an impressive list of disruptive ‘technology resolutions’, at least three of which are being adopted by lenders we know today, from social networking to Cloud computing and web mashups.

As always, technology pushes finance and finance pulls technology, ultimately propelling them both in the same direction. Gartner’s other technology-related predictions were more sobering and these range from ‘consolidating systems’, ‘mothballing projects’ and ‘curtailing data centre expansion’. After all, things that can be delayed will be delayed in a recession, right?

Wrong! Now is the perfect time for change, for that counter-intuitive action that will give you an edge over your competitors. Whilst some players will focus upon highly conservative cost saving projects with low short-term returns on investment, others are now seizing the opportunity to make a difference.

Watch this space for details of the Vision Critical Technology Survey coming soon…