IT professionals around the world are collectively more interested in developing and deploying mobile applications for Google’s Android platform than any other mobile OS. A new study conducted by IBM and published earlier this week included data from more than 4,000 IT professionals around the world, offering insights into a number of technology trends in 2011 and beyond. No space is hotter than mobile right now, and IBM’s survey found that 70% of IT pros are planning to develop and deploy applications for the Android platform. Read on for more.

Despite becoming increasingly popular in the enterprise space, iOS development only garnered interest from 49% of respondents. Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform found itself in the sights of 35% of IT professionals polled and the BlackBerry operating system, once the overwhelming leader among businesses around the world, is being targeted by just 25% of respondents.

“Mobile computing is firmly established in the marketplace and offers a means for IT professional growth as more and more organizations build applications,” IBM stated in its report. “Developers looking to increase their mobile skills would be smart to look to Android. With its large and growing global install base, Android is ranked as being the top mobile platform over the next 24 months. This open source platform based on Java and XML offers a much shorter learning curve, and this contributes to its popularity with IT professionals. iOS remains strong in the U.S. and other developed countries.”

IBM also found that three out of four survey respondents are currently working on mobile computing solutions in some capacity, and that figure is expected to grow to 85% within the next two years. “As an effective channel in reaching many users and as a means of increasing the productivity and efficiency of an organization’s workforce, mobile is viewed by respondents as the second most ‘in demand’ area for software development,” the report said. Enterprise and industry-specific applications are among the top areas of focus, while entertainment and gaming are obviously at the bottom of the list for most IT professionals.