Top 10 Strategic Technology

Trends for 2017

Published: 14 October 2016 ID: G00317560
Analyst(s): David W. Cearley | Mike J. Walker | Brian Burke

Summary

Gartner's top 10 trends will drive the future of the intelligent digital mesh.
Enterprise architecture and technology innovation leaders must prepare
for the impacts of these disruptive trends on people, businesses and IT
departments, and determine how they can provide competitive
advantage.

Overview
Key Findings

An intelligent digital mesh is emerging to support the future of digital

business and its underlying technology platforms and IT practices. The
mesh focuses on people and the Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints, as
well as the information and services that these endpoints access.
Capabilities such as blockchains, distributed ledgers and digital twins
will bring the physical and digital realms ever closer to supporting digital
business initiatives.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are the means of
injecting intelligence into new and existing apps and things to form the
intelligent digital mesh.
Relentless and ever-increasing security attacks require adaptive
security architectures that emphasize security-aware solution design;
AI-enabled user and entity behavior analytics; and new architecture,
methods and tools to address IoT and intelligent digital mesh security.

Recommendations
Enterprise architecture and technology innovation leaders using enterprise
architecture to master emerging and strategic trends must:
Plan for a radical, long-term (2020 to 2025) evolution of the user
experience for both customers and employees as conversational
systems, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and continuous/
contextual user experiences radically change the way people interact
with systems.
Explore opportunities to create new systems that require AI and
machine learning, and showcase their intelligent feature systems (such
as virtual personal assistants [VPAs], robots and autonomous vehicles),
and augment existing apps and things (for example, customer service,
enterprise applications, consumer electronics and medical devices).
Examine specific, targeted and high-value use cases to apply AR/VR,
build digital twins to support IoT initiatives, and embrace blockchains
and distributed ledgers in 2017 to 2019.
Build a security mindset into application design and operations, while
augmenting preventive controls and security monitoring with user and
entity behavior analytics.

Table of Contents

Analysis
Trend No. 1: Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Machine
Learning

Trend No. 2: Intelligent Apps

Trend No. 3: Intelligent Things

Trend No. 4: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Trend No. 5: Digital Twins

Trend No. 6: Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers

Trend No. 7: Conversational Systems

Trend No. 8: Mesh App and Service Architecture

Trend No. 9: Digital Technology Platforms

Trend No. 10: Adaptive Security Architecture

Gartner Recommended Reading

Figures

Figure 1. Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017

Figure 2. The Characteristics of Smart Machines
Figure 3. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Will Have Obvious
and Inconspicuous Uses
Figure 4. Forecast for Sales of Head-Mounted Displays, 2015-2020
Figure 5. Digital-Twin Models Are Digital-Entity Models for Assets
Figure 6. Key Elements of Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers
Figure 7. Conversational Systems Include New User Experience Design
Elements
Figure 8. The Shift to a Central Role for Event Processing in Digital
Business
Figure 9. Abstract System Model for Conversational Artificial
Intelligence Platform
Figure 10. User and Entity Behavior Analytics

Analysis
Digital business is an overarching theme that covers how the blurring of the
physical and virtual worlds is transforming business designs, industries,
markets and organizations. The continuing digital business evolution exploits
new digital models to align more closely the physical and digital worlds for
employees, partners and customers. Technology will be embedded in
everything in the digital business of the future. Rich digital services will be
delivered to everything, and intelligence will be embedded in everything
behind the scenes. We call this mesh of people, devices, content and
services the intelligent digital mesh . It's enabled by digital models, business
platforms and a rich intelligent set of services to support digital business. As
an enterprise architecture or technology innovation leader seeking to exploit
the intelligent digital mesh, you must respond to the disruptive technology
trends enabling this future.
Our top 10 strategic technology trends include three groupings of
complementary trends (see Figure 1) that are mutually reinforcing, with
amplified disruptive characteristics:
The intelligent theme builds on the way in which data science and
programming approaches are evolving to include AI and advanced
machine learning. This is enabling the creation of intelligent physical
and software-based systems that are programmed to learn and adapt,
rather than programmed only for a finite set of prescribed actions. AI
and machine-learning capabilities are seeping into virtually every
technology, and represent a major battleground for technology
providers over the next five years.
The digital theme focuses on blending the digital and physical worlds
to create an immersive, digitally enhanced environment. In the digitally
enhanced mesh, the digital world is an increasingly detailed
representation of the physical world. Rich digital services, connections
and interfaces connect the two. Digital trends, along with opportunities
enabled by AI and machine learning, are driving the next generation of
digital business.
The mesh theme refers to exploiting connections between an
expanding set of people and businesses, as well as devices, content
and services, to deliver digital business outcomes. The mesh demands
new interface modalities (for example, conversational interfaces),
security models, technology platforms and approaches to solution
design.
Strategic technology trends have substantial disruptive potential. Our top 10
list highlights strategic trends with broad industry impact that aren't yet widely
recognized. Technologies related to the strategic trends are experiencing

significant changes or reaching critical tipping points in capability or maturity.

Examine the business impact of our top 10 strategic technology trends, and
adjust your business and IT strategies and operational models appropriately.
If you don't, you'll risk losing competitive advantage to those who do.

Figure 1. Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Trend No. 1: Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Machine

Learning

Applied AI and machine learning are composed of many technologies and

techniques (such as deep learning, neural networks and natural-language
processing [NLP]). The more-advanced techniques move beyond traditional
rule-based algorithms to create systems that appear to understand, learn,
predict, adapt and potentially operate with little or no human input or
guidance. This is what makes smart machines appear "intelligent." Applied AI
and machine learning enable a system to not only understand concepts in the
environment, but also to learn (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. The Characteristics of Smart Machines

DNN = deep neural network

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Through machine learning, a smart machine can change its future behavior.
For example, by analyzing vast databases of medical case histories,
"learning" machines can reveal insights in treatment effectiveness. They can
apply such insights at the speed of data ingestion, making them useful
augmenters of productivity and accuracy. In scenarios involving high
precision, a smart machine using intelligent ensemble techniques can
achieve a reduction in error rates of 5% to 30%, or even more, which may
result in substantial cost savings or extra profits. Additionally, naturallanguage generation dynamically increases the volume and value of insights
and context in data analytics. It automatically generates a specialized
narrative for each user in context, to explain meaning or highlight key findings
in data.

