11.08.05

10 Key Enterprise IT Trends in 2006

1. The Web and E-mail continue to assume their major role as established IT platforms, eroding the permeable membrane separating enterprise intranets from the Internet.

2. Mobile devices – cell phones, Blackberries, laptops – become more important business tools, making tethered desktop computing increasingly obsolete.

3. Internet portals target mobile devices to deliver executables and content relevant to enterprise computing.

4. Sensors, e.g., RFID, proliferate in manufacturing, distribution and retail operations.

5. IT accelerates the re-architecting of enterprise infrastructure platforms around SOA and web services.

6. Outsourcing to reduce business costs of commodity functions negatively impacts the top line of hardware, software and services vendors, leading to a new wave of consolidation.

7. Enterprise software vendors continue to consolidate under attack from Open Source, utility computing, managed services and BPO, as master brands dominate the market.

8. Middleware ISVs struggle to survive as Application software vendors encroach on their markets with "applistructure" offerings and Open Source offerings proliferate.

9. IT marketing goes under major renovation due to new pricing models, master brand ecosystems, market consolidation and indirect channel emphasis on verticals and select horizontals.

10. The project management skills gap continues to plague IT organizations.