The coming few years will feature continued consolidation, financial pressures and changes to the hardware business, requiring different IT strategies for the future than what people have been using in the past. IT consultancy Gartner made these predictions during its Hardware Insight conference here Thursday. Employees of firms like Intel, HP and Sun listened to presentations that often focused on where their companies may be headed in the coming years. Some of the usual trends will continue, like market consolidation. Research Vice President Roger Cox noted that 85 percent of the storage business is in the hands of seven vendors, and “they are not advancing the technology.