Evaluate a number of business scenarios in which AI and machine learning

could drive specific business value, and consider experimenting with one or
two high-impact scenarios. For example, you could use these technologies in
a retail setting to pull together and analyze online purchase histories, and
product likes and dislikes from eye-gazing technologies in stores to
sensory data from smartphones to create propensity-to-buy models that
predict which product a customer is most likely to buy. In banking, you could
use AI and machine-learning techniques to model current real-time
transactions, as well as predictive models of transactions based on their
likelihood of being fraudulent. If you're an early adopter or seeking to drive
disruptive innovation, begin to implement predictive analytics, ensemble
learning, and natural-language recognition and generation. If you're a
mainstream user or have more modest innovation goals, use third parties and
packaged solutions with embedded AI and machine learning.
AI and advanced machine-learning techniques are evolving rapidly.
Significant investment in skills, process and tools is needed to successfully
exploit these techniques in terms of setup, integration, algorithm/approach
selection, data preparation and model creation. In addition, exploiting the
system's learning capabilities, evaluating the accuracy of findings, and
updating the algorithms and models to improve results can take significant
effort, not only from the data scientists creating the system, but also from
others who have the knowledge needed to "train" the system.
Applied AI and advanced machine learning give rise to a range of intelligent
implementations. These include physical devices (such as robots,
autonomous vehicles and consumer electronics), as well as apps and
services (such as VPAs and smart advisors). These implementations will be
delivered as a new class of obviously intelligent apps and things, and provide
embedded intelligence for a wide range of mesh devices, and existing
software and service solutions. The data science needed to create these
systems is complex, so many organizations will consume applied AI and
machine learning mainly through packaged intelligent apps and things, or
through packaged "models as a service" that they can build into custom
applications.
Related research:
"Cool Vendors in Smart Machines, 2016"
"Hype Cycle for Smart Machines, 2016"
"Cool Vendors in Data Science, 2016"
"Machine Learning Drives Digital Business"
"Smart Machines See Major Breakthroughs After Decades of Failure"
"Smart Machines Primer for 2016"

Trend No. 2: Intelligent Apps

Organizations are applying AI and machine-learning techniques to create new
app categories (such as VPAs) and improve traditional applications (such as
worker performance analysis, sales and marketing, and security). Intelligent
apps have the potential to transform the nature of work and the structure of
the workplace. They could alter career structures and enhance workers'
performance, but they have challenges to overcome as they move from earlystage emerging technologies to more-robust functional products. During the
next 10 years, virtually every app, application and service will incorporate
some level of AI in much the same way as consumer appliances have
incorporated microprocessors. Some of these apps will be obvious intelligent
apps that could not exist without AI and machine learning. Others will be
unobtrusive users of AI and machine learning that provide intelligence behind
the scenes (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Will Have

Obvious and Inconspicuous Uses

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Some intelligent apps, such as VPAs, perform some of the functions of a

human assistant. VPAs make everyday tasks easier (by prioritizing emails, for
example), and their users more effective (by highlighting the most important
content and interactions). Other intelligent apps, such as virtual customer
assistants (VCAs), are more narrow, special-purpose apps that advise in
specialty areas, sales and customer service.

VPAs such as Google Now, Microsoft's Cortana and Apple's Siri are
becoming smarter and are a rapidly maturing type of intelligent app. Some
chatbots, such as Facebook Messenger chatbots, can be powered by AI (for
example, Wit.ai) to deliver an intelligent app. These intelligent apps feed into
the system trend to create a new intelligent intermediary layer between
people and systems. If you're an early adopter or seeking to drive disruptive
innovation, begin to implement targeted VCAs and VPAs where a high-value
target persona (for example, a doctor, marketing leader or high-profit
customer) could achieve significant benefit. If you're a mainstream user or
have more modest innovation goals, consider more simple rule-based
chatbots and exploit prepackaged assistants or simple mobile assistants
based on the VPA capabilities embedded in smartphones.
Packaged app and service providers are increasingly using AI and machinelearning techniques to deliver more robust systems. For example, many user
and entity behavior analytics products use these techniques to identify
patterns of potentially malicious activity. For some time, many enterprise
application vendors have been incorporating predictive analytics capabilities
into their offerings, either directly or through partners. As the focus on AI
increases, vendors such as Salesforce, Oracle and Microsoft are
incorporating more advanced AI functions in their offerings. These three
vendors are exploiting AI to varying degrees, but they are all focusing on
sales and marketing activities as a particularly valuable area for applying AI
techniques to analyze customer and third-party data. Expect AI to become the
next major battleground in a wide range of software and service markets,
including aspects of ERP. Much hype will surround AI, so examine how and
where AI is applied and what concrete business results it can deliver. Expect
app and service providers to apply AI techniques in three areas:
Advanced analytics
Increasingly autonomous agents
Continuous and conversational interfaces
Expect an expanding market for models as a service. Predefined models that
have been taught about a particular domain and trained to identify key
patterns will be delivered as a service (often with a data feed) for
incorporation into other packaged or custom applications.
During the next two to five years, we expect that B2C and B2B-to-consumer
companies will adopt more smart app strategies (see "Hype Cycle for Smart
Machines, 2016" ). By 2018, we expect that most of the world's largest 200
companies will exploit intelligent apps and use the full toolkit of big data and
analytical tools to refine their offerings and improve their customer
experience. Discover the many different types of intelligent apps that could be
created with a focus on specialization and purpose. Customers may use one
or a combination of intelligent apps. For example, customers may use an
intelligent app to:
Help with health (diet, exercise or psychological well-being)
Act as a personal shopping assistant

Act as a financial advisor

Help with office-specific tasks, such as calendar management, email
handling and external information monitoring
Intelligent apps constitute a long-term trend that will evolve and expand the
use of AI and machine learning in apps and services during the next 20 years.
Establish a process to continually evaluate where your organization can apply
AI today and over time. Use persona-based analysis to determine the
opportunities. Compare the roadmaps for AI exploitation across your
packaged app and service provider portfolio. Proceed with caution if your
organization is developing applications the underlying AI and machinelearning elements for creating intelligent apps are not ready for most
application development projects at scale. Ensure such projects have a very
high potential business value. Note that the competitive gaps and missed
opportunity costs for laggards could be significant.
Related research:
"Gartner's 2016 Hype Cycles Highlight Digital Business Ecosystems"
"Smart Machines Will Be the Catalyst for One of the Most Disruptive
Eras in Retail"
"Competitive Landscape: Virtual Personal Assistants, 2016"
"IT Strategists Must Prepare for the Rise of Virtual Personal Assistants
in the Workplace"
"Smart Agents Will Drive the Switch From Technology-Literate People,
to People-Literate Technology"
"Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2016"
"Using Algorithmic Retailing to Drive Competitive Advantage"

