Eight Trends Driving IT's Future

A new study from Accenture, billed as “Accenture Technology Vision 2011,” identifies eight trends that are remaking IT and helping it reshape the business landscape, with a focus on driving business performance and growth. “We took a look around the corner and saw a world of IT that barely resembles what enterprise computing looks like today,” said Gavin Michael, managing director of R&D and alliances at Accenture. “The role of technology is changing; it is no longer in a support role. Instead, it is front and center driving business performance and enriching people’s lives like never before.” Many of the trends and technologies Accenture identifies are familiar at this point, including social media and cloud computing; others, like the waning era of the application, are less well-known. The real value of the report lies with insights on taking advantage of these technology shifts to gain business intelligence and business value — and doing so before your competitors figure out what comes next.