Trends that will define IT in 2013

In many ways, the information technology industry has always been synonymous with change. But the rate of change this year will definitely be at an incomparable pace.

With hybrid devices, cloud computing, mobility and virtualization going mainstream, the labyrinth of recession that the IT industry had been facing should come to an end.

In this era of innovations and technology advancements, organizations have better, more effective ways to address the massive growth of data as well as the growing security concerns and business continuity threats. 2013 will see a number of organizations plunging into big data in a big way. Data is critical for competitive advantage for organizations to better understand their consumers, and businesses are practically drowning in data, generated and created by everything- from internet searches and social media to smart technologies.

According to Gartner, many businesses would continue a steady migration towards cloud computing in 2013, driven towards it both by cost as well as the quality of service. One of the main reasons behind this increased shift is the inherent need of businesses to cut costs. The inherent convenience of cloud computing comes from the fact that it enables organizations to access a shared pool of computing services, which in turn promotes organizational agility and also cuts down deployment costs. The cloud enables organizations to act on a larger body of information and use it in an effective way.

Building on its strong 2012 foundation, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets would continue this year too. Enterprise social media is another trend with a lot of potential. It enables employees of an organization to share and connect with co-workers in private enterprise-only social networks.

Overall, 2013 seems to be a bright year for the IT market where companies can leverage IT trends by simply employing them.

First Published in http://www.dqweek.com/dq-week/feature/155406/trends-define-it-2013