Enterprise information technology is facing unprecedented change due to the morphing workforce and pervasive digitization, as it moves squarely into the 21st century. Soon there will be five generations of employees working together—from new graduates to those approaching their 70s. The majority entering the workforce by 2020 will be raised on a continual diet of ever more accessible, intuitive electronic devices and services. They are the first generations to grow up with broadband Internet access, PCs and mobile devices. Smart phones and tablets are deeply embedded in their daily lives and Google, Facebook, YouTube, SnapChat, Twitter, Instagram, Pandora shape how they shop, converse, live and are entertained. Their experience with technology is instantaneous, mobile, socially networked and with easy-to-use gadgets.

It is these young professionals, surrounded by ubiquitous consumer electronics all their lives, that will transform how we all work. They are digital natives, raised with an appetite for technology and speaking in LOLs, LMAOs and OMGs. As a result, they will demand that the workplace support their consumer experience of always on and easy to use, with accessible connectivity to support greater interdependence between professional and personal activities and more technology choices.

So it is reasonable to ask whether enterprise IT will even exist in 2020, with its traditional structure carefully built over the past 50 years. I doubt it. Consumerization of IT has made the individual's 'user experience'of paramount importance and today's enterprise IT in most cases is not equipped to deliver engaging 'user experience'. The young generation today expects delivery on various kinds of mobile devices and applications built for specific functions, not monolithic big integrated systems

No enterprise provides this in the present. This needs to change to be relevant in 2020. Some key areas where consumer IT will profoundly alter expectations in the 2020 corporate IT environment are as follows.

User experience: In the consumer space, almost everyone already relies on cloud services if they use DropBox, Google, Evernote, Office 365 and many more out in the market today. Users, unconcerned with the nuts and bolts behind the service, expect to simply download an app and use it within minutes without any outside help. Overall the user experience with the consumer facing applications is brilliant! Younger workers will expect the same ease-of-use at work. Can you imagine these folks grappling with today’s enterprise application when entering their yearly benefit choices or tracking their time? These enormous applications are complex, painfully slow to navigate and require weeks of training if used on a daily basis. Enterprise systems in 2020 should provide a more consumer-friendly model to encourage adoption and use in the workplace.