Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2017. Read them in this 9th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed by Bask Iyer, CIO and General Manager, IoT, VMware
A CIO perspective: Looking ahead at market and technology trends for 2017 and beyond
As I look ahead at where market and technology is headed for
2017 and beyond, I am excited about several trends. The key theme across them
is one of interconnection. These are not ten independent trends but instead ten
interwoven and increasingly sophisticated forces coming together with great momentum.
- Mobility
Plus
- Cloud Plus
- IoT
- Blockchain
and Distributed Ledgers
- Uberization
of IT
- IT-driven
Innovation and Superior Customer Experiences
- Shadow IT =
Business IT
- Manufacturing
Returns to the US
- Leadership
- Open Source
1. Mobility Plus
It is time to go beyond MDM, calendaring and basic enterprise apps. Now is
the time for enterprise mobility to break through with creativity, context and
the use of AI (artificial intelligence). Think apps that treat employees like
consumers, on campus, incorporating the latest in consumer technology, for
business use.
2. Cloud Plus
How many clouds does your team work on? 1, 2, 3. How about 8. Yes that's
the average per a VMware study
earlier this year from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The coming era is one
of multiple clouds - that leads to a hybrid cloud environment. The magic bullet
will be to manage, network, orchestrate and secure across several pubic clouds
and your own private cloud.
3. IoT
The Internet of Things wave will go from quaint and neat, gaining powerful
capabilities via machine learning and AI. It will unfortunately also become a
big headache for IT due to the rise in security incidents and breaches. The
wise will build security into their IoT architecture from the start. (And please
let's change our device passwords from "admin"). Nonetheless, IoT's momentum is
unstoppable and will only accelerate.
4. Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers
Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions shared among
a distributed network of computers with trust hard-coded into the platform. This technology is gaining traction because
of the potential to transform key parts of our economy through new fraud-proof,
crowd-sourced, and open trusted mechanisms. Financial institutions will break
away from other industries as they welcome blockchains into their systems. This
technology also holds potential to securing IoT systems in the future.
5. Uberization of IT
The gig economy will spread to IT resulting in the "Uber"-ization of IT.
This will take hold with an increasing number of IT professionals, even those
with full-time employment handling project-based work, moonlighting on the
side, like some cops do these days.
6. IT-driven Innovation and Superior Customer
Experiences
In 2017, I in IT will stand for Innovation in more ways than ever before.
Across enterprises IT is innovating in core areas and IT's impact on digital
business re-design will accelerate. IT is often the first customer for these
innovations so they are best positioned to optimize the customer experience. To
date, the progress was incremental but I expect it will become much more
significant 2017 onwards, as the low hanging fruit has been consumed. Time to
up our game.
7. Shadow IT = Business IT
Related to # 6 above, the shame of "shadow" IT will give way not just to acceptance
but to the encouragement of business-driven IT initiatives. Companies will do
well to wholeheartedly embrace and incubate them. These initiatives and the
people behind them are the stars of tomorrow.
8. Manufacturing Returns to the US
Technological innovation will continue to see the return of manufacturing
to the US. Factors such as the rising cost of manufacturing overseas coupled
with a desire to produce goods near potential consumers are the drivers. This
new wave of manufacturing will offer highly skilled jobs, which may not replace
the jobs lost in earlier outsourcing cycles. They will be geared towards
knowledge workers and will require critical thinking, math and technical
skills. Reasons for the move will be low
cost (yes!), access to knowledge and innovation, and the attractiveness of
automation and government policy. Areas that are leading the way are electric
car manufacturing where there are already more than 30 companies producing in
the US in 2016 and IoT manufacturing which will ramp up next year.
9. Leadership
The career path in IT from operators to CIO and beyond will become more
formally defined and established. IT practitioners who aspire to become future
CIOs will have a clearer career growth path including mentorship,
certifications and accomplishments. Furthermore, we will start seeing more CIOs
be viewed as competitive candidates for CEO roles, especially in technology
companies or those companies ready to be digitally transformed.
10. Open Source
The
importance of Open Source will continue to rise as it becomes a significant
component of mainstream enterprise business models. Combine this with the
rising power of developers and the application economy and you get an
irreversible trend and unstoppable force. Open source is a driver of innovation
and very much in tune with today's enterprise needs for the latest features,
interoperability, agility, and accelerated time to market. It is also aligned
with societal trends around sharing and crowdsourcing. It's time has come.
Already a key element of developer toolsets, operating systems and databases,
Open Source will continue its expansion to the Cloud.
##
About the Author
Bask Iyer, Chief
Information Officer and General Manager, IoT
Bask Iyer joined VMware in March 2015 and serves as
the company's senior vice president and chief information officer (CIO). Iyer
leads VMware's global information and technology organization, a group that
manages critical technology systems supporting the company's worldwide business
operations. In July 2016, Bask added the responsibility of general manager,
IoT. In this role, he will drive the company's IoT strategy and business
innovations in this emerging area.
A respected industry veteran, Iyer brings more than 25
years of experience in executing and driving change in traditional Fortune 100
manufacturing companies and Silicon Valley-based high technology firms. Prior
to joining VMware, Iyer served as senior vice president and chief information
officer at Juniper Networks, where he was responsible for the company's
technology and business operations, which included critical services around
business transformation, global business services, IT and real estate, and
workplace services. Before joining Juniper Networks, he served as chief
information officer at Honeywell, and chief information officer at
GlaxoSmithKline Beecham for consumer healthcare research and development, where
he was also the company's e-commerce leader. Iyer holds a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering from Annamalai University in India and a master's degree
in computer science from Florida Institute of Technology.
