Burton Group`s Three Executive Trends for 2010 Planning

SALT LAKE CITY--(Business Wire)--
Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com), a research and consulting firm focused on
in-depth analysis of enterprise information technologies, has scoped 2010
technology trends for executive planning in the changing landscape of enterprise
IT.

Several macro trends exist at very high levels in IT organizations, but Burton
Group has established baseline trends for 2010 IT planning. Not surprisingly the
state of the economy will dominate executives` decisions in 2010 as they seek
out and capitalize on new opportunities. Trends specifically impacting
enterprise IT are grouped into three related categories: externalization of IT,
consumerization of IT, and democratization of IT.

* The Externalization of IT - Externalization plays an important role in IT
economics, prompting value assessments of what capabilities should be treated as
commodity. Enterprises are refocusing their efforts on core business
capabilities while examining alternatives for the non-core activities. The
benefits of IT externalization include the potential of reduced cost, renewed
focus on the core, and strategic partnership with the business. A growing number
of options for externalizing IT, including the cloud, holds the promise of
streamlined and efficient operations, demand elasticity, and more effective
business-driven priorities.
* The Consumerization of IT - The average person has become a sophisticated
technology user and this is reflected in the desire for individual choice of
devices and applications for maximum personal productivity. The growing trend of
allowing information workers to choose their own equipment imposes significant
burdens on the enterprise; it`s hard to secure equipment you don`t own, and it`s
hard to manage and support a very diverse hardware and software base. IT
innovation, once emanating from internal IT out, is now predominantly driven
inward by employees and customers.
* The Democratization of IT - Democratization is evident in the rise and
importance of social networks within and outside the modern enterprise which
changes the "ways of work" and challenges traditional organization structures
and schema. The challenge to the organization is to facilitate the coexistence
of hierarchical and democratic styles of communication and choice-making.
Democratization is being forced by generation Y`s familiarity with technology,
and new social networking solutions within the enterprise.

Burton Group VP and executive analyst Chris Howard commented on the upcoming
year, "We live in a richly informed time, yet it is becoming more difficult to
know what is 'true.' If we are able to harness the correct information, process
it insightfully, and empower our workers in the ways they desire to work, then
our organizations will become stronger."

Burton Group lays out a vision for enterprise IT as a part of the business-not a
separate entity that is aligned for business needs. True integration is achieved
when the artificial distinction between "the business" and "IT" is eliminated
altogether. For further trends executives are faced with, more information can
be found in Burton Group`s EAP research and the Executive Advisory Blog.

About Burton Group

Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com) is an IT research and advisory services firm
that helps technologists make smart enterprise architecture decisions. Burton
Group provides in-depth, IT research and advisory services to executives and
technologists at Global 2000 organizations. Focused on strategic business
technologies and the unique needs of enterprise organizations, Burton Group
provides clients company-wide access to its world-renowned analysts and a suite
of powerful, intuitive research and decision support tools unmatched in the
industry.

Burton Group, Salt Lake City
Collin Searle
PR Manager
csearle@burtongroup.com
801-304-8102
Twitter: BurtonGroupIT
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