• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
IT Infrastructure

Has the Third Era of IT Begun?

We are standing at the precipice of a major change in IT.

January 14, 2015 TD Staff Leave a Comment

Technology evolves in phases. Consider the computer, which started as a piece of hardware that took up entire rooms, changed to a piece of equipment that could fit comfortably and relatively affordably into the household, and is currently sitting in your pocket with a number of unchecked e-mails and text messages. As breakthroughs are made and new technology is put in place to change the function of technologies around it, technology can go through rapid advancements in short periods of time that change how we considered using the technology in the first place.

Something like that is currently happening in the IT industry. The so-called “First Era of IT” was born in the early ’80s. It consisted of a central mainframe that combined the components of what IT was at the time — storage, compute, networking, and applications. This coincided with the advent of those early computers, and would end the same with the rise of the personal computer.

Thus the “Second Era of IT” was ushered in, characterized by the separation of those components. The change was massive. IT personnel had to change their manor of thinking, which was based around a centralized system during the First Era. Instead, IT focused on individual components in order to build the highest-performing solutions possible to manage the increasing computer load. The networking systems were much more strained under this new era, which lead to growth and the rise of big IT companies such as Cisco.

Today, some IT experts are asserting that the Second Era is dying, while the “Third Era of IT” is about to begin. It will be classified by a shift from infrastructures based around components to those based around data and application. Due to the exponential data growth and the need for a more agile network, the nature of data will dictate how applications are designed. As servers and other technology pillars surge, networking has remained relatively stagnant. Due to the rise of Big Data, the Internet of Things, and mobile-social-virtual application workloads, a new network architecture is needed to accommodate massive amounts of unstructured data and distributed application requirements.

The data center is changing, as it has changed in the past and as it will change again in the future. We need to be prepared for it, both as IT professionals, and as companies utilizing the technology that those professionals create. Ready or not, the Third Era of IT may have already begun.

Read the full article at VentureBeat.

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!

Tagged With: Corporate

Related Content:

  • Cloud, SASE, Aryaka How the Cloud is Redefining Media Production and…
  • Software License Spending, SaaS, cloud apps Your Guide to Choosing the Best Cloud Security…
  • IT Budget 2025 Budgeting Tips for IT Pros/CIOs in 2025
  • A close-up of a technician’s hands typing and navigating through troubleshooting steps on a computer in a well-lit office. , natural light, soft shadows, with copy space Five Ways to Reduce Desktop Support Troubleshooting Time

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • Practical Design Guide for Office SpacesPractical Design Guide for Office Spaces

    Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-face time with co-workers. When designing the office spaces — and meeting spaces in particular — enabling that connection between co-workers is crucial. But introducing the right collaboration technology in meeting spaces can […]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Downloads

Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces
Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces

Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-fa...

New Camera Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow
New Camera System Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow

Sony's HXC-FZ90 studio camera system combines flexibility and exceptional image quality with entry-level pricing.

Creating Great User Experience and Ultimate Flexibility with Clickshare

Working and collaborating in any office environment today should be meaningful, as workers today go to office for very specific reasons. When desig...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Contact Us
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.