This is Part Two of our consumerization thought leaders post. Click here for Part One.

David Mitchell Smith, Stephen Prentice, Gartner – The long-time Gartner analysts made one of the first formal declarations of the CoIT trend way back in 2005 when they announced in a press release that “Consumerization Will Be Most Significant Trend Affecting IT During Next 10 Years.”  The foretelling release contended that “… the majority of new technologies enterprises adopt for their information systems between 2007 and 2012 will have roots in consumer applications… As technology providers increasingly design products for consumers, enterprise IT managers have to learn how to manage these products as employees bring them into varieties of workflows and processes.” Smith and Prentice combined forces again two years later on a well-read report entitled, “Consumerization Gains Momentum: The IT Civil War.” They defined new markets for CoIT, and examined productivity and security concerns. For what’s next in CoIT, keep an eye out for new reports from Smith and Prentice.

Ray Wang – Ray is CEO of Constellation Research and widely viewed as a CoIT thought leader. He blogs regularly at Software Insider, where he delivers insights about effective enterprise app strategies. If you’re considering an IT implementation you would do well to read some of Ray’s thoughts. Here’s Ray’s checklist of the elements that help determine what kinds of consumer tech are appropriate the enterprise. And here’s a great video interview with Ray where he discusses the impact of CoIT on IT outsourcing.

Cesare Garlati – Cesare’s daily duties as Senior Director of Consumerization at Trend Micro might have been enough to get him on this list, but his blog leaves no doubt. At BringYourOwnIT.com, Cesare writes about consumerization and everything else that’s causing disruption in IT. In a SC Magazine article earlier this year, Cesare suggested organizations approach consumerization in a tactical way: “(Embracing CoIT) is the optimal approach. Create a plan that spans the whole organization; say yes for some but not for everyone by determining a group of users and figure out what technology is allowed; and figure out what tools are needed and put the right infrastructure in place.”

Cesare also has been quoted The Economist, The Register, The Guardian, ZD Net, and CBS News, and he has delivered presentations and highlighted speeches at Gartner Security Summits and IDC CIO Forums.

Colin Steele – Colin is the senior site editor for SearchConsumerization.com, a recently launched TechTarget site that’s been a great CoIT resource for experts and newbies alike. The site provides expert advice, tutorials, and links to product reviews of the phones and tablets infiltrating enterprises worldwide. We’ve enjoyed how Colin has steered the ship from the start. For a great year-in-review story, check out Colin’s Top 5 consumerization of IT news stories of 2011.

Steve Jobs – Though he passed away earlier this year, we still feel Jobs’s impact on the enterprise and on the consumerization of IT. Between the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, and various MacBooks, Jobs made everyday computing a simpler, cleaner, and more enjoyable task for millions of people around the world, and he inspired those many to bring those devices into the workplace. As InfoWorld wrote, in a piece describing Jobs’s unwitting impact on CoIT, “For most of us, everyday life includes day jobs, so when iPhone-, iPod-, iTunes-savvy people walked into the workplace, they neither knew nor cared that they were moving from one demographic (consumers) into another (enterprise users). These people, who consumed hardware and software products on their own time, wanted the same positive, powerful experiences on the job -- thus, paving the way for the consumerization of IT.”