Tag Archive for Gartner

| April 23, 2013
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Business PC Not Dead Yet

Business PC Not Dead YetThe BusinessInsider says that the PC market imploded last quarter. They cite data from technology prognosticators IDC who reported PC sales fell 14 percent in the first quarter, which is worse than their forecast of a 7.7 percent drop. IDC claims this is the worst quarter for PC’s since they started tracking sales.

IDC blames Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8 operating system for alienating consumers. The new tile-based interface is too weird for consumers, says IDC. Instead of buying new laptops or desktops, people are buying tablets and smartphones which serve as good-enough alternatives claims the article.

PC Shipments Q1 2013

Despite the wave of doom and gloom in the headlines from Gartner (IT) and IDC, Paul Mah at FierceCIO warns IT, managers and executives, to think before they ditch their existing PCs fleet in favor of tablets and smartphones; or perhaps reallocate their budgets to migrate existing business apps for a tablet-only environment future.

Gartner logoFierceCIO makes the point that the decline in shipments pertains only to the consumer section of the PC market. According to Mikako Kitagawa, at Gartner: “Unlike the consumer PC segment, the professional PC market, which accounts for about half of overall PC shipments, has seen growth, driven by continuing PC refreshes.”

What’s more, this growth is taking place even though some regions already have passed the peak of their PC refresh cycles. And at half of the overall PC shipments, the professional PC market is nothing to be scoffed at. On the other hand, the overall dip–despite the growth in the professional PC market–does speak to just how sharply the drop in consumer PC shipments has been according to the article.

Consumers are clearly moving their content consumption from PCs to connected devices, such as tablets and smartphones. As far as enterprises should be concerned though, businesses are still buying PCs.

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Microsoft CEO Steve BallmerDespite what many people wish, I still don’t see many ways in which tablets can replace the office PC. How do you run a 40 column excel on a 9.5 inch Apple (AAPL) iPad screen? Can you use Access on a consumer-centric tablet like the iPad?

 

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| January 31, 2013
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Are Users the Future of CyberSecurity?

Are Users the Future of CyberSecurity?Gartner is shopping the idea that the people using IT systems and corporate data are perhaps the best ones to guard them. They are calling the People Centric Security (PCS). According to a ZDNet article, People Centric Security loosens IT controls and relies on end-users to assume responsibilities for protecting IT systems and data.

Gartner logoTom Scholtz at Gartner (IT) presented the idea at the recent Gartner Identity and Access Management conference. They explained it this way, empower users with responsibility for systems and data important to their work, sprinkle in consequences for breaching that responsibility, and users will do the right things to secure their environment.

Gartner argues that the convergence of social, mobile, cloud and big data are eroding corporate boundaries and controls in many areas long thought to be state-of-the-art defenses. “The current approach in developing policies and controls doesn’t scale to current realities,” Mr. Schotlz said.

users will do the right thingMr. Scholtz argues current information security policies and tools grind on productivity. He says the relationship between IT, the business, and workers has transformed and necessitates a change in regard to information security. “In this brave new world, what we do as security people is viewed as negative. We are the people who slow things down.”

However, Gartner is not advocating losing all controls and policies only loosening them. Mr. Schotlz argues that taking away controls on data and replacing them with new user-based responsibilities, principles, and rights may just improve end-user focus and produce a more managed and secure environment.  “We cannot forget about the bad guys outside our enterprise; we do not get rid of all our defenses,” he said.

We treat them like children“One of the realities in the current approach to information security is we treat the 95% of people that want to do the right thing, we treat them like the bad people in order to protect against the bad things done by the 5% of people who have bad intentions,” said Scholtz. “We treat them like children, and if you treat people like children, they will act like children.”

The PCS goal is to implement a “trust space.” ZDNet explains that concepts surrounding “mutual trust” are not new, they have been used in traffic planning, Europe’s Schengen Agreement, open source, and even cloud computing, where companies trust that large providers will protect their data as part and parcel of protecting their own valuable brands.

Gartners People Centric Security Principles

Such an environment “makes it easier to monitor for exceptions, the good people are not trying to circumvent the controls,” says Scholtz.

Protect your dataGartner’s Scholtz knows PCS is not for everyone and that implementation requires cultural and educational challenges. “Maybe we could develop a situation where we have a set of underlying principles that underpin how people use data and how they access systems, and we link those with specific individual responsibilities,” he said. “Maybe we get a more collaborative and social environment.”

