Managing vice-president and chief fellow at the market research firm Daryl Plummer highlighted the emergence of a strong emphasis on "business-case justifications" in the previous year.
He stated that IT firms may need to become more fluent in the language of business to make the best of the coming 12 months and beyond.
Mr Plummer explained: "For many organisations, the economic and budgetary challenges of 2009 drove important changes in the general governance of IT investment decisions."
The company predicted that 2010 could see a shift in the way users interact with IT, while the balances of supply and demand may also see significant changes.
This week, Gartner also highlighted the need for chief information officers at firms to be entrepreneurial and have the right balance of risk-awareness and vision to take a company forwards.
