It’s that time of year when everyone seems to make IT predictions, alongside New Year’s resolutions. And most of them always seem so, well… predictable! So here are my top 10 predictions for 2014:
1. The realities and practicalities of ‘Big Data’ begin to bite as the hype is stripped away.
2. Consumer IT and BYOD become business mainstream, not trends to be resisted or purely optional.
3. The value of ‘corporate IT’ will actually begin to GROW again .. but only if it’s ‘responsive’ to changing business needs and a ‘door opener’, not a ‘gatekeeper’.
4. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Cloud delivery models begin to morph into one.
5. Information Assurance and data security become mainstream business issues/risks .. or are increasingly barriers to progress if mismanaged.
6. A ‘final call’ is for remaining non-digital internal business practices.. the days are numbered for out-of-date ways of working, whether ‘electronic’ or not. True digital organisations will be seen to outperform their peers in every sector.
7. The Public Sector (perceived?) IT ‘cash cow’ dies and new models of private/public collaboration emerge – commercially robust but with new ways of managing risk of IT to reduce cost and improve outcomes.
8. Outsourcing models shift fundamentally towards flexible Cloud services, in recognition of some shortcomings of the past.
9. Nationally (and politically) the social and economic importance of IT becomes a higher priority. The public will demand this, business will depend on it and public services will not close the funding gap without addressing it.
10. Because of 1-9 above, demands for IT products and services, and for IT professional expertise will grow faster than other sectors …but with the inevitable tensions around IT … e.g. IT=poisoned chalice or holy grail? – Both are incorrect.
And the future of the CIO, CDO, IT Director? Not on my list as important enough!
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