If I had a pound for every time someone asked me what the next big thing was going to be for the IT sector - well, let's just say I'd be settling down nicely next door to Mr Gates and family.

The real answer is nobody knows, or can possibly know. I'm sure, for example, that when Tim Berners-Lee hit upon the concept of the web, and began to put his idea of spreading knowledge around the world via computer networks into practice, he wouldn't have believed that 'adult' content would be the one true internet success story.

But all is not lost, and companies don't wander around blindly just hoping to fall into the right market at the right time.

Taking into consideration analyst predictions, speaking to industry heads and keeping a close eye on the markets can at least offer some guidance.

There are also social factors to consider. Humans are continually trying to communicate more efficiently, and although you could argue that this is one of the main purposes of IT (or ICT - information communication technology - as some are now calling it), it has still bypassed many IT firms and end-users.

Any technology that helps people and businesses achieve the optimum in communication is one that I would place my money on, if I were a betting person.

The voice markets, for example, have rocketed over the past five years. Not just in terms of mobile phones and broadband, but with voice over IP, leased line schemes and conferencing.

Only last week Synergy Research produced new figures stating that the worldwide enterprise IP telephony market, which so far has been mainly hype, grew by a staggering 75 per cent in the second quarter of this year. For the first half of this year IP telephony was worth $1.4bn.

Instant messaging (IM) is another application that is converting hype into user acceptance. Over 40 per cent of staff in UK firms are communicating via IM, and it is already showing the potential to overtake email in terms of usage in the future.

No-one will ever be 100 per cent certain of what the next killer app will be, and until that happens I'll leave my packing boxes safely in the loft.

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