Trend No. 3: Intelligent Things

Intelligent things are physical things that go beyond the execution of rigid
programming models to exploit applied AI and machine learning. This enables
them to deliver advanced behaviors and interact more naturally with their
surroundings and with people. Like intelligent apps, new intelligent things
(such as autonomous vehicles) can't exist without AI and machine learning.
Meanwhile, we can enhance existing things by embedding AI and machine
learning invisibly into their normal operation. For example, we can turn a
camera into a smart camera.
New intelligent things fit loosely into three broad categories:
Robots
Drones
Autonomous vehicles
Currently, the use of autonomous vehicles in controlled settings (for example,
farming, mining and warehousing) is the most mature application of intelligent
things. In industrial settings, vehicles can be fully autonomous. However, in
more general use, autonomous automobiles must have a person in the
driver's seat in case the technology should unexpectedly fail several U.S.
states have passed laws stipulating this. In the near term, high-technology
and traditional automotive manufacturers, such as Ford, Uber, Alphabet's
Google, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Nissan, BMW and Honda, will
all be testing their autonomous vehicles. For at least the next five years, we
expect that semiautonomous scenarios requiring a driver will dominate.
During this time, manufacturers will test the technology more rigorously, and
the nontechnology issues will be addressed, such as regulations, legal issues
and cultural acceptance.
Autonomous drones and robots will undergo significant technical evolution
powered by new AI and machine-learning models and algorithms. They will
be used mainly in narrowly defined scenarios and controlled environments.
Advances in one domain such as more sophisticated algorithms that
enable a robot to learn from its environment will often have an application
in another domain.
AI and machine learning will increasingly be embedded into everyday things,
such as appliances, speakers and hospital equipment. This phenomenon is
closely aligned with the emergence of conversational systems, the expansion
of the IoT and the trend toward digital twins. Amazon Echo is an example of
an intelligent thing it is a simple speaker connected wirelessly to an
assistant powered by AI and machine learning. As conversational interfaces
are delivered through other devices with a speaker or text input option, all
these objects will become intelligent things.
Other markets have similar potential for embedded intelligence. For example,
today's digital stethoscope can record and store heartbeat and respiratory
sounds. Collecting a massive database of such data, relating the data to

diagnostic and treatment information, and building an AI-powered doctor

assistance app would enable doctors to receive diagnostic support in real
time. However, in the more advanced scenarios, significant issues such as
liability and patient privacy must be considered. We expect that these
nontechnical issues and the complexity of creating highly specialized
assistants will slow embedded intelligence in industrial IoT and other
business scenarios. Organizations that can address these barriers have the
potential for significant competitive advantage.
Projects such as the U.S. National Robotics Initiative are pushing automation
to the next level. Planning algorithms enable robots to operate autonomously
on farms. Drones operating with human scouts study solutions for farmers of
specialty crops. Other intelligent systems enable the design, optimization,
prototyping and field-testing of mechanized harvesting systems.
As intelligent things proliferate, we expect a shift from stand-alone intelligent
things to a collaborative intelligent things model. In this model, multiple
devices will work together, either independently of people or with human
input. For example, if a drone examined a large field and found that it was
ready for harvesting, it could dispatch an "autonomous harvester."
Researchers have demonstrated a group of drones working together to
construct a rope bridge, 1 while the military is studying the use of drone
swarms to attack or defend military targets. 2 In the delivery market, the most
effective solution may be to use an autonomous vehicle to move packages to
the target area. Robots and drones on board the vehicle could then effect
final delivery of the package.
Challenge the status quo on robotics. Create business scenarios and
business outcome journey maps to identify and explore the opportunities that
will fulfill your organization's strategic plans. Seek opportunities to incorporate
the use of emerging intelligent things in traditional manual and
semiautomated tasks. For example, examine how distribution models shift as
drones become safer and more effective, helping to enhance overall business
performance. Expect the indirect impacts to be just as great as the direct
impacts. Industry trends, such as autonomous vehicles, usher in new
business designs. These require you to create proactive and predictive risk
models that provide a clear view of how your organization will create value in
digital ecosystems.
Related research:
"Toolkit: How to Create Business Scenarios That Drive Digital
Disruption Innovation"
"Volvo, Autoliv Create Unique Approach for Autonomous Vehicle
Software"
"Ford Autonomous Vehicle Plan Targets Mobility as a Service"
"Your IoT Future Is Visible in the Mining Industry Today"
"Market Trends: Personal Assistant Robots for the Home"
"The P&C Insurance Industry Nears a Tipping Point on Drones"

Trend No. 4: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Immersive technologies, such as VR and AR, are part of a new wave of
computing devices that transform the way individuals interact with one
another and with software systems. Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are
small displays or projection technology integrated into devices worn on the
head, such as glasses and helmets. HMDs derive aspects of visual content
from the digital mesh. Contextual information translates the state of the
wearer and the wearer's environment into graphically rich visual cues. Many
HMDs have come to market or become available for use in pilot projects in
2016. Now that commercially viable HMDs are available, the device-meshbased apps and services that power them represent new forms of user
interaction that will enable new types of consumer and workplace behaviors.
One way of experiencing immersion is using smartphone AR. The device's
screen becomes a "magic window" that displays a virtual world. This virtual
world combines digital information with the physical world around the user, as
captured by the device's camera. Smartphone AR combines digital mesh data
(such as wiring schematics) with the information from the smartphone's
sensors (such as its camera). It superimposes contextual information that
blends augmented data on top of real-world objects (such as hidden wiring
superimposed on an image of a wall). Although this approach has significant
limitations compared with more robust HMD-based approaches, it represents
a widely available low-cost entry point.
Smartphones can also be an effective platform for mobile VR. Google
Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR are great examples of low-cost devices
that use a smartphone as their computing platform. Snap your smartphone
into one of these devices, hold it to your eyes, and see and interact with
compelling virtual worlds. Although these devices are considered to be at the
low end of quality, they still offer the flexibility of a mobile platform. Today's
use cases are firmly centered in the consumer domain, such as watching a
360-degree immersive video or playing an immersive video game. But
businesses can also use mobile VR, either for marketing (to deliver
personalized product experiences), or as a tool to communicate with
employees.
Dedicated HMD devices, such as Oculus Rift (VR) and Microsoft HoloLens
(AR), enable more sophisticated immersive interactions. These devices allow
businesses to use the power of virtual worlds and augmented spaces to
integrate more effectively with the human perceptual system and have a
greater impact. VR devices in this category are wired to PCs or game
consoles and require advanced graphics capabilities. Businesses can use
these VR systems, initially intended for the consumer market and game
players, in many scenarios. Training is a great example, with the virtual world
simulating equipment or situations, and the sophisticated graphics capabilities

