5 top technology trends for 2013

1.  Hybrid IT and cloud computing.

A recently conducted survey revealed that the internal cloud services brokerage (CSB) role is emerging as IT organizations realize that they have a responsibility to help improve the provisioning and consumption of inherently distributed, heterogeneous and often complex cloud services for their internal users and external business partners.

The internal CSB role represents a means for the IT organization to retain and build influence inside its organization and to become a value center in the face of challenging new requirements relative to increasing adoption of cloud as an approach to IT consumption. 




2. Mobile device battles

    By 2013 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide and that by 2015 over 80 per cent of the handsets sold in mature markets will be smartphones. However, only 20 per cent of those handsets are likely to be Windows phones.

   It is expected that by 2015 tablet shipments will reach around 50 per cent of laptop
shipments and Windows 8 will likely be in third place behind Google's Android and Apple iOS operating systems.Enterprises will need to support a greater variety of form factors reducing the ability to standardise PC and tablet hardware. The implications for IT is that the era of PC dominance with Windows as the single platform will be replaced with a post-PC era where Windows is just one of a variety of environments IT will need to support. 


3. Mobile applications and HTML 5

    The market for tools to create consumer and enterprise facing apps is complex with well over 100 potential tools vendors. For the next few years, no single tool will be optimal for all types of mobile application so expect to employ several. Six mobile architectures - native, special, hybrid, HTML 5, Message and No Client will remain popular.
   However, there will be a long term shift away from native apps to Web apps as HTML5 becomes more capable.

4. Personal cloud

    The personal cloud will gradually replace the PC. The personal cloud will entail the unique collection of services, web destinations and connectivity that will become the home of their computing and communication activities.

   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. 

5.  Enterprise app stores
   Enterprises face a complex app store future as some vendors will limit their stores to specific devices and types of apps forcing the enterprise to deal with multiple stores, multiple payment processes and multiple sets of licensing terms.

    By 2014, it is expected that many organizations will deliver mobile applications to workers through private application stores. With enterprise app stores the role of IT shifts from that of a centralized planner to a market manager providing governance and brokerage services to users and potentially an ecosystem to support apptrepreneurs.