In a venue where fantasy can often trump reality, some 500-plus attendees at Tech+, the American Institute of CPAs’ Information Technology Conference, were mostly all business as they crammed into sessions and various keynotes in hopes of profitably applying any and all takeaways to their practices and their clients. Throughout this year’s sessions, conference-goers were exposed to current and future technology developments, and some new vendors, as well as perpetual must-do projects and strategies such as document management and IT security.

This year, conference organizers saved attendees from lugging bulky three-ringed binders by opting instead to feature downloadable session presentations via a Web site.

Simplicity and virtualization will headline emerging trends over the coming year as technology providers will focus on intelligent design, rather than previous business models where one size fits all.

“The features wars are over and most of us lost,” said noted technology consultant Randy Johnston of Network Management Group and K2 Enterprises during the opening keynote. “The newer applications will be simpler with fewer features.”

“The average life of a server is five years,” he explained. “Now there are virtual PCs and fully functional desktops delivered across the networks.” Johnston said that virtualization reduces power usage, pointing out that operating 25 desktops at an average of 14 cents a kilowatt-hour can run into the thousands of dollars.

Extending the virtualization concept to the firm level, he reported that several CPA firms have re-created their firms in “Second Life,” while last year the Maryland Association of CPAs created its virtual “CPA Island.”

Johnston advised attendees that IT projects should be separated into two categories — those that should be completed and those that are in process. To remain current, implemented technologies should be projects such as Voice over Internet Protocol, remote access, broadband cellular and paperless. Those that should be in process include virtualization, business analytics, search engine optimization and portals.

Other tech trends for 2008 and beyond include cell phones with video projection capabilities, carbon nanotubes that will eventually replace silicon chips, a new wave of ultra-mobile PCs, and mobile wireless devices with external display controls.

FAST-RISING ACRONYMS

The meteoric rise of Software as a Service, or on-demand hosted software, has prompted a paradigm shift that poses challenges not just to a firm’s traditional IT infrastructure, but also to vendors who must now counter the trend with low-cost, high-performance solutions to retain their user bases.

“In the next few years, most accounting software will migrate into this space,” predicted Michael Bodnar of Quantum Information Technologies. “Customers are literally one click away from leaving [their current software package], so it’s up to the vendors to improve their functions and performance.”

Bodnar pointed to the rapid proliferation of SaaS CRM and business software providers such as Salesforce.com, which now has a base of 2 million users, as well as the offerings of Google Apps.

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