There are specific requirements if PCS is to prosper according to the article, the process has to be top-down and there have to be effective punishments for those that abuse their rights. Scholtz admits his concepts are in the embryonic stage, but that they will evolve in the coming months as he works with select enterprises. He noted that a European bank and a U.S.-based agricultural business are already adopting PCS concepts.

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How crazy do you think the PCS concept is? Can it work? Remember that just a couple of years ago, Gartner called BYOD, which I covered here in 2010.

Are your users the future of cybersecurity?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| December 13, 2012
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Top Five IT Trends for 2013

Top five IT trends for 2013Ian Kilpatrick, who has the longest job title I have ever seen, chairman of international value added distributor, specialists in market development for secure IP infrastructure solutions and convergence at Wick Hill Group shares his vision of the top five IT trends for 2013. In the article, Top five IT trends for 2013 at ITnewslink he shares his predictions.

BYOD Man1. BYOD – He says the first IT Trend for 2013 is BYOD. BYOD is now an unstoppable, user-driven wave that will continue to make a major impact on the IT world in 2013 and beyond.  2013 will see companies trying to integrate BYOD into their networks.

He also speculates that we can expect to see the growth of Microsoft (MSFT) Windows to Go secure USB sticks based on Windows 8, which provide remote users with the supported version of the corporate desktop. These are available from a limited number of suppliers authorized by Microsoft and include Imation’s IronKey Workspace for Windows to Go.

Mobile Device Management2. Mobile Device Management – The next IT trend for 2013 is that Mobile Device Management solutions growth will accelerate in 2013. The growth is due to the rapid growth of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, but particularly smartphones.

Growth will be strongest for MDM solutions that offer features such as ensuring mobile device usage complies with company security policies, allocating access rights, managing configuration, updating policies, dealing with data leakage issues, and dealing with lost or stolen devices.

A crucial component for the continued growth of MDM solutions will be the clear separation between the management of business and personal data on devices. There are over 100 suppliers in mobile device management many of them are good but niche solutions. The Gartner (IT) Magic Quadrant identifies the strategic leaders, which includes Zenprise.

High density wireless3. High density wireless – Wireless requirements have been significantly incrementing over the last year making it the third IT trend for 2013. The firm says BYOD has changed both the data transfer and performance expectations of users. However, these expectations have not been met, with many networks still inadequate in their coverage and performance.

The new 802.11ac standard, with 1 gigabit per second throughput rates, will be a key driver in organizations moving to high-density wireless in 2013. High density wireless will provide companies with high coverage and high performance, supporting business-critical applications and delivering complete site coverage There will continue to be a shift from niche solutions towards more strategic solutions. The Gartner Magic Quadrant identifies Xirrus, which will continue to experience stratospheric growth.

Data back-up and recovery4. Data back-up and recovery – 2013’s fourth IT trend for 2013 deals with data back-up and recovery. Organizations have been under immense pressure from ever-increasing data volumes, archiving, and compliance requirements.

At the top end, new data replication technologies will have a major impact on data centers in 2013. For smaller organizations, the shift from tape will continue apace. For conservative organizations, the move to disc (and, in particular, RDX technologies that combine the best of tape and disk) will accelerate. Hybrid back-up to RDX and then the cloud will increase. In volume terms, the lowest move (but in market-hype the biggest) will be significant growth in direct back-up to the cloud. RDX, hybrid, and cloud data backup solutions are available from vendors such as Imation and Barracuda Networks.

Data leakage protection5. Data leakage protection – The last Wick Hill Group IT trend for 2013 says that with the growing volumes of data and regulatory bodies’ willingness to levy fines for non-compliance, data leakage protection will continue to be a major cause for concern during 2013. Companies will be looking closely at how to secure and manage their data as their network boundaries spread even wider, with increased use of social networking and BYOD, increased remote access, the rapid growth of wireless, increased virtualization, and the move towards convergence.

Increasingly, organizations will couple DLP products with SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solutions. DLP concerns will also continue the growth curve for authentication (much of it hosted in the cloud) and encryption, to protect data, both in motion and at rest. Some companies will look to hosted security services and the cloud to cope with an increasingly complex security situation. SIEM and authentication solutions are available from companies such as LogLogic, Check Point VASCO, and SafeNet.

