Philip Carnelley shares his views on the big disrupters in IT

As we approach Cloud World Forum in London this June BCN had the opportunity to catch up with one of the conference speakers, Philip Carnelley, software research director at IDC Europe to discuss his views on the most disruptive trends in IT today.

What do you see as the most disruptive trend in enterprise IT today?

This is a tricky one but I think it’s got to be the Internet of Things – extending the edge of the network, we’re expecting a dramatic rise in internet-connected cars, buildings, homes, sensors for health and industrial equipment, wearables and more.

IDC expects some 28 billion IoT devices to be operational by 2020. Amongst other things, this will change the way a lot of companies operate, changing from device providers to service providers, and allowing device manufacturers to directly sell to, and service, their end customers in the way they didn’t before.

What do you think is lacking in the cloud sector today?

There are 2 things. First, many organizations still have concerns about security, privacy and compliance in a cloud-centric world. The industry needs to make sure that organizations understand that these needs can be met by today’s solutions.

Second, while most people buy into the cloud vision, it’s often not easy to get to there from where they are today. The industry must make it easy as possible, with simple solutions that don’t require fleets of highly trained people to understand and implement.

Are you seeing more enterprises look to non-relational database tech for transactional uses?

Absolutely. We’re seeing a definite rise in the use of NoSQL databases, as IT and DB architects become much more ready to choose databases on a use-base basis rather than just going for the default choice. A good example is the use of Basho Riak at the National Health Service.

Is cloud changing the way mobile apps and services are developed in enterprises?

Yes, there is a change towards creating mobile apps and services that draw on ‘mobile back-end-as-a-service’ technologies for their creation and operation

Why do you think it’s important to attend Cloud World Forum?

Because cloud is the fundamental platform for what IDC calls the 3rd Platform of Computing. We are in the middle of a complete paradigm shift to cloud-centric computing – with the associated technologies of mobile, social and big data – which is driving profound changes in business processes and even business models (think Uber, AirBnB, Netflix). Any company that wants to remain competitive in this new era needs to embrace these technologies, to learn more about them, in the way it develops and runs its operations for B2E, B2B and B2C processes.