Gartner has pinpointed 10 "strategic technology trends" set to impact enterprises over the next three years, in what the research firm expects will trigger change and disruption in the industry.
George Ambler, executive partner at Gartner Africa, dissected the trends as he addressed delegates at Saphila 2014, saying this year's trends are categorised in converging forces, derivative impact and future disruptions.
"This year's trends don't include social or big data because those have become mainstream - maybe not in SA, but globally. You should already be implementing social strategies in your business," he said.
Converging forces:
1. Mobile device diversity and management
Gartner expects an increasingly diverse prevalence of mobile devices, with Apple, Android and Windows phones leading the market share. "No single vendor will dominate. The challenge for enterprises is designing applications which work across different platforms." Ambler added that securing and managing a bring-your-own-device and bring-your-own-app policy remain challenges for some enterprises.
2. Mobile apps and applications
Enterprise mobile platforms need to take note of the complex nature of the global mobility ecosystem, noted Ambler. "Rich user interfaces and context aware computing - which takes into account a user's immediate environment through location mapping ? will be important for many enterprises." Companies need to deploy functionality across multiple devices for employees and clients when considering new application development, he added.
3. The Internet of everything
Gartner expects the Internet of things trend to gain significant traction in the near future as organisations begin exploring options to digitise products, services and assets. "It's about using the Internet of things to improve what your business is already doing." Ambler added that the possibilities created by the Internet of things include a shift from a model seeing the "computer as the network" to "the computer is everywhere".
4. Hybrid cloud and IT as service broker
Organisations are a lot more cognisant of where their cloud deployment takes place, says Gartner. Whereas earlier models of cloud services might have used US- or European-based data centres, added Ambler, enterprises are increasingly opting for localised cloud deployment. "With the [Edward] Snowden effect and the data security concerns, people are opting for localised data services, which they hope will give them more control."
Derivative impact:
5. Cloud/client architecture
Cloud services continue to show growth in their capacity to cater to multiple devices at different times, said Ambler. Gartner expects cloud growth to be the "dominant model" adopted in application development, as more users get accustomed to connecting using the platform. Enterprises are expected to respond by focusing on either investing in or building on their cloud architecture.
6. The era of the personal cloud
The cloud forms part of people's "personal digital ecosystem", says Gartner, noting that people are no longer tied to a single device. Citing platforms such as Facebook and Google, Ambler added that enterprises could take heed of the technology giants' approaches, which attempt to develop services suiting people's individual needs.
7. Software-defined anything
Technology infrastructure which is programmable will become increasingly programmable as usage patterns change fairly consistently. Creating an "agile" infrastructure ecosystem, able to adapt to demands and changes, is what enterprises will need in the near future.
8. Web scale IT
While an agile technology infrastructure remains a priority, enterprises will consistently look to doing so cost-effectively, and security will also take paramount importance in how this is carried out. Amber said enterprises need to rethink the IT value chain, taking into consideration data centres that "bring the agile nature of development and running them under the same environment".
Future disruption:
9. Smart machines
Although smart machines are not completely new, noted Ambler, there will be an increase of autonomous machines which can "think" for themselves, "sages" which are linguistically responsive, and "doers" including industrial machines and robots which can assist people in smaller environments.
10. 3D printing
"This has been around for years, but we are seeing a tipping point which comprises of high adoption," commented Ambler. Gartner expects a compound annual growth rate of 82% with this technology in the years leading up to 2017, resulting in a projected value of $5.7 billion. Inhibitors to adoption, noted Ambler, include "overhyped use cases", while the technology needs to be better adapted to suit business models.
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