Sailing in fresh waters

In the past 10 years the IT industry has seen some tremendous changes.

Back in the early 1990s client/server was the new kid on the block, in more ways than one, and according to some people we were all going to have IBM's OS/2 operating system on our desktops.

The internet was still the realm of the military and academia, and at that time even so-called visionaries such as Bill Gates underestimated what kind of beast the web would become.

In those halcyon days there was an IT feeding frenzy, and channel players sailed the waters like big industrial factory ships, trawling up huge catches of customers.

In these nets there were plenty of big fish that would need big IT projects sold at premium prices. In short, the appetite for IT was insatiable, and there seemed no end to the spend.

As the internet developed sales of IT equipment and software rocketed as new markets and business opportunities opened up.

Venture capital flowed in like kerosene onto a bonfire, and the bubble stretched beyond everyone's wildest dreams. Margins were good and it seemed there were plenty of customers out there for future sustainable revenue streams.

Then came the double whammy of year 2000 and the recession. The bubble burst and the dotcom dream faded. Consolidation and cost reduction became king, and for many companies accountants now rule the roost.

Today we are a little bit older and certainly wiser. We have made it through a tremendous period in business.

Change is happening, but at a slower pace than the arms-race-like developments of the 1990s. But change, as we can see in the current channel, is inevitable.

So why all the reminiscing? The reason is that, like the end of a four-year presidential term in office, this will be my last editorial as editor of Computer Reseller News before I become the associate publisher at vnunet.com. So long, and thanks for all the fish.