11/26/2014 Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudTechRepublic

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/gartnerstop10technologytrendsfor2015allaboutthecloud/?tag=nl.e077&s_cid=e077&ttag=e077&ftag=TRE9a 1/8

Gartneranalystssuggestyoukeepacloseeyeontheitemslistedinitslatesttrendreport.MichaelKassnerexaminesthetechnologiesonthelistandfindsacommonthread:cloud.

Since2007,GartnerhasbeenpredictingthetopstrategictechnologytrendsforthecomingyearnotaneasytaskconsideringthevolatilityoftheITmarket.DavidCearley(http://www.gartner.com/analyst/25698/David%20W.Cearley),Gartnervicepresidentandfellowwhoanalyzesbusinessandtechnologytrends,hasbeeninvolvedwiththisresearchprojectfromthebeginning."Wehaveidentifiedthetoptentechnologytrendsthatorganizationscannotaffordtoignoreintheirstrategicplanningprocesses,"hesaid."Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanadoptionandinvestmentinallthetrendsatthesamerate,butcompaniesshouldlooktomakedeliberatedecisionsaboutthemduringthenexttwoyears."

EMERGINGTECH

Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudByMichaelKassnerin10Things,November3,2014,10:21AMPST

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11/26/2014 Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudTechRepublic

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/gartnerstop10technologytrendsfor2015allaboutthecloud/?tag=nl.e077&s_cid=e077&ttag=e077&ftag=TRE9a 2/8

Inthisyear'sreport,GartnerIdentifiestheTop10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2015(http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2867917),theanalystsdescribetheirfocusthisway:"Factorsthatdenotesignificantimpactincludeahighpotentialfordisruptiontothebusiness,endusersorIT,theneedforamajorinvestment,ortheriskofbeinglatetoadopt.Thesetechnologiesimpacttheorganization'slongtermplans,programsandinitiatives."

Cearleysuggeststhatthreeoverarchingthemessurfacedinthe2015report:

MergingrealandvirtualworldsAdventofintelligenceeverywhereTechnicalimpactofthedigitalbusinessshift

Thereisaninterestinglongtermtrendformingaswell.InspectingGartner'spicksforthepastthreeyearsanditschoicesfor2015(linkstoeachyear'sreportareatthebottomofthisarticle),onenoticesthateveryyearcloudservicesplayanincreasedroleinwhichtrendsareselected.

Infact,afairassumptionmightbethatall10ofthe2015trendsrelyonsometypeofinteractionwithcloudservices.SeeifyouagreehereareGartner'stop10strategictechnologytrendsfor2015.

1:Computingeverywhere(firstyearonlist)Mobiledeviceproliferationisanobvioustrend.Gartnerthinkstherewillbeashiftoffocusfromdevicestohowtheuseranddeviceinteractindifferentenvironmentsandcontexts.

11/26/2014 Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudTechRepublic

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/gartnerstop10technologytrendsfor2015allaboutthecloud/?tag=nl.e077&s_cid=e077&ttag=e077&ftag=TRE9a 3/8

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

3:3Dprinting(secondyearonlist)Gartnerbelievesthat3Dprintingwillcontinuetogrowatanincredibleratefortheforeseeablefuture.Businessesmustbealertandreevaluatetheirmarketpositionbasedonwhatimpact3Dprintingwillhaveontheirproductsandcoststructure.

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

5:Contextrichsystems(firstyearonlist)GartnerthinksthenextstepwillbetoingrainintelligenceintoIoTdevicesthatwillinteractwiththeadvancedanalyticsmentionedearlier,resultinginsystemsthatwillnotonlyreport,butalsorespondtoenvironmentalconditions.AccordingtoGartner,"Contextawaresecurityisanearlyapplicationofthisnewcapability,butotherswillemerge."

6:Smartmachines(secondyearonlist)Thecombinationofadvancedanalyticsandcontextrichembeddedsystemswillevolveintosmartmachines.Prototypesofautonomousvehicles,advancedrobots,andthelikewillbringinthemostdisruptivesmartmachineerainthehistoryofIT.

7:Cloud/clientcomputing(sixthyearonlist)"Cloudisthenewstyleofelasticallyscalable,selfservicecomputing,andbothinternalapplicationsandexternalapplicationswillbebuiltonthisnewstyle,"Cearleysaid."Whilenetworkandbandwidthcostsmaycontinuetofavorappsthatusetheintelligenceandstorageoftheclientdeviceeffectively,coordinationandmanagementwillbebasedinthecloud."

8:Softwaredefinedapplicationsandinfrastructure(secondyearonlist)Expandingthedigitalenvironmenttoincludetheentirephysicalworldwillrequireflexibilitysomethingexistinghardwarecontrollednetworksdon'thave.Softwaredefinednetworks,storage,datacenters,andsecuritywillberequiredtomakeitallwork.

9:WebscaleIT(secondyearonlist)Gartnerbelievesthatorganizationswillstartincorporatingglobalclasscomputingintothecompanysetting."Thefirst

11/26/2014 Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudTechRepublic

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/gartnerstop10technologytrendsfor2015allaboutthecloud/?tag=nl.e077&s_cid=e077&ttag=e077&ftag=TRE9a 4/8

stepshouldbeDevOpsbringingdevelopmentandoperationstogetherinacoordinatedwaytodriverapid,continuousincrementaldevelopmentofapplicationsandservices."

10:Riskbasedsecurityandselfprotection(firstyearonlist)Gartnerisfollowingtheleadofsecuritypunditsandreassessingwhatsecuritymeans.Ratherthanworkingtowardcompleteprotectionasinthepast.Gartnerandotherssuggestsecuritypositioningthroughriskassessmentsisamorerealisticgoalanditwon'timpedeprogress.Gartneralsobroughtupaninterestingconcept:"Perimetersandfirewallsarenolongerenougheveryappneedstobeselfawareandselfprotecting."

TrendreportsTop10StrategicTechnologyTrendsfor2015(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/executivesguidetostrategictechplanning2015andbeyondfreeebook7000035345/)(freeebook)

Readytojumponboard?Areyouconsideringanyofthesetrendsasapartofyourorganization'stechstrategyinthenextfewyears?ShareyouropinionswithfellowTechRepublicmembers.

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AboutMichaelKassnerInformationismyfield...Writingismypassion...Couplingthetwoismymission.

11/26/2014 Gartner'stop10technologytrendsfor2015:AllaboutthecloudTechRepublic

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/gartnerstop10technologytrendsfor2015allaboutthecloud/?tag=nl.e077&s_cid=e077&ttag=e077&ftag=TRE9a 5/8

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