With high-tech, it's nearly as hard to look back a year and figure out what went on as it is to look forward and make predictions. In both directions there is a lot of haze - variously called hype, vaporware, PR and lying with statistics - and, of course, it's rather a value judgment arriving at "the best," whether it's one, 10 or 1001. Then, too, putting all of the influential technologies in some kind of order is daunting, while the question remains - What are we measuring? Buzz? Popularity? Results?

That just might be the most honest introduction to a "Top 10" article ever. The following items are in alphabetical order, may not include everything and are not exhaustively discussed. They were all making in headlines in 2009, and some still are. In fact, some have been on both the backward- and the forward-looking lists, last year and this year. So it goes in the high-tech universe - and here's how some of it went in 2009:

1. Business intelligence: Business Intelligence (BI) was the top technology priority in a 2008 survey, and surged in 2009. Better information drives smarter decisions at every level of a business, from corporate mission to operational tactics. BI is a powerful, strategic tool to bring business managers and knowledge workers together to administer, grow and adapt business practices. Anything that helps managers make better, faster, more effective decisions is valuable in any business environment, and doubly so in tough economic times.

2. Cloud computing: This "computing model" buzzword took a solid step forward last year. Providers deliver IT capabilities as "services," use Internet technologies to deliver them, and make them scalable for (and by) the client. Small companies can benefit from lower costs and reduced barrier to entry, while larger firms can use cloud computing for services that are becoming lower-cost commodity items. A big move in 2010 could mean either accelerated adoption or another slew of variations.

3. Component-level server upgrades: Component-level upgrading makes it easier to expand capacity. Companies can now keep track of component resources separately so that when, say, additional disk capacity is needed, only that resource is upgraded. There is no longer the need to pay for all three of the resource components in a fixed bundle. Purchasing and inventory system workloads are lightened, and there is no waste as when "wrong" components are bundled with the "right" ones.

4. Enterprise mashups: A "mashup" - originally a term applied to two or more songs "remixed" together - is a web page or application that combines data or functionality from two or more discrete sources to create a new product, service, resource or process. Some firms used mashups in enterprise-class solutions for delivering and managing custom applications. Through 2009, IT managers and application developers investigated mashups for the potential to transform corporate operations, with results that were both anticipated and unexpected.

5. Green IT: Efficient, eco-friendly processes allow more equipment to "fit" a firm's "energy footprint." Multiplying regulations can put serious obstacles in the way of companies that need new data centers, as all manner of environmental impacts are being scrutinized - and, at the same time, energy costs are going to increase, and not in a predictable manner. Companies must consider alternative plans for increasing IT capacities and stay abreast of a range of evolving and emerging technologies.

6. Social software and networking: Social software and networking covers a wide array of technologies and activities, from social sites and Web collaborations to social media. Companies and organizations of all kinds added social dimensions to their Web sites and applications in 2009, as no one wanted to risk a failure to engage one of the largest audience trends of the decade.

7. Specialization: The "appliance" model took on greater momentum in 2009. Appliances previously prevailed in only a few functions, but "heterogeneous systems" are now emerging to take on specialized, repetitive and/or demanding workloads. Heterogeneous systems have a similar, single-purpose orientation like appliances, but are server systems on which users can install software to perform a particular function. This approach will soon reach the general-purpose computing market.

8. Unified communications: The number of different communications vendors serving the typical organization decreased in 2009, on the way to a 50 percent reduction by 2011. Formerly distinct markets with distinct vendors converged, resulting in consolidation in the communications sector. Organizations can reduce costs if managers create detailed deployment and maintenance plans, as they can now centralize all administrative functions.

9. Virtualization: Most of the focus was on virtual servers, but virtualization of storage and client devices made progress in 2009, as well. Virtualization eliminates duplicate files on physical devices while appearing to maintain them in their original state. Called "data deduplication," this saves a lot of money in storage costs. However, ambitious deployment plans fell short as just 40% of companies targeted as prime candidates for virtualization had made the move by Q4 2009. Still, it gained an important foothold and will continue to make progress.

10. Web-oriented architectures: The Web is without a doubt the premier example of interoperability and scalability in a service-oriented system. The central organizing principles of the Internet/Web approach, and ever-improving Web technologies and standards, give forward-looking firms good models for other "enterprise level" solutions. This approach cannot address every conceivable, future enterprise computing requirement, but the continued evolution of this approach should put it in play in a growing number of situations in the future.