We are in the midst of one of the most disruptive and transformative times that the information technology world has seen in decades.

The challenge for many IT department heads is discovering the best way to lead and adapt in a scalable and sustainable way during this tremendous time of change.

Salesforce.com CTO of IT and VP of IT Architecture, Brett Colbert has been charged with the above since joining the enterprise software company six months ago, following time at Cisco Systems, NetApp, and McAfee Inc.

He says there are three main trends that are not only driving the current IT strategy at salesforce.com, but have also required a new architecture approach.

1. Social, Mobile, Data, Cloud

Colbert says this trend, which he refers to as the “four forces,” is changing every aspect of business. And at the center of all of it is the connected customer. This new breed uses social channels to have a voice. Mobile technology is making everyone more efficient, while providing a work-life balance. Data is allowing companies to wow consumers with personal services. And finally, IT departments, powered by the cloud, are delivering business solutions to their employees, customers, and partners, faster than ever.

2. Heterogeneous Environments

It used to be that IT controlled everything within the four walls of a data center, says Colbert, including its network, on-premise applications, service, and storage. Now by leveraging new cloud-based delivery models, such as PaaS (platform-as-a-service), IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service), and SaaS (software-as-a-service), IT is able to straddle both worlds.

3. The Rise of Business “Power Users”

The third trend that Colbert says needs a new IT architecture approach is those on the business side becoming more and more technically savvy. These small sub-teams, in departments such as sales, marketing, and customer service, have developed “IT-like” skills and capabilities. As a result, IT has become less centralized. Colbert’s advice is for IT to embrace this new model and to do what it can to enable these non-developer “power users.”


Hear more from Colbert on the latest IT trends, plus learn how the world’s most innovative company builds and manages apps on a future-proof cloud platform by listening to the free webinar, An Inside Look at How Salesforce Runs IT with CTO of IT Brett Colbert.