It’s that time of the year where people make predictions for the coming year and I’m not going to be any different, here we go:-
Smartphones – Yet another Apple iPhone, the iPhone 7 will be released.
iWatch – Will be launched and people will go wild over it.
Cloud – Will be come the “standard” platform for Business Application purchases. Spending on Cloud will increase, more companies will have “Cloud First” policies. Innovation in Public Cloud will continue.
PaaS – Platform as a Service (PaaS) will become to be seen as the way to deliver application extensions or bespoke developments.
Wearables – We will start to see “Wearables” clothes in High Street shops, as they make the leap from Geek to mainstream. Google Glass was never going to make the mainstream. In my experience, Google was never really behind the project, plus they made you look a little silly. Maybe with the skill of Intel behind the next version, it will give it that much needed push. That said, I’m more tempted with an iWatch or Wearable in terms of Clothes. I attended the Google Glass UK launch and wasn’t very impressed and the fact there was zero follow up made me think are these guys really into taking this mainstream.
Internet of Things – The public will see Internet of Things (IoT) functionality in everyday household items – Starting a revolution in replacement of everyday household items. It is expected that in the level of maturity we will see a move from “dumb” to “smart” household items. Many manufactures will jump on the band wagon and push for massive appliance replacement, what they will call “new and improved” will actually be just a chip being stuck in today’s products.
Crowdfunding – Will become mainstream and there will be more bizarre items, services seeking funding as people push the boundaries of any new way of working. Next year there will be more calls to regulate Crowdfunding.
Amazonation – Of Retail will continue both inside of Amazon and across retail. Apple and Amazon will continue their “arms race” to get access to the consumer transactions.
3D Printing – Will become more mainstream (rather than experimental) with more everyday items being printed. Don’t expect to own a 3D Printer until 2017.
Marketing ROI – Marketers will be under more pressure to prove ROI and will become under increased pressure to get closer and work with Sales.
Big Data – The privacy debate will continue. People will realise that maybe people don’t actually tell the truth when they fill in questionnaires, which will place a question mark over Big Data results. One area of Big Data that will expand is the use of Big Data for Healthcare.
Technology Shift – There will be a continued shift from PC to Tablet, from Smartphone to Phablets and from On Premises to Public Cloud.
Hashtags – Hashtag Tedium will take over as a hashtags become another “tick box” “must have” for a brand to look cool.
Mobile – Delivery of services to mobile (in many cases via an App) will become a business imperative. The move to mobile and “Mobile First” started in 2014. Customer Experience has to be delivered via mobile in 2015.
Security – Hacking of sites will continue. There is a “Keyboard War” of Hackers Vs the Rest of the World. Users must be ever vigilant, not click on URLs, install a virus checker, etc. IT Departments must “assume you have been hacked” and work back from there.
Selfies – The selfie trend will continue having crossed over into polite society in 2014. 2015 will be a year of Selfie Tedium as big brands see a “Selfie on Instagram campaign” as a “must have”. Yawn.
Instagram – Will continue the almost unnoticed march to become the Social platform of choice for teenagers and the mainstream.