ensuring that equipment looks and behaves as though real. Using VR,
employees can train for many equipment use scenarios, including ones, such
as catastrophic malfunction, that don't happen often, but that need immediate
attention. Businesses are also using VR for site inspections. VisualSpection
provides VR headgear that allows inspection teams in the field to improve
efficiency by 30%.
AR, which vendors are also marketing as mixed reality, is the best way to
blend the real and virtual worlds. Using see-through displays, an AR device
can track and overlay graphics onto real-world objects. Business provides the
first use cases. They include DHL's use of wearables and AR in a warehouse
to achieve a 25% improvement in the picking process. 3 Our research has
found that 11% of organizations are already using AR, and 13% are piloting it.
4

The landscape of immersive consumer and business content and applications

will evolve dramatically through 2021. The market for HMDs will grow and
evolve significantly in 2017 and 2018. Figure 4 shows our forecast for sales of
HMDs through 2020. In the near term, consumers will rapidly adopt HMDs,
with video games being the first popular HMD app type. More-specialized
HMDs, and VR and AR content solutions, will become available for
businesses. Through 2021, HMD technology will improve drastically.

Figure 4. Forecast for Sales of Head-Mounted Displays, 2015-2020

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Integration of VR and AR with multiple mobile, wearable, IoT and sensor-rich

environments and conversational systems (the mesh) will extend immersive
applications beyond isolated and single-person experiences. Rooms and
spaces will become active with things, and their connection through the mesh
will appear and work in conjunction with immersive virtual worlds. Imagine a

warehouse that can not only recognize the presence of workers, but also help
them understand the state of its equipment, and can visually point out areas
needing attention. Although the potential of VR and AR is impressive, there
will be many challenges and roadblocks.
Identify key target personas and explore digital mesh scenarios. For example,
explore the needs of, and business value for, a target user in different
settings, such as at home, in a car, at work, with a customer or traveling.
Related research:
"Market Guide for Augmented Reality"
"Forecast Snapshot: Wearable Gesture Devices, Worldwide, 2016
Update"
"Top 10 Wearable Technologies and Capabilities in 2017 and 2018"
"Virtual Reality: What Marketers Need to Know Now"
"What's Hot in Digital Commerce Marketing, 2016"
"The First Three Steps in Evaluating the Role of Head-Mounted
Displays for Field Service"

Trend No. 5: Digital Twins

A digital twin is a dynamic software model of a physical thing or system that
relies on sensor data to understand the state of the thing or system, respond
to changes, improve operations, and add value. Digital twins include a
combination of:
Metadata (for example, classification, composition and structure)
Condition or state (for example, location and temperature)
Event data (for example, time series)
Analytics (for example, algorithms and rules)
By 2020, we estimate there will be more than 21 billion connected sensors
and endpoints, and digital twins will exist for potentially billions of things.
Benefits will include asset optimization and improved user experience in
nearly all industries. Initially, businesses will use digital twins for more
complex, high-value assets, but eventually, they will use them for lower-value
assets based on the use model. They will use digital twins to:
Repair equipment and plan for its service
Predict equipment failure or increase operational efficiency
Plan manufacturing processes
Operate factories
Perform enhanced product development (by simulating the behavior of
new products based on digital-twin insight from previous products,
taking into account their cost, environment and performance)
Industries with high-value assets (for example, transportation and
manufacturing) and industries with mission-critical remits (for example,
aerospace and defense) instrument and model complex things (for example,
cars, aircraft, spacecraft, machines and pumps). However, the degree of
integration between the digital model and the operation of the physical thing
varies greatly. These industries can use digital twins to evolve from a
traditional preventive maintenance schedule to predictive, condition-based
asset maintenance.
The idea of modeling the much larger number of common things cars,
buildings and consumer products from virtual models, with functional
behavior embedded to make day-to-day decisions about the physical world, is
only just emerging. Today, digital twins are used by only a few professional
communities, such as product engineers and data scientists, in select
industries, such as manufacturing and utilities. During the next five to 10
years, operations managers will also use them for a broader set of assets
where the cost-benefit analysis of risks in operations makes the case for
digital twins compelling.
If your organization has high-value assets, consider using digital twins to help
increase their manageability, flexibility, reliability and efficiency. The shift from
preventive to predictive (condition-based) maintenance is a particularly wellestablished, high-value use of digital twins. Ideally, a digital twin implements

one-for-one monitoring and control for each distinct physical asset.

Authorized parties can query or control the digital-twin counterpart.
If your organization has lower-value assets, consider whether you can use
simpler digital twins economically to improve the reliability and user
experience of those assets. Digital twins don't have to be comprehensive.
You might be able to achieve a substantial benefit by instrumenting and
modeling only one critical component of a device for example, only the
high-value, critical compressor in an air conditioner. Beware of
overengineering a digital twin at the risk of adding unnecessary cost (for
sensors, data collection and analysis, for example) when simpler models are
as effective. However, you'll probably require more sophisticated digital
models when building intelligent things.
Digital twins are proxies for a combination of skilled individuals (such as
technicians) and traditional monitoring devices and controls (for example,
pressure gauges and pressure valves). Organizations that perform
sophisticated work, such as NASA and the military, have been building
complex models of their assets for years. However, most organizations will
implement simple digital-twin models or link digital services to data feeds from
the physical asset at first. They will then evolve the models and services,
improving their ability to collect and visualize the right data, apply the right
analytics and rules, and respond more effectively to the changing condition of
things. Increasingly, digital services and digital-twin models will provide the
digital capabilities that the physical asset needs in order to operate (see
Figure 5). This will require a culture change. Technicians, engineers and
operations personnel who understand the operation and maintenance of realworld things must collaborate with data scientists and other IT professionals
who use digital twins and have an expanding role in improving safety,
reliability and performance.