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So these are not really earth-shattering predictions for 2013, BYOD, MDM, and Wi-Fi are already part of my world. We are doubling our backup capabilities and will be updating from our current McAfee to some sort of DLP

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| June 7, 2012
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‘Personal Cloud’ to Replace PC by 2014, Says Gartner

‘Personal Cloud’ to Replace PC by 2014, Says GartnerMike Barton wrote on Wired’s Cloudline that there’s no doubting the cloud invasion. But the research firm Gartner (IT) believes the personal cloud will replace the PC as the center of our digital lives as soon as 2014.

Gartner logoSteve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement, “Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets, and other consumer devices.” He continues, “Emerging cloud services will become the glue that connects the web of devices that users choose to access during the different aspects of their daily life.”

cloud-happy futureIn the article, Mr. Burton writes that Google plans a cloud-centered future with Google (GOOG) Play and Android mobile OS. But the personal computer will also not miss out on the cloud, as Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) are planning to weave the cloud into the next generation of their desktop operating systems, Windows 8, and OS X Mountain Lion.

But a cloud-happy future will not be as easy as that, because Gartner says, “it will require enterprises to fundamentally rethink how they deliver applications and services to users.” Gartner sees a number of factors are converging to make for a perfect personal cloud storm by 2014.

Megatrend No. 1: Consumerization— Gartner says what corporate IT has seen so far been a precursor to the major wave that is starting to take hold across all aspects of IT as several key factors come together:

  • ConsumerizationUsers are more technologically savvy
  • The internet and social media have empowered and emboldened users.
  • The rise of powerful, affordable mobile devices changes the equation for users.
  • Through the democratization of technology, users of all types and statuses within organizations can now have similar technology available to them.

Megatrend No. 2: Virtualization — Virtualization has improved flexibility and increased the options for how IT organizations can set up client environments.

App-ificationMegatrend No. 3: “App-ification” — Apps change the way applications are designed, delivered, and consumed by users and it has a dramatic impact on all other aspects of the market.

Megatrend No. 4: The Ever-Available Self-Service Cloud – The cloud opens a whole new level of opportunity for self-servicing users. Every user can now have a scalable and nearly infinite set of resources available for whatever they need to do.

Megatrend No. 5: The Mobility Shift — Wherever and Whenever You Want Today, mobile devices combined with the cloud can fulfill most computing tasks, and any tradeoffs are outweighed in the minds of the user by the convenience and flexibility provided by the mobile devices.

The Mobility ShiftGartner’s Kleynhans said. “In this new world, the specifics of devices will become less important for the organization to worry about. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared in the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself.”

Wired says that former Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie made the same point recently, “People argue about, ‘Are we in a post-PC world?’. Why are we arguing? Of course, we are in a post-PC world.” Ozzie reportedly told a conference,  ”That doesn’t mean the PC dies; that just means that the scenarios that we use them in, we stop referring to them as PCs, we refer to them as other things.”

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Goodie for Gartner, they get paid for codifying the obvious. Consumers are moving to the personal cloud. DVDs vs.Netflix streams. Files on your hard drives vs. some distant data center run by Dropbox. Photo albums vs. Flickr. Books vs. Kindles and Nooks.

Related articles:
  • Supermodels, Megatrends, and Ultra Big Paradigm Shifts to the Cloud

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| November 8, 2011
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Gartner’s Top Tech Trends For 2012

GartGartner's Top Tech Trends For 2012ner VP David Cearley described their top ten strategic technology trends for 2012 to attendees of the Gartner Symposium IT/Expo. Gartner (IT) defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. Here are Gartner’s top strategic technologies for 2012.

Gartner logoMedia tablets and beyond: Bring-your-own-technology (BYOT) at work has become the norm, not the exception.  By 2015 tablet shipments will reach around 50% of laptop shipments and Windows 8 will likely be in third place behind Google‘s (GOOG) Android and Apple’s (AAPL) iOS. The net result is that Microsoft‘s (MSFT) share of the client platform, be it PC, tablet, or smartphone, will likely be reduced to 60% and it could fall below 50%, Mr. Cearley says.

