Being CIO means having your finger on the pulse of the industry. It doesn’t mean being a master of technology, and it doesn’t mean dictating to your people exactly how they should accomplish their missions. However, it does mean being aware of the prevailing trends in IT, and providing a forward-looking vision for all of your staff to see and benefit from.

Accordingly, here are some of the mid-year trends some experts are seeing in the IT field this year:

1. Security should be even more pervasive. It’s not all right to simply keep security at the perimeter any longer. Today’s networks and servers need to have real-time, embedded security. Increasing compliance demands coupled with increased security risks mean that functions like firewalling are moving closer and closer away from the edge, and nearer the core.
2. Interoperability is back on the menu. Cloud computing has created a very interesting scenario for many businesses. The benefits in terms of efficiency and scalability are too compelling to ignore. Yet, making your existing infrastructure support a cloud environment can be a delicate process. Interoperability is coming back, albeit in a new form.
3. Cloud computing has hit the tipping point. We’re starting to see viable cloud computing models for more and more applications. Even IAAS (Infrastructure as a Service) is gaining some traction. As always, careful planning and analysis are key elements to a successful cloud implementation.
4. IT is clamoring for more tools to monitor and control the cloud. It’s often difficult for IT professionals to manage public cloud applications. Identifying bottlenecks is much more difficult and complex as staff struggle to get their hands on all of the variables. Visibility is essential in analyzing cloud options.
5. Even security can be done in the cloud. Cloud-based security providers are often better-poised to handle certain security issues related to things like DNS management or DDoS attacks.

If there’s a theme to all of this, it’s that cloud computing is becoming 2012’s main concern. CIOs need to keep abreast of the potential weak points of the cloud, all while identifying where they can implement cloud solutions to reduce costs and increase efficiency and scalability.