Industry news

Networking sites to shape IT

Social networking applications will be among the biggest disruptive influences to effect IT over the next five years, one analyst has said.

Gartner named the technology among the top ten disruptive influences that will shape the IT landscape.

Also in its top ten disruptions was multicore and hybrid processors, user interface, cloud computing and web mashups.

Speaking at the Gartner Emerging Trends and Technologies Roadshow today, David Cearley, one of the research firm's analysts, said business applications will start to copy features on popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace in an attempt to improve employee collaboration.

"Social software provides a platform that encourages participation and feedback from employees and customers alike," he added.

"The added value for businesses is being able to collect this feedback into a single point that reflects collective attitudes, which can help shape a business strategy."

Facebook claims to have 70 million active users, with more than eight million users in the UK alone.