There’s some new research out from Gartner, however, that reinforces that shift. Here’s the high-level finding: by 2017, approximately one-quarter of all businesses will run some sort of internal app store for managing corporate-sanctioned software.

The main reason this is happening? It’s another outcome of the bring your own device (BYOD) and the related bring your own application (BYOA) phenomenon. By controlling the apps that employees can download to their personal smartphones and tablet computers, companies are hoping to exercise more control over security and software expenditures, according to Gartner.

It’s not just about mobile apps, either. These stores could provide better control over desktop and cloud application provisioning. Or, at the very least, better insight into how is downloading what and who should pay for it.

“Bring your own application (BYOA) has become as important as BYOD in the development of a comprehensive mobile strategy, and the trend toward BYOA has begun to affect desktop and Web applications as well,” said Ian Finley, research vice president at Gartner. “Enterprise app stores promise at least a partial solution, but only if IT security, application, procurement and sourcing professionals can work together to successfully apply the app store concept to their enterprises.”

Technology solution providers definitely have a role to play in helping organize these marketplaces, potentially through deployments of mobile device management software. They also could have a role in defining the broader access control policies that extend the store concept beyond the mobile platform to other corporate software assets.

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Exhibit A: Close to 40 percent of those surveyed by NPD Group for its Connected Intelligence report use tablet devices or smartphones to access content, including the Internet and Facebook.

What does this mean? For one thing, they are relying less on their desktop or notebook to navigate information. Specifically, 27 percent of both tablet and smartphone users have cut back on their Internet and Facebook usage on personal computers, reports NPD.

Since we all know personal habits have a way of creeping into workplace concerns, trends in content management are something technology solution providers should monitor carefully.

There are several ways it could become an issue for you or your customers.

For a start, the push toward tablets and smartphones means Web sites needs to be (at a minimum) optimized for mobile viewing. If your company communicates with its customers via a customer portal, has it taken the time to optimize it for mobile access? Do enough of them use mobile devices to warrant a specific mobile application? Does your organization support mobile application development skills.

Within your own organization, consider how information viewing options might affect the way that manuals and technical information are distributed. Are they available on tablets, where they can be managed and kept up-to-date far more frequently? Could you keep your technicians closer to how when they are earning new certifications, by allowing them to learn and verify new skills online via video or digital courseware?

Although it seems a bit of a stretch, it may also be time to start evaluating applications and technologies that connect mobile devices with televisions, for video conferencing or streaming purposes, NPD suggests. That’s because approximately 21 percent of consumers are starting to connect their mobile devices to televisions, via screen-sharing services such as AllShare or Miracast.

Although the current applications envisioned for these technologies aren’t very business-like in nature, that could change over time as people begin experimenting.

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Given the nature of the IT services business, more of you are reading this on a mobile platform than one year ago. And more of you are reading this on some mobile gadget that probably doesn’t have a traditional keyboard.

That’s why it’s very easy to buy into the prediction this week from NPD DisplaySearch that calls for annual shipments of tablet computers to outstrip those of notebooks computers by 2016. It’s another harbinger of the impact that the “bring your own device” movement will have on IT solutions, and another reminder that solution providers that rely on hardware margins will need to make some adjustments in their business model during the coming format shift.

NPD DisplaySearch projects that tablet computer sales will reach 416 million units that year, roughly more than triple the number expected for 2012 (121 million units). During that same four-year timeframe, annual shipments of notebook computers should grow from 208 million units in 2012 to 393 million units by the end of 2016, according to the NPD DisplaySearch forecast, “Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report.

(Source: NPD DisplaySearch, Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report)

The majority of growth for tablets is coming from mature markets, including the United States.

“While the lines between tablet and notebook PCs are blurring, we expect mature markets to be the primary regions for tablet PC adoption,” said Richard Shim, senior analyst for NPD DisplaySearch. “New entrants are tending to launch their initial products in mature markets. Services and infrastructure needed to compelling new usage models are often better established in mature markets.”

The challenge for IT solution providers is that many tablet computers, like smartphones before them, are being brought into companies by individuals rather than the IT department. That’s the bad news. The good news is that businesses are struggling with how to manage these devices. That has created all sorts of assessment, policy development and managed service opportunities related to security, patch management and collaboration/workflow policies.

While much of that work today surrounds tablets that use the Apple iOS or Google Android operating system, it is likely that Microsoft’s new Windows Surface tablet will have an impact within companies seeking to more closely integrate tablet solutions with legacy applications and infrastructure.

The first model, which will be made entirely made by Microsoft (yes, even the hardware) will be 9 millimeters thick, weigh about 1.5 pounds and run on low-power ARM chips. It is expected to hit the market around October.

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Before I really dig into the meat of this commentary, I will revisit something that I predicted in my introduction. That is, that I would be writing this year’s piece on my tablet computer. Actually, since I’m hunkered down in my home office I am NOT using my tablet to write this commentary, but I DID bring my Apple iPad and a great Bluetooth keyboard from Zagg (Zaggmate) with me to Ireland last September in order to file the three daily submission that shape every morning. Right now, I’m using my solar-powered keyboard from Logitech as a replacement for my MacBook Pro’s built-in keyboard.

Back to the topic at hand, revisiting the predictions we made last year. I’ll recap them.

Trend #1: Tablets and smartphones will become even more prolific. During 2011, the industry’s perception of what it means to be mobile underwent a profound transformation. From ultralight notebook computers to an abundance of tablets, the sheer diversity of mobile technology platforms and the desire of more workers to be mobile at least some of the time is helping fuel a conversation that solution providers will need to address more during the new year: the bring your own device (BYOD) movement. the BYOD trend refers to the desire of employees to use personal gadgets, usually mobile, for work purposes.