Figure 5. Digital-Twin Models Are Digital-Entity Models for Assets

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Approach digital twins incrementally, concentrating on immediate business

value. If your organization is on the leading edge, focused on disruptive
innovation or in an industry with complex assets, be more aggressive in
exploiting digital twins, despite the emerging status of the trend. If your
organization is more mainstream, with more-modest innovation needs and
less complex assets, take a slower approach. Create simple digital twins that
monitor and control crucial aspects of things, then expand your digital twins
over time to represent things more comprehensively. Seek IoT solutions
either IoT devices or IoT software that provide digital-twin templates that
you can use to create digital twins for your particular requirements and
assets.
Related research:
"Use the IoT Platform Reference Model to Plan Your IoT Business
Solutions"
"Digital Business Is Transforming New Product Development Priorities"
"Reframing Your Mindset to Match Digital-Era Reality"
"Hype Cycle for the Internet of Things, 2016"
"Envision the IoT-Enabled R&D Digital Laboratory of the Future"
"Market Guide: MPM and MbM Software Enable Digital Manufacturing"
"Industry Vision: Life Science R&D as a Digital Innovation Orchestration
Engine"

Trend No. 6: Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers

A distributed ledger is an expanding list of cryptographically signed,
irrevocable transactional records shared by all participants in a network. Each
record contains a time stamp and reference links to the previous transactions.
With this information, anyone with access rights can trace back a
transactional event, at any point in its history, belonging to any participant.
A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger in which value-exchange
transactions (in bitcoin or another token) are sequentially grouped into blocks
(see Figure 6). Each block is chained to the previous block and immutably
recorded across a peer-to-peer network, using cryptographic trust and
assurance mechanisms. Depending on the implementation, transactions can
include programmable behavior. The term "blockchain" is also used to refer to
a loosely combined set of technologies and processes that span middleware,
database, security, analytics/AI, monetary and identity management
concepts. Blockchain is also becoming the common shorthand for a diverse
collection of distributed-ledger products, with more than 20 offerings in the
market.

Figure 6. Key Elements of Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Blockchain and distributed-ledger concepts are gaining attention, because

they hold the promise to transform industry operating models. Multiple
business use cases are yet to be proven, but 52% of those we surveyed
believe that blockchains will affect their business. 5 Although the hype
surrounding blockchains concerns their use in the financial services industry,
they have many potential applications beyond financial services, including
music distribution, identity verification, title registry and supply chain. Smart
contracts enabled by blockchain technology will drive the programmable
economy. It is likely that blockchain technology will evolve and be rapidly
accepted by the manufacturing, government, healthcare and education
sectors.
Today, bitcoin is the only proven blockchain. Its permissionless architecture
not only supports bitcoin transactions, but also enables authoritative

recording of events, immutable snippets of data and simple programmable

scripts. These features are exciting, but come at a cost, including:
Lack of scalability
Lack of complete transparency
Limitations concerning consumption of resources
Operational risk from unintended centralization of resources (mining)
Lack of alignment to, and accommodation of, existing legal and
accounting frameworks
Other blockchain technologies bring further adoption challenges, including a
lack of:
Standards
Robust platforms
Scalable distributed consensus systems
Interoperability mechanisms
There are three types of ledgers:
Permissionless public ledgers: Operate for any (unknown/untrusted)
user. Users can access the ledger and contribute transactions or new
sets of data. Examples: The bitcoin blockchain or Ethereum.
Permissioned private ledgers: Operate exclusively within a defined
community of known/trusted participants, such as financial institutions
and government agencies. The community (or designated authority)
controls access and contribution to the ledger. Examples: Chain,
Bankchain, SETL and Domus Tower.
Permissioned public ledgers: Operate on behalf of a community of
interest. The access controls are owned/managed by rules. Example:
Ripple.
A critical aspect of blockchain technology today is the unregulated,
ungoverned creation and transfer of funds, exemplified by bitcoin. It is this
capability that funds much of blockchain development, but also concerns
regulators and governments. The debates about permissioned,
permissionless, hybrid and private ecosystems and governance will force a
more-robust analysis of distributed ledgers. As these analyses are completed,
workable solutions will evolve.
Blockchains and distributed ledgers make transactions simpler. Using a public
blockchain can potentially remove the need for central authorities in
arbitrating transactions. This is because trust is built into the model through
immutable records on a distributed ledger. The potential of this technology to
radically transform economic interactions should raise critical questions for
society, governments and enterprises, for which there are no clear answers
today. Begin evaluating blockchains and distributed ledgers, even if you don't
aggressively adopt the technologies in the next few years.
Most distributed-ledger initiatives are still in the early alpha or beta testing
stage. Recent versions incorporate assets, data and executable programs
allowing for customized applications. These ecosystems have value, but
concerns remain about, for example, the viability of the technologies,

startups, security (software and hardware), scalability, legality and

interoperability. It is likely that development will continue in parallel for the
immediate future, and it is probable that two or more ledger models will
operate together.
Develop clear language and definitions for internal discussions about the
nature of the technology. Recognize that the terminology surrounding
blockchains is in flux. This uncertainty masks the potential suitability of
technology solutions to meet business use cases. Consequently, use extreme
caution when interacting with vendors that have ill-defined/nonexistent
blockchain offerings. Ensure you are clearly identifying how the term
"blockchain" is being used and applied, both internally and by providers.
Closely monitor distributed-ledger developments, including related initiatives,
such as consensus mechanism development, sidechains and blockchains.
Resources permitting, consider distributed ledger as proof-of-concept
development. But, before embarking on a distributed-ledger project, ensure
your team has the cryptographic skills to understand what is and isn't
possible. Identify the integration points with existing infrastructures to
determine the necessary future investments, and monitor the platform
evolution and maturation.
Related research:
"Hype Cycle for Blockchain Technologies and the Programmable
Economy, 2016"
"Experiment With Blockchains for Data Management Innovation"
"The Bitcoin Blockchain: The Magic and the Myths"
"Innovation Insight for Blockchain Security"
"Toolkit: Overview of Blockchain Use Cases"
"What Insurance CIOs Need to Know About Blockchain"
"How to Evolve Your Trade Finance Strategy With Smart Assets and
Blockchain"

