In 2015, IT data strategy will take center stage, the c-suite will become more united and IT will gain confidence in the cloud. This is all according to Gaurav Rewari, CEO and co-founder of Numerify, Inc., a provider of cloud-based business analytics software.

Rewari’s predictions about enterprise cloud are all part of our second annual Technology Predictions series in which industry experts share their predictions with us about the hot tech trends that they think will take center stage in 2015. We’ll be sharing all of their predictions with you over the next couple of days. Read on for more from Rewari.

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Prediction No. 1: IT data strategy will take center stage

As other departments across the enterprise such as human resources (HR) and marketing become more “data-driven,” IT leaders will take a page out of their own book and use data to garner actionable insights in 2015. This includes defining objectives, specific analytics and processes, as well as implementing tools to clearly understand and gather this information in one central, easy-to-digest format. As the enterprise IT landscape continues to evolve in 2015 and better serve the workforce, IT leaders must first successfully adopt their own technologies and best practices.

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Prediction No. 2: The c-suite will become more united

In 2015, IT will shed its “Department of No” image by building allies in the c-suite and driving lasting results across departments that demonstrate the value IT can bring to the table. 2014 saw new types of IT organizations that CIOs can lead-from revenue generators to service providers to utility players. We will see more of this transition come into play in 2015 as CIOs enable greater collaboration across the c-suite with the right tools, skills and services to align with broader business goals.

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Prediction No. 3: IT will gain confidence in the cloud

It is time to eliminate the phrase “this is how we’ve always done it” and embrace the changing tech landscape. In 2015, IT leaders will begin to adopt new cloud services regularly to drive the agenda for their organization’s IT strategy. This agile mentality will be to the benefit of the entire organization, with the aim of increasing competitive edge and staying ahead of current (and forthcoming) technology trends.

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Prediction No. 4: Silos in IT business will fall to the wayside

In 2015, uncovering opportunities to innovate across a business will require a complete, integrated view in order to synthesize novel insights from multiple data sources. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) software will reveal critical insights about the relationships between sales, marketing and finance—an approach which IT will replicate. In 2015, CIOs will combine data from multiple operational and financial solutions across the business of IT, allowing them to identify links between recurring issues and resolution time, among many other priority items.

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Prediction No. 5: IT will share the limelight

In 2015, CIOs will focus on how IT departments can market themselves more and raise their profile within the organization, helping to shift perception among employees and the c-suite. As a result, the organization will gain a competitive edge through its technology leadership.

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2015 Technology Predictions graphic courtesy of SiliconANGLE