Oh, the Places We’ll Go! Cisco’s Predictions for 2015 and Beyond

We’d be hard-pressed to deny that advances in technology are making an incredible impact on all of our lives. The way we work, the way we live – even the way we sleep – are being changed by technology.

As humans, we are increasingly motivated by our desire to be connected to each other and to the information that matters most to us. And in the budding world of the Internet of Everything (IoE), we are seeing this need satisfied further. Thirty years ago Apple introduced the Macintosh and Internet was a word not known to most. As I reflect back to what IT was like back then, I realize just how far we’ve come today and can envision the possibilities of where we’ll go.

Today at the Cisco 2014 Cisco Global Editors Conference I had the pleasure of sitting down with my Cisco colleagues, Maciej Kranz and Joseph Bradley to discuss the future of innovation, trends affecting the technology industry in 2015 – and we talked about the ultimate impact technology has on everyday society. Securing the Internet of Things (IoT), growth of encrypted traffic, network simplification, real-time analytics and the future of work were just some of the hot topics deliberated during our 45-min conversation, dubbed Cisco’s Technology Forecast.

We chatted about how Google’s acquisition of Nest is just the beginning of a trend we see spreading in the coming years, as products and innovations in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) change the way we connect, communicate and make sense of our world. The convergence of Information Technology, Telecommunications and Data Networking technologies into innovative solutions are shaping our future and, specifically in vertical markets, forcing IT players to expand their horizon and look for business partners well beyond the IT world.

We also touched on our own initiatives at Cisco that spurn innovation. The recently revamped Technology Radar, for example, is a team of 80+ scouts – a mixture of engineers and other employees – challenged with identifying opportunities and threats that could impact our business in five, ten or even twenty-five years’ time. At Cisco, we’ve always prided ourselves on anticipating and leading market transitions. That’s why our Technology Radar, in tandem with our executive team, play an integral role in Cisco’s ongoing commitment to foster open and crowd-sourced innovation at the company.

Maciej, Joseph and I also agreed that as more “things” come out of the dark and “go live,” platform options, variations on hybrid IT/IoT integration and general standards per industry will also progress. As an industry leader, it is our duty to change the perceived complexities of this evolution and see the opportunities. Yes, IT leaders will have to accommodate the differences in technologies across areas and develop a multifaceted technology approach to IoT risk and security. We must also appreciate the opportunity: by 2022, security solutions will be the foundation of the $5.2 trillion IoE business around asset utilization and supply chain logistics.

Gartner also brought up an interesting concept in its Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015: “Perimeters and firewalls are no longer enough; every app needs to be self-aware and self-protecting.” A smart meter, for example, sends energy usage data to the utility operator for real-time power grid optimization. This extremely sensitive information must be protected from unauthorized disclosure and usage. Techniques such as data anonymization, data encryption will prevent the smart meter from becoming a surveillance method of user’s habits.

Among the aforementioned topics, we’d like to share our top predictions for 2015.

1. CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT IN IT
2. IF IT DOESN’T WORK ON MOBILE, IT DOESN’T WORK
3. IT’S THE NETWORK AND IT’S THAT SIMPLE
4. IS IOT SECURE?
5. IT’S REAL TIME
6. PREDICTIVE CONTEXT GOES MAINSTREAM
7. WITHOUT TRUST, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS
8. FUTURE OF WORK

Do you agree? For further reading and discussion, visit us at techradar.cisco.com and let us know how you see technology in 2015 and beyond advancing the way we work and live. Join the conversation #Techpredicts, #CiscoTechRadar and #CiscoGEC.

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