Corporate IT departments must evolve to address changing working practices, according to Gartner. 

System administrators must pass some of the control and responsibilities accumulated over recent decades to the end user.

This will allow IT departments to free up time and resources, and concentrate on business opportunities, a Gartner analyst argued at the firm's Symposium/ITxpo in Cannes. 

At least two-thirds of IT budgets are currently consumed by operations, maintenance and support.

This leaves little scope to invest in or support projects that could transform the business, explained Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of research at Gartner.

The analyst said that many users, frustrated by restrictions imposed by the IT department, are taking advantage of consumer technologies and services and finding alternative approaches to work and collaboration in the office.

Sondergaard added that, while many of IT's responsibilities are still mission critical, organisations need to bend to the realities and opportunities associated with consumer and internet technologies if their businesses are to prosper.

"Consumerisation is the single most significant trend impacting IT in the next 10 years," said Sondergaard.

"However, it is not really about new technologies. It is about attitudes towards and usage of technology.

"There is a societal shift taking place which, combined with access to and acceptance of newly affordable technology, is driving change in usage and the business model.

"Companies will have to come to terms with a fundamental change in traditional business models and drivers."