Gartner has released its list of Top Predictions for IT Companies and Users for 2011 and Beyond and its contents are fascinating.  Amongst the list of eight predictions, there were two that struck us as comment worthy; By 2015, tools and automation will eliminate 25 per cent of labor hours associated with IT services; and By 2015, 10 per cent of your online “friends” will be nonhuman.  According to Gartner analysts, the rise of self serve options and cloud computing will greatly impact the tech heavy mentality at IT organizations.  We would argue that that number could be increased by at least 10 points when looking at non IT positions, at all organization types.  We are already seeing a trend in staffing shifts where companies are doing more with less people power and more technology prowess. (This applies to not only traditional media newsrooms, but to all businesses in general).  To their second point of 10 per cent of our friends being non-human, to that I say “very sad”.  On one hand I express great concern that my social media communications will no longer be humane and real, but on the other, I am not surprised.  The same way we can apply smart algorithms to know what I want, based on previous site interactions with me, is the same way that by 2015 we’ll be able to anticipate conversations.  It makes sense, I mean the root of our behaviours never change, the technology does.

Below is a list of the eight predictions released by Gartner. You can read more here.

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, 20 percent of non-IT Global 500 companies will be cloud service providers.
6. By 2014, 90 percent of organizations will support corporate applications on personal devices
7. By 2013, 80 percent of businesses will support a workforce using tablets.
8. By 2015, 10 percent of your online “friends” will be nonhuman