Trend No. 7: Conversational Systems

A conversational UI is a high-level design model in which user and machine
interactions occur mainly in the user's spoken or written natural language.
Interactions are typically informal and bidirectional. The interaction may be a
simple request or question (such as "Stop!" or "What time is it?") with a
simple result or answer. However, the interaction can also be extremely
complex (such as collecting oral testimony from crime witnesses), resulting in
highly complex results (the creation of a suspect's image based on witness
testimony, for example).
NLP will rapidly replace rule-based synonym and phrase substitution
approaches. Dynamic natural-language ontologies or knowledge graphs at
multiple levels of specificity will be needed to support NLP capabilities, such
as disambiguation, concept identification and relationship extraction.
A conversational system uses a conversational UI as its main interface mode.
People and machines communicate across a wide range of mesh devices
(such as sensors, appliances and IoT systems). Immersive, continuous and
contextual user experience elements enable this communication using a
range of input/output modalities (such as sight, sound, touch, smell, taste and
radar). The "conversation" between the human and the machine uses all
these modalities to create a comprehensive conversational experience.
The conversational technology from major technology providers such as
Apple (Siri), Google (Google Now), Amazon (Alexa) and Microsoft (Cortana)
will deliver an increasingly intelligent contextual experience. This will act as
an intermediary service between users and the rapidly growing set of apps
and content on their mobile devices and in the cloud.
User experiences with general-purpose VPAs are often unsatisfying, because
the systems try to address a very broad set of question and action scenarios.
Amazon has shown that a narrower focus increases usability. Amazon's Echo
appliance and Alexa assistant have a more narrowly targeted set of question
and action domains with a focus on developing related "skills" that are simple
and intuitive. VPA experiences will improve as the AI back end for VPA
systems continues to evolve and providers open up their systems for
developers to provide tighter links to their applications for targeted scenarios.
In addition, the evolving models for delivering voice-enabled solutions will
expand conversational systems well beyond speaker appliances and mobile
devices.
The current conversational interface method focuses on devices with
microphones and speakers, but not necessarily devices with screens.
However, the device mesh one of our top 10 strategic technology trends
for 2016 encompasses an expanding set of endpoints that people use to
access applications and information, or to interact with people, social
communities, governments and businesses. The device mesh moves beyond

the traditional desktop computer and mobile devices (tablets and

smartphones) to cover the full range of endpoints with which people might
interact. We expect significant innovation in new types of devices during the
next five years. User experience and app design are shifting with this
expanding set of endpoints.
As the device mesh evolves, we expect that connection and interface models
will expand, and greater cooperative interaction between devices will develop.
This will provide an immersive and continuous conversational experience.
New input/output mechanisms will emerge using audio, video, touch, taste,
smell and other sensory channels, such as radar, that extend beyond human
senses. This will enable people to communicate with systems, and systems
to communicate with people, in rich conversations that include more than text
and voice (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Conversational Systems Include New User Experience

Design Elements

I/O = input/output

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Apps will target an orchestrated collection of devices being used together,

rather than an individual device used in isolation. This will preserve continuity
of user experience across traditional boundaries of devices, time and space.
Users will be able to interact with an application in a dynamic multistep
sequence that may last for an extended period. The experience will flow
seamlessly across multiple devices and interaction channels. It will blend
physical, virtual and electronic environments. And it will use real-time
contextual information as the ambient environment changes, or as the user
moves from one place to another.

The shifting user experience will create many new digital business
opportunities, but will also pose significant IT security and management
challenges. The realization of the continuous, immersive and conversational
user experience will require a profoundly better appreciation of privacy and
permission. Missteps by some organizations will probably lead to regulation
that will affect everyone.
Related research:
"Smart Agents Will Drive the Switch From Technology-Literate People,
to People-Literate Technology"
"Hype Cycle for Human-Machine Interface, 2016"
"How User Experience Can Make or Break Your Customer Experience"
"Conversational AI to Shake Up Your Technical and Business Worlds"
"Forecast Snapshot: VPA-Enabled Wireless Speakers, Worldwide,
2016"
"Smartphones, Tablets and Things It's Time to Integrate Your Mobile
and IoT Strategies"

Trend No. 8: Mesh App and Service Architecture

Exploiting the opportunities and dealing with the dynamism of the intelligent
digital mesh require changes to the architecture, technologies and tools used
to design, develop and deliver solutions. The mesh app and service
architecture (MASA) is a multichannel solution architecture that supports
multiple users in multiple roles using multiple devices and communicating
over multiple networks to access application functions. The architecture
encapsulates services and exposes APIs at multiple levels and across
organizational boundaries. It balances the demand for agility and scalability of
services with their composition and reuse. The MASA enables users to have
an optimized solution for targeted endpoints (such as desktops, smartphones
and automobiles), as well as a continuous experience as they shift across
these different channels.
Miniservices and microservices are highly complementary service models in
the MASA. Monolithic applications are refactored into shared, reusable
miniservices that reduce the scope of a service down to an individual
capability. Miniservices are designed to support composition and reuse.
These services publish APIs that can be accessed from client apps and from
other services, and they enable integration and interoperability across
application systems.
Microservices reduce the scope of a service down to an individual feature or
function optimized for agility and scalability at a detailed feature level.
Typically, a microservice doesn't publish its API for access outside its
immediate application scope.
Teams often build a miniservice to publish an API that encapsulates a set of
microservices that together implement a capability. The miniservice surfaces
the capability (to mobile apps, for example), while the microservices
implement the individual features within the capability. Applications
themselves may expose a higher-level set of APIs that don't expose all the
underlying miniservice APIs.
Abstraction via APIs is a core MASA principle. OS containers represent an
approach providing a higher level of abstraction above the virtual machine.
Serverless computing is another abstraction model building on these
concepts and gaining ground. In this cloud computing model, the provider
fully manages the infrastructure (for example, virtual machines) to serve
application requests so that the developer doesn't have to think about the
server resources. This is why it is called "serverless," although the provider
still owns and operates servers behind the scenes. MASA exploits both
containers and serverless computing, in addition to APIs and events
connecting services, to support a more agile, flexible and rapid-change
environment.
Digital twins, IoT solutions and conversational AI platforms (such as
Microsoft's Cortana, Google Now, Apple's Siri and Amazon Echo/Alexa)

require an event-driven approach. However, most production systems are

designed for web APIs and request-driven synchronous application
architectures, including most service-oriented architecture (SOA)
implementations and REST-based design. MASA approaches will shift to an
"events first, response second" approach during the next five years. Both
models are essential to modern business, but in the intelligent digital mesh,
the main focus will shift toward the event-driven model (see Figure 8). For
example, responding in real time to a distress signal from a home device,
changing trucking itineraries in response to new road or weather information,
and providing "live" purchase order support can empower customers and
create a differentiating business advantage.

