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Gartner: Organizations Must Master 2 Dimensions of Mobility

With the convergence of devices, bots, things and people, organizations will need to master two dimensions of mobility, according to Gartner.

CIOs and IT leaders will need to excel at mainstream mobility and to prepare for the post-app era.

"The future of mobile will provide ubiquitous services delivered anywhere, by any person or thing, to any person or thing," said David Willis, VP and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner. "While users are constantly looking for new and compelling app experiences, the importance of apps in delivering services will diminish and the emergence of virtual personal assistants (VPAs) and bots will replace some of the functions performed by apps today. Alternative approaches to interaction and service delivery will arise, and code will move from traditional mobile devices and apps to the cloud."

Mobile Becomes "Business As Usual"

"The mobile landscape has changed dramatically during the past few years; mobile is no longer a novel technology, but business as usual, for most organizations," said Willis.

In 2016, Gartner forecasts the shipment of 2.37 billion devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones), and that 293 million wearables will be sold in the same year. In 2017, Gartner estimates that 2.38 billion devices will be shipped and 342 million wearables will be sold.

"The proliferation of mobile devices means that phones, tablets, laptops and wearables are now omnipresent within the business environment, reinventing the way people interact and work," he added.

Today's tech users are smart and savvy, demanding better features and experiences. The traditional forms of bring your own (that is, devices and applications) will continue to grow, making bring your own device and bring your own application the norm for the majority of organizations. "Moreover, the arrival of wearables and bring your own "thing" (such as smart kettles, smart power sockets or smart light bulbs) in the workplace will introduce new interaction techniques and new platforms, diluting the need for specific mobile app experiences," said Mr. Willis.

Much of the innovation in the mobile space isn't taking place inside the smartphones themselves, but in the things that communicate with them. Gartner predicts that by 2018, 25 percent of new mobile apps will talk to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Most IoT devices that talk to smartphones do so via an app or the browser. "Through 2018, the app will be the preferred mechanism, because it provides a better experience and allows more sophisticated interactions and data analysis, with low-level networking and background processing," said Willis.

However, the current dominance of apps is challenged by several trends that, together, Gartner labels the "post-app era".

"As new technologies grow in importance as a way to control and interact with things, app interfaces will fade," he added.

Prepare for the Post-App Era Today

New ways to interact with things will deliver pervasive services, and emerging technologies — such as artificial intelligence, natural-language processing and bots integrated into messaging apps,open new opportunities to interact with users seamlessly.

A number of global players are enabling businesses and consumers to "chat" with users on their messaging platform evolving APIs and services so that developers can create their own bots. This concept allows users to chat with organizations to get information, answer questions and transact through messaging or VPAs.

"This means that instead of going into a system and filling out complicated forms with checkboxes, users can ask a bot a question, and it will answer or negotiate on our behalf, based on rules and knowledge in the system," said Willis. "It will then move to those systems that allow interactions with customers — from marketing to sales."

"Apps are not going away and code isn't vanishing," he continued. "The post-app era means that there will be more data and code in the cloud and less on the device, thanks to the continuous improvement of cellular network performance."

"The post-app era will be an evolving process through 2020 and beyond," concluded Willis. "It has, however, already begun, and organizations should prepare for it by being agile and tactical, planning for new skills, assessing the new opportunities created by the post-app era, and developing a digital business strategy that integrates many different technologies."

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Gartner: Organizations Must Master 2 Dimensions of Mobility

With the convergence of devices, bots, things and people, organizations will need to master two dimensions of mobility, according to Gartner.

CIOs and IT leaders will need to excel at mainstream mobility and to prepare for the post-app era.

"The future of mobile will provide ubiquitous services delivered anywhere, by any person or thing, to any person or thing," said David Willis, VP and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner. "While users are constantly looking for new and compelling app experiences, the importance of apps in delivering services will diminish and the emergence of virtual personal assistants (VPAs) and bots will replace some of the functions performed by apps today. Alternative approaches to interaction and service delivery will arise, and code will move from traditional mobile devices and apps to the cloud."

Mobile Becomes "Business As Usual"

"The mobile landscape has changed dramatically during the past few years; mobile is no longer a novel technology, but business as usual, for most organizations," said Willis.

In 2016, Gartner forecasts the shipment of 2.37 billion devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones), and that 293 million wearables will be sold in the same year. In 2017, Gartner estimates that 2.38 billion devices will be shipped and 342 million wearables will be sold.

"The proliferation of mobile devices means that phones, tablets, laptops and wearables are now omnipresent within the business environment, reinventing the way people interact and work," he added.

Today's tech users are smart and savvy, demanding better features and experiences. The traditional forms of bring your own (that is, devices and applications) will continue to grow, making bring your own device and bring your own application the norm for the majority of organizations. "Moreover, the arrival of wearables and bring your own "thing" (such as smart kettles, smart power sockets or smart light bulbs) in the workplace will introduce new interaction techniques and new platforms, diluting the need for specific mobile app experiences," said Mr. Willis.

Much of the innovation in the mobile space isn't taking place inside the smartphones themselves, but in the things that communicate with them. Gartner predicts that by 2018, 25 percent of new mobile apps will talk to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Most IoT devices that talk to smartphones do so via an app or the browser. "Through 2018, the app will be the preferred mechanism, because it provides a better experience and allows more sophisticated interactions and data analysis, with low-level networking and background processing," said Willis.

However, the current dominance of apps is challenged by several trends that, together, Gartner labels the "post-app era".

"As new technologies grow in importance as a way to control and interact with things, app interfaces will fade," he added.

Prepare for the Post-App Era Today

New ways to interact with things will deliver pervasive services, and emerging technologies — such as artificial intelligence, natural-language processing and bots integrated into messaging apps,open new opportunities to interact with users seamlessly.

A number of global players are enabling businesses and consumers to "chat" with users on their messaging platform evolving APIs and services so that developers can create their own bots. This concept allows users to chat with organizations to get information, answer questions and transact through messaging or VPAs.

"This means that instead of going into a system and filling out complicated forms with checkboxes, users can ask a bot a question, and it will answer or negotiate on our behalf, based on rules and knowledge in the system," said Willis. "It will then move to those systems that allow interactions with customers — from marketing to sales."

"Apps are not going away and code isn't vanishing," he continued. "The post-app era means that there will be more data and code in the cloud and less on the device, thanks to the continuous improvement of cellular network performance."

"The post-app era will be an evolving process through 2020 and beyond," concluded Willis. "It has, however, already begun, and organizations should prepare for it by being agile and tactical, planning for new skills, assessing the new opportunities created by the post-app era, and developing a digital business strategy that integrates many different technologies."

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According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

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Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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