It's the season for grand predictions, of forecasting the future, of top ten lists of the next big thing. I don't really believe that a new year creates a magical desire to explore an entirely new set of technologies to the previous one, and furthermore, themes and initiatives should start with business objectives, and pick appropriate technologies to enable them, not the other way round.

In 2008, real life businesses are likely to be doing pretty much the same as 2007—seeking balance between revenue, costs and happy customers. Therein lies my proposed theme for 2008. Balance. Let's not put the cart before the horse and start with technology this year.

How does an organisation find balance? By taking a broad as possible view—of everything—and then deciding how centralised intelligence and guidance can be used as a feedback mechanism for ensuring sensible things happen and risks are managed appropriately. I do believe I just described the fundamentals of an area we've heard lots about recently: governance, risk and compliance (GRC).

An increasing number of organisations have stopped just talking about this and are now being actively guided and influence by it. And why not? Good governance, appropriate risk management, and the satisfaction that these two pillars enable one's organisation to meet whatever compliance mandates it needs to, makes perfect sense at any time of the year—not just Christmas.

The balance part is in getting these areas in the right proportions. Consider:

• Focusing on governance alone is like creating a new game and getting so caught up in inventing the rules that you never start playing.
• An overly intense risk management strategy stifles activity.
• A singular focus on compliance means piecemeal investment which maintains the fragmented corporate and technological capabilities we are trying to get away from.

The balance is gained from the realisation that these three were meant to be together, because they provide the right combination of input, feedback and output, without which any machine doesn't work.

What an organisation does to achieve that, well, that's when you can start reading all those other top ten lists—just to make sure you haven't missed any cool new toys with which to address your actual business plans.