11/26/2014

Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudTechRepublic

EMERGINGTECH

Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:Allaboutthe
cloud
ByMichaelKassnerin10Things,November3,2014,10:21AMPST

Gartneranalystssuggestyoukeepacloseeyeontheitemslistedinitslatest
trendreport.MichaelKassnerexaminesthetechnologiesonthelistandfinds
acommonthread:cloud.

iStockphoto.com
Since2007,Gartnerhasbeenpredictingthetopstrategictechnologytrendsforthecomingyearnotaneasytask
consideringthevolatilityoftheITmarket.DavidCearley (http://www.gartner.com/analyst/25698/David%20W.Cearley),Gartnervice
presidentandfellowwhoanalyzesbusinessandtechnologytrends,hasbeeninvolvedwiththisresearchprojectfrom
thebeginning."Wehaveidentifiedthetoptentechnologytrendsthatorganizationscannotaffordtoignoreintheir
strategicplanningprocesses,"hesaid."Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanadoptionandinvestmentinallthetrendsat
thesamerate,butcompaniesshouldlooktomakedeliberatedecisionsaboutthemduringthenexttwoyears."
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Inthisyear'sreport,GartnerIdentifiestheTop10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2015
(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2867917),theanalystsdescribetheirfocusthisway:"Factorsthatdenotesignificant

impactincludeahighpotentialfordisruptiontothebusiness,endusersorIT,theneedforamajorinvestment,orthe
riskofbeinglatetoadopt.Thesetechnologiesimpacttheorganization'slongtermplans,programsandinitiatives."
Cearleysuggeststhatthreeoverarchingthemessurfacedinthe2015report:
Mergingrealandvirtualworlds
Adventofintelligenceeverywhere
Technicalimpactofthedigitalbusinessshift
Thereisaninterestinglongtermtrendformingaswell.InspectingGartner'spicksforthepastthreeyearsandits
choicesfor2015(linkstoeachyear'sreportareatthebottomofthisarticle),onenoticesthateveryyearcloudservices
playanincreasedroleinwhichtrendsareselected.

Infact,afairassumptionmightbethatall10ofthe2015trendsrelyonsometypeofinteractionwithcloudservices.
SeeifyouagreehereareGartner'stop10strategictechnologytrendsfor2015.

1:Computingeverywhere(firstyearonlist)
Mobiledeviceproliferationisanobvioustrend.Gartnerthinkstherewillbeashiftoffocusfromdevicestohowtheuser
anddeviceinteractindifferentenvironmentsandcontexts.

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2:InternetofThings(fourthyearonlist)
Gartnerhaschosentoreemphasizeitsfourbasic"usage"models:Manage,Monetize,Operate,andExtend
(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2699017).Italsoreiterates:DonotfocustoocloselyontheIoT,buttakeintheentire

picture.HungLeHong,vicepresidentandGartnerfellowsaid,"Thisexpandedandcomprehensiveviewoftheinternet
iswhatGartnercallstheInternetofEverything."

3:3Dprinting(secondyearonlist)
Gartnerbelievesthat3Dprintingwillcontinuetogrowatanincredibleratefortheforeseeablefuture.Businessesmust
bealertandreevaluatetheirmarketpositionbasedonwhatimpact3Dprintingwillhaveontheirproductsandcost
structure.

4:Advanced,pervasive,andinvisibleanalytics(firstyearonlist)
Gartnersaidthatembeddedsystems(IoT)willonlyaddtothecrushofstructuredandunstructureddataalreadyfilling
companydatabases.Theamountandvarietyofdatawilldemandmoreadvancedanalyticsthanarecurrentlyavailable.
AGartnerresearchersaid,"Thevalueisintheanswers,notthedata."

5:Contextrichsystems(firstyearonlist)
GartnerthinksthenextstepwillbetoingrainintelligenceintoIoTdevicesthatwillinteractwiththeadvancedanalytics
mentionedearlier,resultinginsystemsthatwillnotonlyreport,butalsorespondtoenvironmentalconditions.According
toGartner,"Contextawaresecurityisanearlyapplicationofthisnewcapability,butotherswillemerge."

6:Smartmachines(secondyearonlist)
Thecombinationofadvancedanalyticsandcontextrichembeddedsystemswillevolveintosmartmachines.
Prototypesofautonomousvehicles,advancedrobots,andthelikewillbringinthemostdisruptivesmartmachineerain
thehistoryofIT.

7:Cloud/clientcomputing(sixthyearonlist)
"Cloudisthenewstyleofelasticallyscalable,selfservicecomputing,andbothinternalapplicationsandexternal
applicationswillbebuiltonthisnewstyle,"Cearleysaid."Whilenetworkandbandwidthcostsmaycontinuetofavor
appsthatusetheintelligenceandstorageoftheclientdeviceeffectively,coordinationandmanagementwillbebased
inthecloud."

8:Softwaredefinedapplicationsandinfrastructure(secondyearonlist)
Expandingthedigitalenvironmenttoincludetheentirephysicalworldwillrequireflexibilitysomethingexisting
hardwarecontrollednetworksdon'thave.Softwaredefinednetworks,storage,datacenters,andsecuritywillberequired
tomakeitallwork.

9:WebscaleIT(secondyearonlist)
Gartnerbelievesthatorganizationswillstartincorporatingglobalclasscomputingintothecompanysetting."Thefirst
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stepshouldbeDevOpsbringingdevelopmentandoperationstogetherinacoordinatedwaytodriverapid,continuous
incrementaldevelopmentofapplicationsandservices."

10:Riskbasedsecurityandselfprotection(firstyearonlist)
Gartnerisfollowingtheleadofsecuritypunditsandreassessingwhatsecuritymeans.Ratherthanworkingtoward
completeprotectionasinthepast.Gartnerandotherssuggestsecuritypositioningthroughriskassessmentsisamore
realisticgoalanditwon'timpedeprogress.Gartneralsobroughtupaninterestingconcept:"Perimetersandfirewalls
arenolongerenougheveryappneedstobeselfawareandselfprotecting."

Trendreports
Top10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2015(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2867917)
Top10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2014(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2603623)
Top10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2013(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2209615)
Top10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2012(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1826214)

Alsoread...
ThefutureofIT:Astrategicguide(http://www.zdnet.com/topicthefutureofitastrategicguide/)(ZDNetspecialfeature)
Executive'sguidetostrategictechplanning:2015andbeyond(http://www.zdnet.com/executivesguidetostrategictech
planning2015andbeyondfreeebook7000035345/)(freeebook)

Readytojumponboard?
Areyouconsideringanyofthesetrendsasapartofyourorganization'stechstrategyinthenextfewyears?Shareyour
opinionswithfellowTechRepublicmembers.

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AboutMichaelKassner
Informationismyfield...Writingismypassion...Couplingthetwoismymission.

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