Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

The technology prognosticators at Gartner say the convergence of new IT delivery models will fundamentally transform the way businesses consume and interact with IT within the next three to five years.

“In and of themselves, discretely defined, things like Software as a Service, grid computing and virtualization are important in their own disciplines within IT,” says Mark Margevicius, research director at Gartner. “But what is happening is if you combine each of these different approaches you actually get some very interesting and compelling ways to look at how IT can be delivered. What we’re postulating here is that over the next three to five years there’s going to be a huge preponderance of change due to this. It means IT, as it exists today, will change significantly.”

Gartner identified 14 nontraditional ways to acquire, package and deliver IT they believe will contribute to a shift in IT responsibilities, which are listed below with definitions from the analysts.

Read the full story on Baseline: 14 Delivery Models Transforming IT