Tech Predictions for 2015 with IBM Survey

RMN Digital | January 30, 2012 | Americas, Applications, Backend, CIO Info, Consumer, Corporate, Enterprise, Mobiles, Opinion, Regions, Social, Social Media, Strategy, Surveys | No Comments

Information technology professionals predict that mobile and cloud computing will emerge as the most in-demand platforms for software application development and IT delivery over the next five years, according to a recently released IBM survey.

The 2010 IBM Tech Trends Survey, conducted online by IBM developerWorks, provides insight into the most significant enterprise technology and industry trends based on responses from 2,000 IT developers and specialists across 87 countries.

According to the survey, more than half of all IT professionals – 55 percent — expect mobile software application development for devices such as iPhone and Android, and even tablet PCs like iPad and PlayBook, will surpass application development on all other traditional computing platforms by 2015.

With the proliferation of these mobile devices, industry analysts are predicting mobile applications sales will undergo massive growth over the next three years, with estimates of mobile application revenues expanding from $6.2 billion this year to nearly $30 billion by 2013.

Supporting the growing number of software developers creating new applications for mobile devices, IBM now offers no-cost mobile computing technology resources, through IBM developerWorks, for application development on mobile platforms such as iPhone, iPad, HTML5 and Android.

IBM also launched Friday the first developerWorks mobile application for the Apple iPhone, providing developers around the world with mobile access to build skills and network with colleagues using the professional social networking platform, My developerWorks, built on IBM Lotus Connections.

Additional IBM Tech Trends Survey findings include:

91 percent anticipate cloud computing will overtake on-premise computing as the primary way organizations acquire IT over the next five years
Mobile and cloud computing are followed by social media, business analytics and industry-specific technologies as the hottest IT career opportunities beginning in 2011
90 percent believe it is important to possess vertical industry-specific skills for their jobs, yet 63 percent admit they are lacking the industry knowledge needed to remain competitive
Telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, and energy and utilities rank as the top four industries in which respondents identify as having the greatest opportunity to expand their careers.

“To best understand where enterprise technology is headed, one must pay attention to those who have a pulse on market demands – the developers and IT specialists responding to these demands and creating the next generation of business applications,” said Jim Corgel, general manager, IBM Independent Software Vendors and Developer Relations.

“These survey results clearly demonstrate that IT professionals see a combination of disruptive technologies and industry-specific skills as key to driving near-term business growth.”

The online survey, conducted by IBM developerWorks of its eight million registered users in August and September 2010, includes responses from IT professionals with expertise in areas such as enterprise and web application development, system and network administration, and software testing and architecture.