Apple iPadThe implication for IT is that the era of PC dominance with Windows as the single platform will be replaced with a post-PC era where Windows is one of a variety of environments IT will need to support. Gartner says it expects iOS/Android will dominate the market with 80% of tablets shipped by 2015. IT leaders need a managed diversity program to address multiple form factors, as well as employees bringing their own smartphones and tablet devices into the workplace.

Mobile-Centric Applications and Interfaces. User interfaces with windows, icons, menus and pointers which have been in place for more than 20 years are changing. The UI will be replaced by mobile-centric interfaces emphasizing touch, gesture, search, voice, and video. Applications themselves are likely to shift to more focused and simple apps that can be assembled into more complex solutions. By 2015 half the applications that would be written as native apps in 2011 will instead be delivered as Web apps.

The Internet of Things (IoT)Internet of Things: The Internet of Things (IoT) describes pervasive computing where cameras, sensors, microphones, image recognition, everything, is now part of the environment. In addition, increasingly intelligent devices create issues such as privacy concerns. Gartner says. Drivers of the IoT are:

  • Near Field Communication (NFC) payments allows users to make payments by waving their mobile phone in front of a compatible reader.
  • Embedded sensors which detect and communicate changes are being built into an increasing number of places and objects.
  • Image Recognition technologies identify objects, people, buildings, places logos, etc. that has value to consumers and enterprises.

App Stores and MarketplacesApp Stores and Marketplaces: Application stores by Apple and Android provide marketplaces where hundreds of thousands of applications are available to mobile users. Gartner forecasts that by 2014, there will be more than 70 billion mobile application downloads from app stores every year with an enterprise focus. With enterprise app stores, the role of IT shifts from that of a centralized planner to a market manager providing governance and brokerage services to users and potentially an ecosystem to support entrepreneurs. Enterprises should use a managed diversity approach to focus on app store efforts and segment apps by risk and value.

Big DataBig Data: The size, complexity of formats, and speed of delivery exceed the capabilities of traditional data management technologies; Gartner says it requires the use of new technologies simply to manage the volume alone. One major implication of big data is that in the future users will not be able to put all useful information into a single data warehouse. Logical data warehouses bringing together information from multiple sources as needed will replace the single data warehouse model.

Cloud Computing: This topic is still an important trend. It will become the next-generation battleground for the likes of Google and Amazon (AMZN). Going forward, enterprise IT will be concerned with developing hybrid private/public cloud apps, improving security and governance, Mr. Cearley says. While the market remains in its early stages in 2011 and 2012, it will see the full range of large enterprise providers fully engaged in delivering a range of offerings to build cloud environments and deliver cloud services. Oracle (ORCL), IBM (IBM), and SAP (SAP) all have major initiatives to deliver a broader range of cloud services over the next two years. As Microsoft continues to expand its cloud offering, and these traditional enterprise players expand offerings, users will see competition heat up and enterprise-level cloud services increase.

Cloud ComputingEnterprises are moving from trying to understand the cloud to making decisions on selected workloads to implement on cloud services and where they need to build out private clouds. Hybrid cloud computing which brings together external public cloud services and internal private cloud services, as well as the capabilities to secure, manage and govern the entire cloud spectrum will be a major focus for 2012. From a security perspective, new certification programs will be ready for the initial trial, setting the stage for more secure cloud computing. On the private cloud front, IT will be challenged to bring operations and development groups closer together using “DevOps” concepts in order to approach the speed and efficiencies of public cloud service providers.

Other key predictions Gartner had included:

  • Contextual and Social User Experience: Context-aware computing uses information about an end-user to improve the quality of interaction and anticipates the user’s needs and proactively serves up the customized content. By 2015, 40% of the world’s smartphone users will opt in to context service providers that track their activities with Google, Microsoft, Nokia (NOK), and Apple continuously tracking daily activities Mr.Cearley says.
  • The growing use of flash memory for In-Memory Computing is a long-term technology trend that could have a disruptive impact comparable to that of cloud computing.
  • The adoption of Extreme Low-Energy Servers built on low-power processors typically used in mobile devices will increase for non-compute intensive workloads or delivery of static objects to a website. Gartner says that 10%-15% of enterprise workloads are good for this.
  • Next-Generation Analytics Gartner says over the next three years, analytics will mature from structured and simple data analyzed by individuals to the analysis of complex information of many types (text, video, etc.) from many systems.
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  • Expecting a recession, Gartner urges ‘creative destruction’ (networkworld.com)

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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