2016 FORECASTS

WHAT'S AHEAD IN BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY

1Prediction No. 1Spending on new Internet of Things (IoT) hardware

will exceed $2.5 million per MINUTE in 2016.

THE IOT LINKS SMART DEVICES TO THE INTERNET AND EACH OTHER.

IoT

ACCORDING TO INTEL, THERE WERE 2 BILLION CONNECTED OBJECTS

IN 2006, 15 BILLION IN 2015AND THERE WILL BE 200 BILLION IN 2020!

GARTNER PREDICTS THAT BY

2021

“1 million IoT devices will be purchased and installed every single hour.”

While making our lives easier, it will also present major challenges for businesses.

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Create a policy for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and what is allowed on your network

• Train your IT staff

• Ensure you have enough bandwidth to support the devices connected to your network

• Brainstorm new revenue generating opportunities your organization could offer as a result of the IoT

2Prediction No. 2Expect to see smart machines beginning to generate basic content and design for organizations. By 2018, 20%of all business content willbe authored by machines.

DATA (AND ANALYTIC-BASED INFORMATION) WILL BE EASILY TURNED

INTO CONTENT WITH NEW EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, LIKE:

SHAREHOLDER REPORTS

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

PRESS RELEASES

WHITE PAPERS

EARLY STAGES OF THIS TECHNOLOGY:

APPLE’S SIRI

MICROSOFT’S CORTANA

IBM WATSON = PERSONAL

ASSISTANT DRONES

SENSORS

WEARABLES

CAMERAS = SENSORY

TOOLS

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Begin researching content management vendors with an automated content generation capability

• Review plans for new devices and tools that might produce new data formats or content that can be leveraged for automated content creation in the future

• Encourage a mind and process shift to more modular and template-based creativity that can eventually be manipulated by machines

3Prediction No. 3By 2018, 6 billion

connected things will be requesting support.

TAKE THESE EVERYDAY TECHNOLOGIES FOR EXAMPLE:

vehicles printerssecurity cameras parking meters

EXPECT A DECREASE IN PERSON-TO-PERSON INTERACTION AND AN INCREASE IN MACHINE-TO-MACHINE BASED SUPPORT.

VS

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Think about how your customer services might be impacted by this shift

• Develop a process for responding to requests from machines, rather than humans (and, eventually, have a machine respond to the request)

• Learn how the technology works and how it will fit into your organization’s ecosystem

4Prediction No. 4A “Worker Management” smart machine will enter the market in 2016… because by 2018, more than 3 million workers globally will be supervised by a roboboss.

PROS CONS

Free of human-bias

Better analysis of the measurable

Doesn’t capture the human-aspect of work

Overlooks unquantifiable skills

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE WILL BE JUDGED BASED ON QUANTIFIABLE DATA RELATED TO

OUTPUT AND CUSTOMER EVALUATIONS.

Robobosses likely won’t replace human managers; they will complement one another allowing human managers to

focus on the things like creative leadership, worker relations and strategic planning.

&

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Train managers to better evaluate, develop and nurture “human” tasks and skills

• Begin to understand the quantifiable metrics a smart machine could evaluate your employees on

• Think about if/when is the right time for your organization to begin implementing smart machine managers and what those challenges and implications will be

5Prediction No. 5

Smart machine technology revenues will exceed $10

billion… and by 2018, 50% of the fastest-growing companies will have fewer employees than

instances of smart machines.

WE’RE BEGINNING TO SEE THEMEMERGE ALREADY TODAY

OPEN EDX:

GRADES STUDENT

EXAMS/ESSAYS

PACKAGE

DELIVERING

DRONES

SELF

DRIVING

CARS

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Consider how your organization can leverage the power of smart machines

• Understand the impact it will have on your workforce

6Prediction No. 6Professional athletes and police officers will be required to wear fitness and health tracking devices… and by 2018, 2 million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment.

THE FIRST APPLICATIONS OF THIS WILL BE FOR SAFETY:

POLICEOFFICERS

PARAMEDICSFIREFIGHTERS PILOTS

PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES

INDUSTRIAL WORKERS

POLITICAL LEADERS

Devices will monitor their heart rates, respiration, stress levels, etc. and respond with help if/when needed.

FUTURE APPLICATION FOR GENERAL WELLNESS PROGRAMS AND EXTENDED WEARABLES WILL BE AVAILABLE: SHIRTS, HELMETS, ETC.

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Evolve your health and wellness programs to include these devices

• Consider the privacy and security concerns with having access to this information

• Understand the advantages to having access to this information, especially for employees in hazardous or isolated work environments

7Predication No. 7Through 2020, 95% of cloud

security failures will be the customer’s fault.

Security is the primary concern for businesses NOT taking advantage of the public cloud.

COMMON CUSTOMER-CAUSED SECURITY FAILURES

• Weak usernames and passwords

• File naming conventions that draw

attention to sensitive information

(easy target for hackers)

• Unintentional clicks on links from sources

with malicious intent, often resulting in a virus

• Lack of user monitoring activity

• Poor access management

HOW YOU CAN PREPARE:

• Ask your cloud services provider for best practices when it comes to internal security (choose a provider that will assist and support you in this area of concern)

• Develop internal cloud policies and guidelines; train your staff on them

• Understand the security concerns in each cloud model you use – public, private or hybrid – and know which are your responsibility and which are your cloud service provider’s responsibility

• Don’t let security concerns scare you away from the cloud, rather – prepare for them

REVIEW THE REST OF GARTNER’S TOP STRATEGIC PREDICATIONS FOR 2016 AND BEYOND: THE FUTURE IS A DIGITAL THING

SEE THE FULL ANALYSIS

FOR HELP PREPARING YOUR BUSINESS FOR THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY, CONTACT US.

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