Which 2015 IT predictions have come true?

Early 2015 saw some attention-grabbing predictions suggesting major changes were afoot in the IT industry. We thought it would be interesting to see which of those predictions still hold water as we move into 2016 and beyond.

Hybrid cloud is the future

From tools to locate the office coffee machine, to the use of Office 365, Exchange and enterprise CRM systems, cloud services are being used today in a vast variety of ways.

However, other than small businesses and start-ups without legacy set-ups or the funds to purchase infrastructure, very few organisations have adopted full cloud services. Most will operate using a hybrid cloud model because they already have business-critical infrastructure in place.

With cloud continuing to play a bit-part role, many predict that hybrid set-ups will grow. Gartner believes hybrid enterprise resource planning (ERP) environments will be the norm within five years as businesses look to mix third-party solutions with their in-house cloud architectures.

When on-premises solutions require replacement or updating, organisations will need to consider whether to invest in their own services, and the associated competencies, or buy them as a cloud service.

If you’re planning updates, what should you do?

1. Maintain a continuous inventory on what cloud services your people are using.
2. As you’re updating, renovating or replacing legacy systems, consider whether to use the cloud instead and carry out a full cost–benefit analysis of every service.
3. Use the big public cloud services where possible as they have data centres in most parts of the world and the best communications backbone to support them.

Mobility is the new normal

The growth of cloud solutions is also helping to create a new normal for a mobile workforce, where smartphones are a core part of business implementation.

At the start of 2015, some predicted mobility would become a much more dominant factor. While it’s true that enterprise mobility is on the rise, and we increasingly use mobile solutions to stay up to date, much of what we produce is still done at a desk.

Mobility is more than just the device that fits in your pocket. Bulky laptops are being replaced by powerful tablets. The Microsoft Surface Pro has the power of a laptop but the mobility of a tablet, enabling the user to work anywhere just as they would in an office.

What does this mean for organisations? When selecting software, flexibility is key. It simply has to work across a wide range of devices and suit the needs of the three main groups of users: casual, professional and general.

Casual users are driven by what works best for them and will want to choose their own devices, resulting in a wide array of platforms.

Professional users, such as a mobile workforce, are usually more open to being supplied with a certain device to fit their needs, remembering they also double as casual users and need to do tasks like checking email.

General users are usually based in the office with mobility enabling work in other locations such as at home or a hotel.

When considering a mobility policy, organisations need to:

1. Decide whether to control the devices and apps people use, or let them choose for themselves.
2. Be platform agnostic, especially if you choose not to control the devices people use. Services need to operate across all three major mobile operating systems, because people will choose what works best for them, not necessarily what works best for you.

Underwhelming wearables

A major buzzword in mobility is wearables. It’s been a disappointment in 2015 as it hasn’t developed as many had hoped — Google Glass was arguably one of the highest profile wearable flops.

What’s interesting is that others are now looking at this differently. Sony, for example, is designing smart glasses for professionals and not consumers, as Glass was originally intended.

And more players are entering this space — 2015 saw the launch of the Apple Watch and the public listing of FitBit, with millions of both products sold.

The surface has only been scratched and organisations are still exploring new ways to work and trying to develop wearable policies.

So what should the IT department do?

1. Wait. Watch the market and monitor innovations but don’t necessarily invest yet, there’s still more to come.
2. Don’t think that wearables will necessarily replace established methods. Many warehouses, for example, already use earpieces and finger-mounted barcode scanners. Think through the real difference wearable technology will make and the value it will add.

IoT: software not hardware, platforms not devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) has spawned a wide variety of quirky ideas, from smart fridges that monitor milk levels to smart homes that ‘know’ you’re home and control the temperature accordingly.

Industrial examples of IoT aren’t common yet — they tend to be unique solutions to a given challenge, so standardisation is limited.

The benefits of IoT are not commonly understood, so it takes a far-sighted business to see how to best use it. Then you would need to investigate and install the components for a solution and learn how to do business to take advantage of it.

Consider the following when debating rolling out IoT:

1. Do you have the money to invest now and will it deliver a return on investment?
2. Think about your end goal. Investing in IoT solutions doesn’t make money. Using the insights from IoT solutions to act differently does.

There’s no doubting we’re on course for more impressive IT developments. It will be interesting to see what the ‘next big thing’ will be and if, under scrutiny, predictions about it turn out to be true.

Dan Matthews is IFS’s Chief Technology Officer; Martin Gunnarsson is Director in the Research & Strategy unit.

Image courtesy Apple