At the ITxpo 2013 Symposium in Orlando, FL (USA), the Gartner market research firm identified several trends that they predict will be of strategic importance for the coming year. The list encompasses many technologies that are in the tech news every day, so some of the conclusions are not surprising, but it is still useful to view it all at a glance.
Gartner's top trends for the coming year include:

• Diversity and Mobile Device Management: As one of the unexpected side effects of Bring Your Own Device, Gartner sees a doubling, if not tripling, of the mobile workforce.
• Internet of Everything: The Internet expands to more things beyond the PC and mobile devices, such as TVs or cars.
• Hybrid Cloud and IT as Service Broker: The Cloud/client architecture leads to client systems accessing services in the cloud. The client environment can be native or browser-based. Some sophisticated network applications will require more intelligence on the client side. Mobile users will continue to produce increased loads on server-side computing and storage.
• The Era of the Personal Cloud: The personal cloud marks a shift away from the device. The device itself is less important but persists because it is necessary for  service.
• Software-Defined Anything: Software-Defined Everything (SDx) is a generic term for a movement centered around better standards, programmability, and interoperability, with an emphasis on cloud automation and software-based services. This phenomenon includes initiatives such as OpenStack, OpenFlow, and the Open Compute Project.
• Web-scale IT: Some pioneers, such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook have shown us that the concept of scalability applies to agility or speed as well as size. To keep up with the leaders, other companies will have to focus on providing similar high speeds at huge volume.
• Smart Machines: By 2020, Gartner expects an explosion of intelligent personal, computerized guides, à la IBM Watson, as well as a new generation of intelligent, interactive systems piloting autonomous vehicles.
• 3D Printing: The delivery of 3D printers will increase by 75 percent in 2014 and will double again in 2015.