Consumer tech tipped to reshape enterprise IT

Analyst firm Gartner has repeated its warning that technology driven by consumers will have a major effect on enterprises in the future.

Gartner expects commoditisation to continue in hardware, storage, and broadband provision. This should mean technology becomes more affordable for both consumers and businesses.

"Overall, commoditisation and consumerisation are about the increasing affordability of technology, the changes in societal behaviour that come about because of this and the impact those changes have on an enterprise in terms of how it meets the rapidly changing demand and expectations of its customers and employees," said Steve Prentice, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

"Together, these trends mark a major shift in the balance of power between the technology providers, business, individuals and even the state," said Prentice.

There will also be a greater focus on making technology easier to use, Gartner predicted.

"Control is moving from programmers to everyone," said Daryl Plummer, group vice president and chief Gartner fellow. "We are moving from a world where people were expected to behave the way computers work, to a world where computers work the way people actually behave. It's about what we do with the software instead of what the software is, or how it is implemented."

Changing software delivery models mean companies will increasingly rent software and solutions rather than buy applications, moving towards software as a service.

"Software as a service provides flexibility that leads to agility. It provides IT leaders with many options, and then it lets the business decide how those options will be used," said Gartner.

Late last year, Gartner advised IT managers to play with Xbox consoles as a way of getting to grips with disruptive technologies.