The increasing pace of digital is changing civilization as we know it, according Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president of Gartner Research, who spoke on Oct. 17 from the middle of a harsh spotlight on a darkened stage at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2016 in Orlando, Florida. The digital world around us is in a permanent state of upgrade," he warned. The dramatic words were followed by other speeches delivered by Daryl Plummer, vice president and Gartner fellow, and Hung LeHong, vice president and Gartner fellow. The speeches were no less dramatic, but rather less dark, taking their tone from another early passage in Sondergaard's speech: "CIOs are builders again." CIOs are building an infrastructure for an increasingly digital business, Sondergaard said, noting that Gartner is estimating that within three years more than half the value of most company's products will arise from their digital content. That digital content will be built on a digital platform and an infrastructure that is critical because, according to Sondergaard, "When you build it, it will bring the capability to reach customers and things more intelligently." Traditional core IT systems remain important to the organization, because the business must continue to operate while the digital transformation takes place. This traditional IT is Mode 1 in Gartner's Bimodal IT model, with Mode 2 as the dynamic, transformative digitalization mode. LeHong said, "You don't need two organizations for bimodal.

The increasing pace of digital is changing civilization as we know it, according Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president of Gartner Research, who spoke on Oct. 17 from the middle of a harsh spotlight on a darkened stage at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2016 in Orlando, Florida. The digital world around us is in a permanent state of upgrade," he warned. The dramatic words were followed by other speeches delivered by Daryl Plummer, vice president and Gartner fellow, and Hung LeHong, vice president and Gartner fellow. The speeches were no less dramatic, but rather less dark, taking their tone from another early passage in Sondergaard's speech: "CIOs are builders again." CIOs are building an infrastructure for an increasingly digital business, Sondergaard said, noting that Gartner is estimating that within three years more than half the value of most company's products will arise from their digital content. That digital content will be built on a digital platform and an infrastructure that is critical because, according to Sondergaard, "When you build it, it will bring the capability to reach customers and things more intelligently." Traditional core IT systems remain important to the organization, because the business must continue to operate while the digital transformation takes place. This traditional IT is Mode 1 in Gartner's Bimodal IT model, with Mode 2 as the dynamic, transformative digitalization mode. LeHong said, "You don't need two organizations for bimodal.