<\/span><\/h2>\nWe\u2019ve moved from an era of homogeneity to heterogeneity. The focus is no longer on hardware and operating systems; our lives are run now by applications, and the platform delivery is secondary. Visionary companies like Amazon, Apple and Google have changed the way we consume applications, creating a wave of demand for intuitive user-friendliness. This expectation is now translating into similar requirements for easier-to-use, faster-to-deploy IT enterprise offerings. Complex is out, simple is in, and the cloud is the place where common platforms, security, storage and functionality can converge to meet these demands.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the increased mobility generated by our app-centric culture is driving a new definition of a \u201cKnowledge Worker\u201d. \u00a0Eventually, entire industries will be redefined, as the post-PC era results in the creation of 1.3 billion Knowledge Workers in the next five years alone. We are currently in an explosive phase which we believe will continue for many years. The new application-based technologies that are being developed to take advantage of knowledge worker’s skills and the power of the cloud will create abundant opportunities we can all take advantage of\u2014including IT departments. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/span>The Role of the CIO Continues to Evolve <\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nBusiness processes are becoming increasingly complex. Applications are no longer stand-alone solutions, but composites of many interdependent IT applications and services. To effectively navigate this environment, CIOs will have to act as shamans, leading the right development for the right business reasons. This will be a continued area of focus and improvement.<\/p>\n
In a dramatic and strategic shift, they will move from being optimizers of processes to managers of portfolios<\/span>. Cloud-based solutions will be an important component in providing the transparency and visibility into interdependencies, progress and metrics that CIOs will demand. The stakes are high, because CIOs will not only be held accountable for the successful execution of projects or application work, but also for the return on IT investments by portfolio. We see this event as a major shift over the next several years.<\/b><\/p>\n
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