What’s ahead for IT leaders as the first quarter of 2007 ticks away? From growing responsibilities to climate change, here’s a look at a few marketplace trends and challenges IT leaders can expect to face in the months ahead.

The climate continues to evolve rapidly, and we aren’t talking about global warming (not yet anyway). Patterns of delivery by suppliers and vendors are beginning to change, as are some of the fundamental business structures within the global economy. It is these important changes that IT leaders should be aware of and focus on as this year rolls forward.

James Governor, founder of analyst firm Redmonk, says the market should expect big leveraged buyouts in the year ahead with venture capitalists leading the acquisitions and asset stripping. “Software companies will have to look beyond their laurels,” he says. “There is much to gain from avoiding the increasingly rigorous legislation on the table for public companies by taking them private, and from a management perspective there are both threats and opportunities in this.”

Governor believes there will also continue to be a lot of merger and acquisition activity, especially in the software space. “Put it this way, if you aren’t already an Oracle customer, by the end of 2007, you will be,” he says.

“Software as a service (SaaS) will start to explode next year. People have learned that they can have their own infrastructure with no built in service levels, or they can just buy a service level. This will happen across all three spaces, enterprise, medium and small organizations. It won’t just be salesforce.com doing it, and it will affect all sorts of different functions,” says Governor.

Governor cites online enterprise documentation services and online brand management as two of this year’s service success stories. “Documentation is a good example. Just buy the service, and then download printouts when you want them. What could be easier or more cost effective?” he asks.

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Developing key skills in the right areas will keep IT professionals in great demand. Vista, Web development and security skills are all key areas of focus for businesses today and skill areas professionals can consider focusing on.

The year of Microsoft Vista is here—planning for Vista that is. For IT professionals who have the right skills, Vista will become a job bonanza, according to James Governor, founder of analyst company Redmonk. “Get up to date on Windows and desktop skills,” he says. “This will take some retraining, but the opportunities will be amazing….”

Microsoft launched the business version of Vista late last year, but most analysts think corporate uptake will be slow, mainly because in most cases a lot of background work will need to be done first. This is good news for IT pros who haven’t already familiarized themselves with beta versions of the operating system. They have time to get up to speed. In two years time, most analysts believe that Vista will probably dominate corporate desktops.

Although the Microsoft product launches are dominating the headlines, IT professionals should also take a close look at the compliance and regulatory arena as there is likely to be a lot more work available here too. Security sits alongside data protection and will continue to be an important issue for the IT function, particularly as the mobile workforce grows. Any investment in training in security-related technical skills should bring big returns in the years ahead.

Another vertical market that will be on the lookout for hot IT professionals next year is retail. Many of the larger retailers are about to begin significant projects, or are in the midst of integration and consolidation programs. Many are ramping up their e-commerce offerings, CRM systems, use of business intelligence tools and supply chains. Therefore, demand for skills in these areas is likely to increase over the next 12 months. Web development, database and CRM skills are especially popular at the moment, which means IT professionals would do well to make sure they are skilled up in these areas.

Making the world a better place

The power of technology is undeniable, and now its power is being put to work to help children worldwide communicate and learn firsthand about cultures different from their own. This effort to unite youth through technology is led by the Global Nomads Group, which in 2003 created a digital communication pilot program among American and Iraqi children. The group’s hope is to increase understanding and use today’s far-reaching technology tools to help “students become active leaders in their own education.”

Ready for PlayReady?

This month Microsoft has launched its new DRM (digital rights management) technology, PlayReady. The technology giant says that PlayReady will meet the needs of mobile operators and handset manufacturers for digital entertainment due to its extensive compatibility with endless varieties of digital file types and the fact that it allows for transferring between various devices and platforms. With all the digital content coming at us in the years ahead, many people are welcoming with open arms a tool that streamlines transferring capabilities.

Consumers open to biometric security measures

With online fraud on the rise, consumers are eager for better security measures and many see biometric technology as a welcome option. A recent study from Unisys found that 69 percent of U.S. consumers and 92 percent of UK consumers “would prefer that banks, credit card companies, healthcare providers and government organizations adopt biometric technologies, as compared to other protection measures such as smart card readers, security tokens or passwords/PINs, to safely and quickly verify personal identities.”

Outsourcing effects could hit IT job market

According to a new study from the The Brookings Institution, offshoring may eliminate as many as one in five programming, software engineering and back office jobs in the next several years. The potential job losses, according to the study would affect specific metropolitan areas where employment in those fields is the heaviest, such as Boulder, Colorado, Lowell, Massachusetts, San Francisco, San Jose and Stamford, Connecticut. The study did find good news for certain locals, such as Las Vegas, where the demand for IT workers is predicted to grow and the likelihood of offshoring those positions is low.