Newsletter sign-up
View all newsletters

Enterprise Java Newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest tutorials and Java community news posted on JavaWorld

Sponsored Links

Optimize with a SATA RAID Storage Solution
Range of capacities as low as $1250 per TB. Ideal if you currently rely on servers/disks/JBODs

JavaWorld.com

The IT revolution that isn't

Cloud, mobile, and the consumerization of IT are conspiring to change everything -- but as with all else in enterprise IT, it's going to take a long time

By Eric Knorr, InfoWorld, 06/13/11

  • Print
  • Feedback
.

Never has so much change in IT been foretold by so many. Nor have so many people seemed to agree on the general shape that change was taking -- from analysts to CIOs to vendors to all kinds of self-styled pundits.

You've heard the narrative: IT is being consumerized. As personal devices and cloud services nimbly provide more and more of what business users need to do their work, lumbering IT operations will have less and less to manage outside of a few core applications.

[ Also on InfoWorld.com: The shift in the IT landscape requires a shift in leadership -- found out how to be a modern CIO. | Get the no-nonsense explanations and advice you need to take real advantage of cloud computing in InfoWorld editors' 21-page Cloud Computing Deep Dive PDF special report. ]

The underlying message is that IT -- and software vendors -- have made a mess of things. So many systems require so much overhead just to limp along, IT doesn't have time to jump on new opportunities. And the big software vendors seem to work a lot harder on figuring creative ways to charge for upgrades and maintenance than on, say, fully mobilizing their apps.

Cloud Computing Deep Dive

Here's one reality check: According to recent Gartner projections, by 2014 SaaS applications will rise to 16 percent of enterprise application market, just a few percent higher than today -- not exactly explosive growth. It makes sense when you think about it: Enterprise apps like ERP are slowest to change and are the most closely guarded by business.

So what about other areas -- like office productivity software? Well, last time I looked, Microsoft Office still had over 80 percent market share. Will there be a rush to the cloud when Office 365 launches later this year? No way: Office 365 puts Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync servers in the cloud, but Office itself is meant to stay on the desktop. And though the No. 1 cloud competitor, Google Apps, has a gazillion users, most people use it for collaboration, not as an Office replacement. As Microsoft likes to say, its biggest competition for Office is earlier versions of Office.

Some pundits argue the desktop doesn't matter anymore -- and that recent PC sales numbers show a decline year over year, while sales of tablets and smartphones have skyrocketed . But have you ever tried doing heads-down work without a real keyboard? When you come down to it, mobile devices add new capability -- they don't replace much in the way of existing desktop functionality.

The real change is happening in the data center as a consequence of virtualization. Vastly increased agility and efficiency in the private cloud has already resulted in admins being laid off -- but is that a revolution? Or just the next step in automation? And if you decide to turn to the public cloud for your infrastructure, be aware that you may need to hire cloud specialists even as you lay off admins, as InfoWorld's Matt Prigge observes in his post today.

Don't get me wrong. I think this is a thrilling time in IT -- and over the long haul, the consumerization of IT will have tremendous impact. But as the uber-pundit Paul Saffo famously said: "Never mistake a clear view for a short distance."


For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

  • Print
  • Feedback

Resources