The move by non-IT organisations to provide non-IT capabilities via cloud computing will further expand with 20% of non-IT Global 500 companies will be cloud service providers by 2015, according to Gartner’s top predictions for IT organisations and users for 2011 and beyond.
The report said that this represents yet another opportunity for IT organisations to redefine their value proposition as service enablers – with either consumption or provision of cloud-based services.
Gartner further said that 80% of businesses will support a workforce using tablets by 2013, as tablets tablets focused largely on content consumption, and to some extent communications, rather than content creation, with fewer features and less processing power than traditional PCs and notebooks.
The trend toward supporting corporate applications on employee-owned notebooks and smartphones is already under way in many organisations and will become commonplace within four years, with 90% of organisations supporting this by 2014, according to the report.
The report also said the main driver for adoption of mobile devices will be employees, i.e., individuals who prefer to use private consumer smartphones or notebooks for business, rather than using old-style limited enterprise devices.
Cloud computing will hasten the use of tools and automation in IT services that will eliminate 25% of labor hours associated with IT services by 2015, Gartner said in its report.
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By 2015, a G20 nation’s critical infrastructure will be disrupted and damaged by online sabotage. These attacks can be multimodal, targeting multiple systems for maximum impact, such as the financial system, physical plant, or mobile communications, the report said.
According to Gartner, new revenue generated each year by IT will determine the annual compensation of most new Global 2000 CIOs by 2015.
Four initiatives – context-aware computing, IT’s direct involvement in enterprise innovation development efforts, Pattern-Based Strategies and harnessing the power of social networks – can potentially directly increase enterprise revenue.
Gartner managing vice president and Gartner fellow Darryl Plummer said with costs still under pressure, growth opportunities limited and the tolerance to bear risk low, IT faces increased levels of scrutiny from stakeholders both internal and external.
Consolidation, optimisation and cost transparency programmes have made decentralised IT investments more visible, increasing "recognised" IT spending.
This, combined with staff reduction and freezes, will reward the leading companies within each industry segment with an IT productivity windfall that culminates in at least a 60% increase in the metric for "IT spending per enterprise employee" by 2015.
Social media strategy will evolve and will play a bigger role, establishing a presence, listening to the conversation, speaking, and, ultimately, interacting in a two-way, fully engaged manner.
By 2015, efforts to systematise and automate social engagement will result in the rise of social bots, with 10% of your online "friends" will be nonhuman by that time, Gartner predicts.
