Gartner's 11 IT predictions available for download

As we entered 2011, analyst firm Gartner made 11 predictions about the near- to mid-term future of IT. The predictions, Gartner said, focus on how the shifting role of IT will affect economies, governments, businesses and individuals. Many of those predictions, whether they come to fruition or not, are likely to play out within data centers.

Nine of the eleven predictions look ahead to what will happen by the year 2015. One makes a prediction for 2013 and another for 2014.

Gartner is now making a summary report of those 11 predictions available for free to anyone who registers as a user of their site.

Here are the 11 predictions taken from Gartner's report.

1. By 2015, a G20 nation's critical infrastructure will be disrupted and damaged by online sabotage.
2. By 2015, new revenue generated each year by IT will determine the annual compensation of most new Global 2000 CIOs.
3. By 2015, information-smart businesses will increase recognized IT spending per head by 60 percent.
4. By 2015, tools and automation will eliminate 25 percent of labor hours associated with IT services.
5. By 2015, most external assessments of enterprise value and viability will include explicit analysis of IT assets and capabilities.
6. By 2015, 80 percent of enterprises using external cloud services will demand independent certification that providers can restore operations and data.
7. By 2015, 20 percent of non-IT Global 500 companies will be cloud service providers.
8. By 2015, companies will generate 50 percent of web sales via their social presence and mobile applications.
9. By 2014, 90 percent of organizations will support corporate applications on personal devices.
10. By 2013, 80 percent of businesses will support a workforce using tablets.
11. By 2015, 10 percent of your online "friends" will be nonhuman.

In its downloadable report, Gartner lists market implications for each of these 11 items, and also lists research reports it offers that are related to the items.

You can find out more about Gartner's 11 predictions, and download the report, here.