The new IT manager, part 1: trends affecting IT in business

1. Summary

The tables have turned for information technology (IT) managers. In even the largest businesses, IT used to be able to dictate not only which computing assets would be used by employees but also how they would be used. Those days are numbered in large part because of three trends that are converging on organizations and their IT departments: cloud computing, mobile computing and the consumerization of IT.

The New IT Manager is a three-part report meant to educate and advise IT managers on the latest developments within IT management for business.

• Section 1 of this three-part report describes and quantifies each of these trends, demonstrating that they are real now, growing rapidly and perilous to ignore.
• Section 2 investigates the actual and potential impacts of these trends on IT departments and their managers.
• Section 3 presents actionable strategic options with which IT managers may respond to the new reality of corporate computing that they face.

Cloud, mobile and consumerization are not the only trends changing the business landscape, but they are among the most pronounced in terms of visibility and impact on business computing. In the following pages, we present research data that shows currently high and growing future levels of adoption for each trend. We also articulate why each trend is important, from the perspectives of businesspeople and IT staff. The benefits gained by businesses that have already embraced the cloud, mobile and consumerization trends — increased productivity, agility, scalability and reliability, as well as reduced operating costs — are fueling their rapid adoption. It is important to remember that while each trend is powerful in its own right, the confluence of the three is responsible for the overwhelming effect they are having on IT departments and their managers (which we will examine in section 2 of the report).