Gartner’s Top Ten for 2013

Gartner, Inc. have highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2013.

Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.

A strategic technology may be an existing technology that has matured and/or become suitable for a wider range of uses. It may also be an emerging technology that offers an opportunity for strategic business advantage for early adopters or with potential for significant market disruption in the next five years. These technologies impact the organization’s long-term plans, programs and initiatives.

“We have identified the top 10 technologies that will be strategic for most organizations, and that IT leaders should factor into their strategic planning processes over the next two years,” said David Cearley, vice president and Gartner fellow. “This does not necessarily mean enterprises should adopt and invest in all of the listed technologies; however companies need to be making deliberate decisions about how they fit with their expected needs in the near future.”

Mr. Cearley said that these technologies are emerging amidst a nexus of converging forces – social, mobile, cloud and information. Although these forces are innovative and disruptive on their own, together they are revolutionizing business and society, disrupting old business models and creating new leaders. As such, the Nexus of Forces is the basis of the technology platform of the future.

The top 10 strategic technology trends for 2013 include:

One: Mobile devices
By next year, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide. Some IT departments may only need to support mobile devices for specific workers whose jobs require them, while the rest continue to use PCs. The rise of mobile devices does signal the end of Windows as the single corporate platform.

“By 2015 media tablet shipments will reach around 50 percent of laptop shipments and Windows will likely be in third place behind Android and Apple,” writes Cearley, “We believe the net result is that Microsoft’s share of the client platform (PC, tablet, smartphone) will likely be reduced to 60 percent and it could fall below 50 percent.”

Two: A long-term shift from native apps to Web apps as HTML5 becomes more capable
Native apps “will always offer the best user experience and most sophisticated features.”

Three: Personal Cloud
The personal cloud will gradually replace the PC as the location where individuals keep their personal content, access their services and personal preferences and center their digital lives. It will be the glue that connects the web of devices they choose to use during different aspects of their daily lives. Users will see it as a portable, always-available place where they go for all their digital needs. In this world no one platform, form factor, technology or vendor will dominate and managed diversity and mobile device management will be an imperative. The personal cloud shifts the focus from the client device to cloud-based services delivered across devices.

Four: The Internet of Things
Everything will connect to the Internet, including cameras, microphones, augmented reality, buildings and embedded sensors everywhere. In many cases, it’s here already. The Internet of Things will lead to new products, such as usage-based insurance or tax policies. It will also raise new questions, such as whether a robot interacting with an ERP system is a named user for the purposes of software licenses.

Five: Cloud computing
As cloud adoption expands, IT departments will have to create “cloud services brokerages” to serve as a central focus for managing access to external services.

Six: Strategic big data
It’s becoming more economical, thanks in part to low cost servers and CPUs, for organizations to tackle big data projects. Users will be moving beyond isolated projects and incorporating big data analysis in more and more of what they do.

Seven: Actionable analytics
Actionable Analytics is, in some respects, a distinct subset of its sixth trend, Strategic Big Data. Low cost processing is making it possible “to perform analytics and simulation for each and every action taken in a business.” Most analytics today focus on looking at historical analysis; the next step is predicting what might happen.

Eight: In-memory computing
In-memory Computing allows hours-long batch processes to be squeezed into processes that only take minutes or seconds. In-memory Computing will become a mainstream platform over the next year or two, as users seek more real-time analytical queries. It may pay for itself through improved efficiencies, such as fraud detection.

Nine: V Integrated Ecosystems
The market is undergoing a shift to more integrated systems and ecosystems and away from loosely coupled heterogeneous approaches. Driving this trend is the user desire for lower cost, simplicity, and more assured security.

Ten: Enterprise app stores
Enterprise App Stores will turn IT departments into market managers, providing governance and even support to “apptrepreneurs.” App store markets will become the “anchor point” for users to get everything they need.

Source: Gartner