Cloud and cloud-based thinking were very much the big thing in 2009 if you knew what it meant. The cloud means one thing to the technology world, it means a very different thing to the average consumer or business.

2010 will see this niche phrase spill over into the non-technical world. Our life in the cloud will become something we start to notice, and managing that life in the cloud will become an even bigger thing. Major technology providers like Microsoft, Google and Apple are providing clever tools to synchronise your life in the cloud with the many different devices with which you access it. Livemesh and MobileMe are examples of this functionality coming together. But these just handle your stuff and your devices, what about your family, your friends, your interests and your community? How does your world synchronise with your stuff and your devices?

How do you manage your tweets, Facebook friends, and Linkedin associates with your email, your schedule, your life? How do you maintain separation when it’s needed and provide collaboration and integration when required? More importantly how do you monitor it all, how can you watch the conversation, participate in it, ignore it, filter it? Will Google Wave provide some answers?

Our life in the cloud has never been more complicated and 2010 will see the start of innovative solutions to manage our new life; digital agencies have a perfect opportunity to grab a real problem that needs a real solution. So let’s look forward to some really creative and innovative solutions.