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"Unstoppable" consumer tech revolution on the way
Ditch your legacy systems or get left behind, Gartner warns

By Andy McCue

Published: Thursday 09 March 2006

The consumerisation of technology, collaboration and commoditisation are among key trends combining to produce an "unstoppable whirlwind of change" throughout enterprise IT, business and society over the next 10 years, according to Gartner.

Gartner's 10 year IT vision predicts a fundamental shift in the balance of power between big business and the consumer and between supplier and customer, leading to significant challenges for all organisations regardless of size and business sector.

Steve Prentice, analyst and chief of research at Gartner, speaking at the CeBIT trade show this week, said society is only half way through a 60-year journey from an analogue world to a digital one, which started in 1980 with the PC.

He said: "The first 30 years have been about driving technology into the enterprise. The next 30 years will see technology reaching every individual, in every part of society and will in turn have a huge impact on the way businesses operate."

Prentice warned that businesses "shackled by legacy systems" will find it hard to compete in the future technology landscape.

He said: "The challenge to established companies comes not from other established players but from start-up entrepreneurs who will use technology to upset the status quo."

Along with the consumerisation of business technology the other key trends Gartner predicts are commoditisation, virtualisation, a move to buying software and hardware as a service - as opposed to the traditional licence arrangement - and collaboration.

Prentice said businesses will also have to pay more than lip service to environmental issues and ethical behaviour, in the face of increasing consumer awareness and pressure.

He said: "'Green' credentials, both for enterprises and vendors, will become a critical success factor, accelerating the move towards 'Green-IT'."