5. Green Grid

With the economy in shambles and energy prices plummeting, you're likely to hear a lot less about global climate change and carbon neutral business operations than you did six months ago. Nonetheless, green IT can still be a huge advantage for IT departments because it will save you money. Plain and simple: green IT saves greenbacks. So get to know the Green Grid's Web site and make sure that whatever you buy in 2009 for your data centers is in line with their advice and metrics. Here's more information about the Green Grid along with three other organizations that offer advice about lowering data center power consumption.

6. Twitter

At first glance, Twitter seems like a colossal waste of time. But the fact is this real-time messaging service is taking off in IT circles. And if you don't jump on the bandwagon soon, you might be too late. Twitter provides an easy way to keep your staff and co-workers informed about where you are and what you're doing. You can also sign up for the latest technology headlines from Wired, Slashdot and others. It doesn't take long to sign up for Twitter, so give it a whirl so you'll know what your Generation Y employees are talking about.

7. Yammer

If Twitter seems too frivolous to you, try Yammer. It's essentially Twitter for the office. The benefit of Yammer is that it's a private communications channel for coworkers to share quick messages about what they're working on, get questions answered or blast out news. Xerox and Cisco are among the 200-plus companies enjoying improved collaboration thanks to Yammer. One benefit of Yammer over Twitter: it seems to have a sustainable business model.

8. Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is one of the best open source tools to appear in recent years. This Web development framework lets you create working applications in a matter of hours. Advocates of this development platform include the New York Times, Yellowpages.com, Twitter and Hulu. Version 2.2 of Ruby on Rails came out in November, so you don't have to worry about being on the bleeding edge.

9. Enterprise Mobility Matters

Like it or not, the latest smartphones - the BlackBerry Storms and Apple 3G iPhones - are headed toward your corporate network. So you better get ready to protect sensitive corporate information from the risks that these consumer devices open up. If you don't want to encrypt them, make sure you have centralized control over them so you can wipe data from lost or stolen cell phones. We like the Enterprise Mobility Matters Web site from market research firm Strategy Analytics because it offers a comprehensive look at enterprise mobility issues.