Five Game-Changing Predictions for IT in 2014

Five Game-Changing Predictions for IT in 2014

Prediction: The Customer Experience Rules

Organizations will preach about the need for experience-first approaches that reach and successfully engage customers whether they are using a smartphone, tablet, smart TV, or wearable technology.

Best Practice Recommendation: Form Highly Capable DevOps Teams

These teams bring together developers and IT operations pros for software creation. They focus more on managing and securing mobile app and data and less on managing and securing the devices themselves.

Prediction: Stand and Deliver!

Thanks to tech, consumers are armed with more information than ever. Barriers to entry will continue to crumble as a huge influx of competitors will hustle to deliver faster. And better.

Best Practice Recommendation: Get in the Agile Groove

An agile IT department understands that social, mobility, cloud and DevOps are all blurring into one movement. Thus, traditional Information Technology Infrastructure Libraries (ITILs) are reconstituted, with their most valuable concepts extracted and adjusted.

Prediction: An “APPetite” for IT will Fuel the API Economy

No longer monolithic and hosted on a single platform, app development will continue to soar via rapidly evolving on-premise and cloud environments.

Best Practice Recommendation: Get Out of the Buy, Build and Manage Box

Rigid, traditional models are outdated. Focus on composite business app acquisition through service-oriented architectures to achieve new levels of speed, performance and innovation.

Prediction: Security Tops the Agenda

The bad guys are always testing your security, especially with new opportunities created by BYOD and social media. Somehow, the cybercriminals stay one to two steps ahead of most security strategies.

Best Practice Recommendation: Find the Right Balance

Agile CIOs don’t shut down the enterprise due to threats. Strive to both enable business while still protecting it. Keeping security simple for users—with automation on the back end—is one way to get there.

Prediction: The Skills Crisis Will Reach a Critical Point

Advancements in mobility, social and sensory technologies will only drive the currently high demand for top tech talent higher, especially in recruiting those with specialized and in-demand skills.

Best Practice Recommendation: Be Involved, Proactive

Increase visibility in community-based development efforts, such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. You’ll help cultivate up-and-coming talent, while making solid connections.