Figure 8. The Shift to a Central Role for Event Processing in Digital

Business

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

The event-driven model is particularly suitable to web-scale application

design, where microservices seek to maximize autonomy and agility, and
where autonomy enables parallelism for extreme scale. Event-driven
architecture optimizes for agility, resiliency, lower cost for change and
extension, open-ended design, and web scale. The request-driven and eventdriven application design models are complementary. Both can be useful and
appropriate, depending on the type of business process being implemented.
However, most organizations use event processing for narrow purposes in
isolated application contexts they don't consider it a prevailing application
design model equal to the common request-driven SOA. This must change to
accommodate the push to digital business and enable organizations to
choose the most appropriate design model for the task at hand.

As adoption of event processing as a mainstream model of application design

increases, the complementary use of service-oriented and event-driven
architectures will transform the MASA into a mesh of apps, events and
services.
Related research:
"Mediated APIs: An Essential Application Architecture for Digital
Business"
"Articulating the Business Value of APIs"
"Assessing Microservices for Cloud-Native Application Architecture and
Delivery"
"Orchestrating Docker Container-Based Cloud and Microservices
Applications"
"Use Agile and DevOps to Implement Lean IT and Improve Software
Delivery"
"CTO Alert: Master Event-Driven IT to Master Digital Business"
"Add Event-Stream Processing to Your Business Analytics Repertoire"

Trend No. 9: Digital Technology Platforms

A digital technology platform is a symbiotic collection of technology
capabilities and components. These provide an interoperable set of services
that can be brought together to create applications, apps and services. Digital
technology platforms provide the basic building blocks for, and are a critical
enabler of, digital business. The platform viewpoint gives you a technology
anchor model to guide technology vision, reducing complexity and
redundancy.
We have identified five major digital technology platform types to enable the
new capabilities and business models of digital business:
Information system platform Supports the back office, operations
such as ERP, core systems, and associated middleware and
development capabilities to deliver solutions.
Customer experience platform Contains the main customer-facing
elements, such as customer and citizen portals, multichannel
commerce, and customer apps.
Analytics and intelligence platform Contains information
management and analytical capabilities. Data management programs
and analytical applications fuel data-driven decision making, and
algorithms automate discovery and action.
IoT platform Connects physical assets for monitoring, optimization,
control and monetization. Capabilities include connectivity, analytics,
and integration with core and operational technology systems.
Business ecosystem platform Supports the creation of, and
connection to, external ecosystems, marketplaces and communities.
API management, control and security are the main elements.
The MASA highlights key platform elements for the information system and
business ecosystem platforms. These include the move to modular API and
event-driven services, as well as the associated tools (such as API
management) to operate these next-generation systems. Two other elements
are emerging to deliver customer experience, advanced analytics and
intelligence, and the IoT: IoT platforms and conversational AI platforms
(CAPs).
IoT platforms are a collection of technologies and standards that form a base
set of capabilities for communicating, controlling, managing and securing
elements of the IoT. Flexible and stable IoT platform services are needed for
building IoT solutions and connecting them to business solutions. Leading
organizations with multiple IoT initiatives create IoT centers of excellence to
aid the cross-disciplinary collaboration required for success. Although IoT
platforms are essential, they remain fragmented and immature, requiring
complex integration efforts. Entrants to the IoT platform market are driving

rapid change from specialized IoT platforms toward more comprehensive

offerings.
CAPs are general-purpose platforms that deliver a new paradigm supporting
AI-rich, pervasive, proactive and conversational applications (see Figure 9). A
range of focused AI services are needed, including NLP, deep learning,
sentiment analysis, personality profiling, concept-relationship extraction, and
other methods for inferring intent from content and context.

Figure 9. Abstract System Model for Conversational Artificial

Intelligence Platform

Source: Gartner (October 2016)

The conversational aspect of the CAP supports the development of

conversational systems, with NLP rapidly replacing rule-based synonym and
phrase substitution to interpret user input. Dynamic natural-language
ontologies or knowledge graphs at multiple levels of specificity will be needed
to support NLP capabilities, such as disambiguation, concept identification
and relationship extraction.
Tools and services to support immersive, continuous and contextual
experience that goes beyond the voice-/text-powered conversational interface
deliver the pervasive aspect of the CAP. The CAP's proactive aspect offers
nondisruptive simplification for the user, with the system adapting to the user
rather than the user having to adapt to the system. The platform detects
patterns in the user's behavior, asks questions to clarify the user's requests,
provides unsolicited and meaningful suggestions, and autonomously takes
action on the user's behalf. CAP-enabled applications move away from fixed
commands for communications between people, bots, agents, assistants,
applications and other services. Many vendors are speeding to market with
new CAPs that will host a broad range of solutions.
The IoT platform benefits from the CAP in many ways. The CAP's
conversational nature removes the need for the user to recall specific
commands, syntax or parameters for remote-control IoT use cases. By its

nature, an IoT system can consist of a myriad of protocols up and down the
stack (see "IoT Communications Architecture Demystified" ). The CAP's NLP
capabilities provide an abstraction that can potentially ease cross-protocol
communication issues. The CAP's AI capabilities enable it to learn from data
ingested from individual objects over time. This provides more value to the
overall IoT system and can accelerate digital-twin efforts.
Similarly, the CAP benefits from the IoT platform in several ways. The IoT
platform provides the underlying infrastructure that facilitates communication
and action among users, objects and applications. The IoT platform enables
the CAP to reach out not only to apps, but also to individual objects and
systems (and their associated data and analytics). The IoT provides data
from more sources (input), as well as potential actions that affect the physical
world (output). This allows for a richer CAP experience for the user, with more
opportunities for automation and efficiency.
Technology providers are already starting to experiment with the symbiotic
relationship between the CAP and IoT-related platform services. In its August
2016 update, Microsoft's Skype division added the "If This Then That" (IFTTT)
bot to its bot directory. 6 It can interact with more than 50 different types of IoT
devices, ranging from cars to wearables to connected home devices.
Related research:
"Building a Digital Business Technology Platform"
"The Platform Architect's Guide to Designing IoT Solutions"
"Market Guide for IoT Platforms"
"Cool Vendors in the Internet of Things, 2016"
"Use the IoT Platform Reference Model to Plan Your IoT Business
Solutions"
"Conversational AI to Shake Up Your Technical and Business Worlds"

