IT security, big data and cloud computing have dominated the headlines this year, and will continue to do so in 2015, going by the predictions that tech vendors have dished out in recent weeks. We take a look at the top eight tech trends that are likely to shape the industry next year.
Internet of Things (IoT) to put new pressure on security
There’s a lot of buzz around IoT, but the technology also opens up more avenues for cyber attacks. According to Ixia, a networking and security company, more serious security incidents will start to occur once sensors or controls that are connected to the IoT are breached. While IoT provides tremendous benefits, Naveen Bhat, general manager at Ixia Asia-Pacific, says it is important to apply appropriate security controls to prevent misuse.
Real time analytics is the future of big data
Analytics must be delivered to the people who need it in real-time to be useful. That will require a contextually aware, predictive and secure network, says Cisco. Small start-ups are leading the innovation around real time analytics in areas such as assessing cyber risks and oil-field analysis. In the next decade, Cisco says delivering real-time analytics to workers will improve how natural resources are managed in agriculture and oil fields.
IT will direct the cloud
In 2015, IT departments will act as a ‘cloud solutions broker’, helping to identify needs, outline technology requirements and manage different technologies and service providers, says Verizon. There will also be less discussion about public versus private cloud, with more priority being placed on building cloud services to meet specific business needs, like improving operations and customer service. This deeper understanding of cloud services, directed by the CIO, will support greater migration of mission-critical workloads to the cloud.
Wireless continues to replace wired access
Wireless access is already ubiquitous across most organisations, with new office buildings being less and less wired. Fortinet says wireless systems are becoming the primary network access control mechanism, which means tight integration with authentication systems is necessary. In 2015, Fortinet believes wireless technology will continue to improve with the 802.11ac Wave 1 Wi-Fi standard now rolling out rapidly and Wave 2 on the horizon.
The data explosion will continue to accelerate
Regardless of where data is generated, businesses are investing heavily in data storage, analysis and retrieval, says Don Williams, vice president of Veeam Software in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2015, organisations will make new investments to manage their expanding data footprint. Having a strategy for data classification will be vital over the next two years. It will be up to business leaders to determine what data to keep and what to discard, what data is appropriate for cloud storage and what to keep on-premises.
Growth of disaster recovery within the cloud
The introduction of cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and VMware’s vCloud Air shows how far cloud services have matured, with commentators predicting growing take-up of on-premises services that share workloads with those hosted on public clouds. Veeam Software’s Williams says disaster recovery and availability services will be offered through the cloud, with data being reliably streamed to hosting providers for quick recovery.
Privacy debates intensify
Data privacy will continue to be a hot topic as governments and businesses continue to grapple with what’s considered fair and authorised access to inconsistently defined personal information, according to McAfee Labs. In 2015, there will be continued discussion and lack of clarity around what constitutes personal information, and to what extent that information may be accessed and shared by state or private actors. The scope of data privacy rules and regulations will continue to evolve, and there may even be laws to regulate the use of anonymous data.
Point of Sale (POS) systems go mobile
If this prediction pans out, the good old cash register may just go the way of the dodo. With POS systems increasingly mobile and less expensive, more retailers will replace clunky POS systems with tablet devices, says Integrated Retail, a POS provider. Restaurants and retailers like Sakae Sushi and Tokyo Hands Singapore have already done so, while others like Courts Mega Store have gone one step further by using mobile POS systems to provide information on related products for customers. That said, McAfee Labs has warned that POS attacks will remain lucrative, noting that the growing adoption of mobile digital payment systems will open new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit.
