3rd Platform Accelerator to Influence 2014 IT Drives-IDC

The International Data Corporation (IDC) on Wednesday offered the first of its annual predictions for the coming year in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.

IDC's predictions for 2014 were heavily influenced by the 3rd Platform, the industry's emerging platform for growth and innovation built on the technology pillars of mobile computing, cloud services, big data and analytics, and social networking.

According to Frank Gens, senior vice president and chief analyst at IDC: "The 3rd Platform's impact was felt throughout the ICT industry in 2013 as a high-profile CEO lost his job, a major IT player went private, numerous vendors endured cash cow stagnation, and billion-dollar bets were placed on 3rd Platform technologies.

"In 2014, we'll see every major player make big investments to scale up cloud, mobile, and big data capabilities, and fiercely battle for the hearts and minds of the developers who will create the solutions driving the next two decades of IT spending. Outside the IT industry, 3rd Platform technologies will play a leading role in the disruption (or "Amazoning") of almost every other industry on the planet."

The Wednesday’s IDC Worldwide Predictions 2014 Web conference was the first of more than 50 events to be held over the next 10 weeks.