Trend No. 10: Adaptive Security Architecture

The intelligent digital mesh and related digital technology platforms and
application architectures create an ever-more-complex world for security. The
continuing evolution of the "hacker industry" and its use of increasingly
sophisticated tools including the same advanced technologies available to
enterprises significantly increase the threat potential. Relying on perimeter
defense and rule-based security is inadequate and outdated, especially as
organizations exploit more cloud-based services and open APIs for
customers and partners to create business ecosystems. IT leaders must
focus on detecting and responding to threats, as well as more traditional
measures, such as blocking, to prevent attacks and other abuses.
Organizations will need security-aware application design, application selfprotection, user and entity behavior analytics, API protection, and specific
tools and techniques to address IoT and intelligent app/thing vulnerabilities.
Security architecture starts with network security and access control,
vulnerability management, endpoint protection and basic monitoring.
However, these controls alone are insufficient. Hackers target applications
and content sources, as well as individual services that have intentionally
been opened to the outside world to promote the development of business
ecosystems, and digital-twin models that can monitor and control physical
assets. Applications, services and models are a critical element in the security
equation, and a security mindset is vital when designing, developing and
testing these applications.
Organizations must overcome the barriers between security teams and
application teams, much as DevOps tools and processes overcome the divide
between development and operations. Security teams can't afford to wait until
the end of the build-and-release pipeline to offer meaningful feedback.
Security requirements must be clearly communicated and easily integrated
into work processes. Security teams must work with application, solution and
enterprise architects to build security into the overall DevOps process,
resulting in a DevSecOps model.
User and entity behavior analytics are an important emerging category of
security (see Figure 10). They profile and baseline the activity of users, peer
groups and other entities, such as endpoints, applications and networks.
They correlate user and other entity activities and behaviors, and detect
anomalous behavior and patterns using advanced machine learning and
statistical models that compare activity to profiles. User and entity behavior
analytics show, for example, whether individuals are visiting sites they haven't
visited before or are downloading things they don't normally download.
Unusual behavior triggers alarms or an automated response. Much venture
capital exists in this area, along with new tools and technologies.

Figure 10. User and Entity Behavior Analytics

DAP = database audit and protection; DLP = data loss prevention; SIEM =
security information and event management
Source: Gartner (October 2016)

Traditional infrastructure and perimeter protection technologies can't ensure

accurate detection of application vulnerabilities and protection against
application-level attacks. Moreover, they can't protect against behind-theperimeter insider attacks, which are as devastating as outsider attacks.
Therefore, technologies are emerging that enable application security selftesting, self-diagnostics and self-protection. Still, application-layer controls
that are external to the application play an important role in defending against
distributed denial-of-service and automated attacks, as well as providing
security capabilities on behalf of a group of protected applications.
The scale and diversity of the intelligent digital mesh poses a significant
security challenge. This is driving the need for robust IoT security architecture
and practices with a particular focus on endpoint devices. The IoT elements
are diverse and use much non-IT hardware and many protocols, creating
additional challenges. Moreover, the bridging of the divide between IT and
operational technology sees a disconnection between traditional IT security
technologies and practices, with engineers more familiar with, and focused
on, reliability and safety practices.
Resilience and security need to be designed into digital business solutions.
Business stakeholders must include privacy, safety and reliability objectives,
and consider protection as well as recovery. Organizations that embrace the
DevSecOps model emphasizing security-aware app/service/model design are
best placed to accomplish this goal. As demonstrations of automobile hacking
have shown, 7 design considerations must include levels of isolation between
solution components. Different levels of security must be applied based on
the risk exposure of different systems.
Digital twins consolidate massive amounts of information on individual assets
and groups of assets, often providing control of those assets. As the digitaltwin trend evolves, twins will communicate with one another to create "digital

factory" models of multiple linked digital twins. Digital twins of assets will be
linked to other digital entities for people (digital personas), processes (law
enforcement) and spaces (digital cities). Understanding the links across these
digital entities, isolating elements where needed and tracking interactions will
be vital to support a secure digital environment.
A number of factors can help secure the IoT environment. Ensure that device
hardware and software are resistant to attacks and are secure (for example,
by implementing secure software updates). Secure all access and
communication channels with appropriate access control, authentication or
encryption, and closely monitor API access to systems, particularly where
these APIs are intentionally opened for outside entities. Use established
security technologies as a baseline to secure IoT platforms. Monitor user and
entity behavior, particularly in IoT scenarios. Implement sufficient security
monitoring and management practices for edge devices, including secure
updates. However, the IoT edge is a new frontier for many IT security
professionals, creating new vulnerability areas. It often requires new
remediation tools and processes that must be factored into IoT platform
efforts.
Related research:
"The Fast-Evolving State of Security Analytics, 2016"
"CISOs Need to Understand the Components of Their Information
Security Programs"
"Market Guide for User and Entity Behavior Analytics"
"Best Practices and Success Stories for User Behavior Analytics"
"Hype Cycle for Application Security, 2016"
"A Primer for Building Resilience and Security Into Internet of Things
Solution Architecture"
"DevSecOps: How to Seamlessly Integrate Security Into DevOps"

Reference:
https://www.gartner.com/doc/3471559?
refval=&pcp=mpe#-70561582

Gartner Recommended Reading

Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner
subscription.
"Smart Agents Will Drive the Switch From Technology-Literate People, to
People-Literate Technology"
"Hype Cycle for the Internet of Things, 2016"
"Hype Cycle for Application Architecture, 2016"
"Five Steps for Event-Triggered Multichannel Marketing"

Evidence
1 N.

Lavars, "Drones Autonomously Build a Walkable Rope Bridge," New

Atlas, 22 September 2015.
2 L. Seligman, "How Swarming Drones Could Change the Face of Air
Warfare," DefenseNews, 17 May 2016.
3 "DHL Successfully Tests Augmented Reality Application in Warehouse,"
DHL, 26 January 2015.
4 Gartner conducted a survey about digital technologies and transformation.
We asked representatives from 208 organizations about subjects, including
their use of AR. We found that:
Eleven percent are already using AR.
Thirteen percent are piloting AR.
Thirteen percent plan to implement AR in the next year.
Seventeen percent expect to implement AR within two to three years.
5 Gartner surveyed 208 organizations about digital business transformation.
6 Pradeep, "Microsoft Introduces New Bots Into the Skype Bot Directory,"
MSPoweruser, 3 August 2016.
7 A. Greenberg, "The Jeep Hackers Are Back to Prove Car Hacking Can Get
Much Worse," Wired, 1 August 2016.

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