IT Management: IBM vs. Oracle, Mobility, Cloud: What IT Pros Need to Know for 2011

The IT industry has been the darling of Wall Street in 2010 even as the U.S. economy remains uncertain and business and consumer spending has still not returned to pre-recession levels. The big tech companies—Apple, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft—have been beating expectations. In addition, smaller IT companies that haven't been acquired by the big boy sitting on large piles of cash remain one of the other bright spots as IPO (initial public offering) potential. Still, tech changes all the time, and just because a company is on top right now doesn't mean it can stay there forever. Like Wall Street investors, IT managers need to know which tech trends to follow to get a better idea of which vendor offers the best products at the best prices. Here, eWEEK's Eric Lundquist runs down the top technology trends that are sure to have the biggest impact when the calendar flips to 2011. Lundquist starts with how two giants—IBM and Oracle—are looking to change everything from IT services to cloud computing.