Two recent Forrester reports have triggered a number of conversations. The first was Five Trends That Will Shape The Business Process And Applications Profession in 2008 by Sharyn Leaver. It highlights Dynamic Business Applications; Web 2.0 and tech populism; software-as-a-service (SaaS); business process centers of excellence (COEs); and the evolving business analyst role as key trends for 2008. Thomas Wailgum provides a good summary here.

The second was Getting Real Work Done in Virtual Worlds by Erica Driver and Paul Jackson. It predicts that within five years, the 3-D Internet will be as important for work as the Web is today. Information and knowledge management professionals should begin to investigate and experiment with virtual worlds. Both reports provide useful reference points as to what lies ahead.