Guess what? Convergence is happening again, and it's happening at a faster pace with more profound implications than I have never seen before.

Those of us who've been in the industry a long time have seen convergence happen over the years across various technologies and areas of IT. This time, we're talking about convergence across the infrastructure-in wired and wireless, in physical and virtual, in collaboration and social, and in on-prem and off-prem resources. Convergence brings together the applications and infrastructure in new and more flexible ways, opening up new opportunities.

Getting this convergence right is a big deal. And it's a key to becoming an innovative enterprise. It's clear that if you're not innovating, you're going to miss out on opportunities to be strategically valuable to your organization.

http://www.slideshare.net/CiscoBusinessInsights/convergence-are-you-ready-for-the-future-of-it

This convergence is called different things by different people and firms. IDC calls it "third platform" while Gartner talks about 'Nexus of Forces.' In any case, they're all talking about technologies, such as cloud, mobility, data and network programmability, which are blurring and blending. And in addition, the combination of these technologies is collectively making the Internet of Everything possible.

Beyond that, this convergence is creating not only changes in technology deployments and evolution but also in IT culture, processes and organizational structures.

Take for example, these points:

• While mobility and cloud are powerful entities on their own, the convergence of the two, otherwise known as 'mobile cloud', is one of IEEE Computer Society's Top Technology Trends for 2014.

• A recent Information Week survey reports 22% of respondents will devote more than 20% of their fiscal-year 2014 budgets to datacenter convergence, virtualization, and private cloud.

• A recent Tech Target article points out that many organizations are seeking IT pros skilled in IDC's "third platform" aka mobility, social, "big data" and cloud, underscoring the need for talent with expertise in converged technologies.

• According to another Tech Target article, converged infrastructure is going mainstream faster than analysts anticipated. Jed Scaramella, a research manager of servers at IDC, said "In this past year, people who said they were very likely to adopt an integrated system in the next three years jumped up 38%."

• Gartner reports that 'the Nexus of Forces' -social, mobile, cloud and information -is converging to drive new business scenarios.

So, what does this mean for your organization and how can you prepare?

The convergence of these technologies will drive the need for a new model for IT-Fast IT. . IT leaders must embrace this new model, making themselves more strategic and more nimble. The IT leaders who embrace these dynamic changes will thrive with the growth opportunities and capture their share of the$19 trillion in IoE value at stake for the public and private sectors available over the next decade.

To learn more about the role convergence plays in our Internet of Everything world, check out the new interactive Convergence Whitepaper or browse through the Convergence E-Book and join the conversation,#FutureOfIT,#InternetOfEverything.

Additional Resources:

• Top Technology Trends for 2014 via IEEE at www.computer.org
• Research: Cloud Convergence: 6 Standards That Matter by Kurt Marco via InformationWeek.com
• Third platform IT job skills in demand by Mike Anderson via TechTarget.com
• SDN, hyperscale data center technologies to impact strategies in 2014 via TechTarget.com
• As IDC Sees It, Tech's 'Third Platform' Disrupts Everyone by Bernard Golden via InformationWeek.com
• The Nexus of Forces: Social, Mobile, Cloud and Information via Gartner.com

On blogs.cisco.com 

• Next Gen IT Predictions: 2014 and Beyond by Jim Grubb, Cisco
• Collaboration in the New Age of Convergence by Carlos Dominguez, Cisco
• Internet of Things: More than a Trend, a Real Business Opportunity by Roberto De La Mora, Cisco