Challenges and outlook for scientific computing centres

Today, numerous ongoing developments in research institutes and universities are influencing the IT. Innovation in information technology is progressing rapidly as well. Scientific computing centres therefore have to analyze carefully where the main challenges in the mid-term may be found and what outlook is resulting. The paper surveys these developments and derives future requirements and the areas where particular efforts are essential. The main emphasis is on those developments which are of primary importance in research institutes when compared to industry.