How SearchITChannel did: Spot on, considering that NPD Research reports there were more than 1.2 million tablet computers shipped in the first nine months of 2011 alone

Trend #2: Solution providers should embrace social media for their customers and their own internal use. The latest example of the power of social media came during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Some time during that week, Verizon Wireless quietly disclosed that it would start charging a $2 “fee” for processing one-time payments being made on the phone or online. The mobile carrier grossly underestimated the vitriol of the social media world, which reacted negatively to blast Verizon Wireless for the fee. Within a matter of hours, the company was forced to backpedal.

How SearchITChannel did: Ahead of the curve. Although many smaller companies are still suspicious of the “time suck” that social media might entail, the fact is that technology enthusiasts continue to use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook as sounding boards. Managers ignore social media at their own peril.

Trend #3: Video technology will earn a starring role. Definitely a major theme of the past 12 months, as evidenced by number of top-tier videoconferencing vendors that extended their technologies to mobile platforms including smartphones and tablets. While the stagnant economy kept sales from really taking  off, this remains a key theme for emerging collaboration applications.

How SearchITChannel did: In synch with market desires, but not with economic realities of the slow U.S. economic recovery.

Trend #4: The cloud conversation will translate into heightened interest in converged data center solutions. The push to keep it simple continues to inspire businesses to contemplate the benefits of the cloud model, with its simplified approach to provisioning and its promise of helping to better align a company’s true computing capacity needs with what it pays for infrastructure. The mainstreaming of server, storage and networking virtualization architectures continues to be central to this idea.

How SearchITChannel did: In synch with this emerging market, but not with realities of evaluating and piloting converged data center solutions. It takes longer than you expect.

Trend #5: Demand for data loss prevention solutions will intensify. It isn’t coincidence that cloud-delivered backup and disaster recovery services are one of the fastest growing areas of the cloud services market — even though the “storage as a service” concept met a rather infamous fate over the past 10 years. A string of disastrous weather events have convinced a growing number of businesses of all sizes that data-loss preventions solutions are not an optional infrastructure investment.

How SearchITChannel did: Spot on.

What do we think is in store for 2012? Be sure to read the first of our two-part prediction series for the next 12 months, “Four technologies that will shape 2012 solutions.” Stay tuned for the second predictions piece about services trends, coming soon.

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Avnet believes there are certain back-end data center design considerations, as well as security implications, that solution providers must learn in order to support the mobile revolution. The focus of its initial services is on applications for data center mobility, collaboration, workforce mobility, and automated identification and data capture. MobilityPath also includes a comprehensive training curriculum plus assessment services that can augment a solution provider’s existing skill sets. Avnet will also offer activation and integration services to support its VAR customers.

Here’s the rationale, as explained by the MobilityPath practice leader, Bennett Bayer, in the Avnet press release:

“With research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. predicting that enterprise business will spend more than $1.2 trillion in mobility in 2012, which is 34 percent of the total IT spend, it is essential that solution providers understand how to develop complete solutions for mobile-enabled mission-critical applications in the data center.”

There are other distributors boasting mobile technology and solutions divisions, of course. What I like about this new Avnet group is the fact that it recognizes all the implications that mobility will have on the design of traditional line-of-business applications. Mobility will be part of the solution, not a separate solution. That’s what’s different about the current mobile technology transition than in years past.

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Think about it. What program sounds most exciting to you?

• Microsoft Partner Network
• Cisco Channel Partner Program
• IBM Business Partner Program
• HP PartnerOne

So, OK, maybe those companies aren’t in the same position as Motorola, which is reorganizing and reassembling several different programs under one umbrella program over the next 18 months. Maybe they already have your mindshare. And maybe you’ll pooh-pooh the name as just good marketing. But, personally, I love the idea that a vendor is trying to empower its partners to build their own businesses, not just its own product sales.

When I spoke with Motorola’s vice president of global channels, Janet Schijns, just before the launch, she says one of her biggest goals with the new program is to help smaller partners get just as much — or more — out of its benefits as larger partners.

So, for example, in the Motorola program you can get credit for your vertical knowledge or proven capacity to solve problems, not just for which product certifications you’ve earned or the sales volume you produce. The latter two things are important, of course, but not the be-all and end-all of what counts. Because, let’s be honest here, does your customer care how much sales volume you’ve generated (it WILL care if you’re financially stable) or does it care that you have successfully deployed a similar solution for another company in a given industry? “The customer wants more than a partner who is good at the technology,” Schijns says.

In turn, Motorola will focus on helping partners understand issues such as how to maximize coverage in a retail environment, how to price by the foot rather than by the product, and how to certify the coverage being provided either indoors or outdoors.

There are three initial tracks within the program: wireless network solutions, mobility and radio. Existing partners will be mapped in over the next year and a half; after that, they’ll have to prove themselves within the realm of the new program. Incidentally, there are roughly 25,000 partners in these programs today.

Within Motorola PartnerEmpower, there will initially be PartnerEmpower Specialist or Elite Specialist certification tracks, each with their own benefit levels. The usual precious metals designations will also factor in: Bronze, Silver, Gold and (ultimately) Platinum. Schijns says there will eventually be a Master level, which will showcase all the thing that matter to customers such real-world competency, vertical industry specialization and deep market knowledge. Motorola is redesigning its partner locator to emphasize these things.

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