It’s already the start of a new year, and we are looking ahead to 2013. I can’t believe 2012 has come and gone so fast. Yes, I know, we say that every year. But still – it was so fast! As we wrap up the year, I wanted to take a look at the year ahead: what to expect, and how to prepare.

Below, I review Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2013. David Cearley, vice president of Gartner 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.”

1. Mobile device battles. Cloud and mobile trends mutually reinforce each other. In 2013, mobile will surpass PC as the most common tool to access to web. 80% of all phones bought will be smartphones. Consumerization of mobile means enterprises will need to be able to support a variety of devices. The only way for an enterprise to support multiple devices is to to be on the cloud. In a post-PC world, IT organizations need the ability to support more than just Windows environments.

2. Mobile Applications and HTML5. Gartner is predicting a long term shift from native apps to Web apps, especially as HTML5 matures. Of course native apps aren’t going anywhere fast, but web-based applications are sure to outpace them in the coming years, especially as more companies move to the cloud.

3. Personal Cloud. The personal cloud will replace the personal computer as the central hub of an individual’s files. As people have their digital lives on more than one device – computer, tablet, phone, etc – the cloud functions as the glue that holds it all together. Google Drive is a perfect example, and actually a perfect solution for you’re own personal cloud.

4. Enterprise App Stores. The future of apps for the enterprise is, as Gartner calmly puts it, “complex”. As the types of devices used by employees continues to diversify, app vendors will be forced to limit their offerings to only certain devices, or certain apps – complicating relationships and payment plans along the way.

5. The Internet of Things. “The Internet of Things” describes how the prevalence of the Internet will expand as more and more consumer items become connected to the internet (think: QR codes). The Internet of Things will bring a wave of new applications, as well as a wave of challenges for IT departments.

6. Hybrid IT and Cloud Computing. Gartner calls future IT departments the “value center” of their organizations, because they are the ones evangelizing and managing enterprise-wide migration to cloud.

7. Strategic Big Data. Big Data is more than an annoyingly over-used buzzword. Big Data is going to have big influence over the information architecture of the enterprise. To effectively handle the the volume and velocity of big data, enterprises will be forced to abandon the traditional single enterprise data warehouse, and migrate towards off-premise data warehouse systems.

8. Actionable Analytics. Linking the mobile client to cloud-based analytics engines enables IT leaders opportunity to simulate, optimize, and predict better than they have in the past, providing better visibility and powering faster, smarter decisions.

9. In Memory Computing. In memory computing (IMC), in the most simplified terms, is basically the compacting and storing of huge amounts of information in random access memory (RAM) servers, rather than complicated relational databases that operate on slow disk drives. Advantages include the ability to cache data constantly, ensuring extremely search fast response times, the ability to quickly detect patterns and analyze huge amounts of data really quickly. Gartner predicts that over the next two years, numerous vendors will be offering in memory computing solutions.

10. 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 (Gartner Newsroom).” We see this trend every day here at Business Intelligence 101. Customers are looking for a less costly, more secure, and user-friendly solution, and they find that solution in a number of our cloud-based applications.

Gartner’s article can be found here: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2209615

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