The next five years are likely to see a significant shift from product-led delivery of IT to services-based IT delivery, forcing many leading technology vendors to change the way they operate and market themselves, according to a new report by analyst firm Forrester.

The report predicts the creation of a new IT ecosystem where top vendors like Dell, HP and Oracle will need to join forces in order to deliver solutions and services. The report says this change is being driven by "market forces of commoditisation, miniaturisation, industrialisation, and globalisation", as well as the changing demands of IT buyers in large enterprises.

Report co-author Andrew Parker said the increasing focus on services was a result of a growing need among firms to take more cost and complexity out of the IT function.

"Much of this environment is driven by new forms of service delivery, innovation and software-as-a-service," he added. "in the past companies like Microsoft or SAP could think mainly about selling products but in future they'll have to think about other forms of software delivery and that's likely to happen at an accelerated level."