The year 2014 was marked by a number of potentially historic technological innovations. From Europe taking the front seat in the driverless car industry, to wearable technology – whether it is smart spectacles or connected watches – finally becoming mainstream, 2014 has seen technologies first conceptualized in science fiction start to become reality.

These achievements show that our appetite for innovation remains as strong as ever but also that our world is becoming even more dependent on the networks connecting these technologies. As 2014 draws to a close, the question is: What can we expect in 2015?

Yarob Sakhnini, regional director, MEMA at Brocade outlines his predictions on what technology trends to watch for in 2015:

1)    The rise of the New IP: We are at the forefront of a new model for networking: Historically, compute transitions have always driven network evolution. It is no secret that the future lies in new computing models – such as mobile, cloud computing and the Internet of Things – and this will in turn lead to a major shift in networking. Legacy networks, built on closed proprietary protocols and designed for non-mission critical applications, will have to adapt if they are to support these new technology trends.

In 2015, we will see this begin in earnest, with the rise of the New IP, a new networking paradigm that is better aligned with the evolution of the rest of IT – and increasingly open, software-driven, and user-centric.

2)    Openness helps SDN and NFV take big leaps forward: Over the past year we’ve seen Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) become firmly established as the future of network infrastructures. We have already seen some early adopters taking advantage of these technologies but, in 2015, we’re expecting to see SDN and NFV really take hold.

This will be aided by growing momentum around open standards, as the industry recognizes that in order to truly align an enterprise’s infrastructure strategy with its business requirements, customers must be free to choose the solutions that best meet their specific needs, regardless of vendor. Truly open, interoperable standards are likely to rise in popularity throughout 2015, as customers opt for greater choice and flexibility.

3)    The Internet of Things will start to impact business: In 2014, we saw the Internet of Things begin to truly take shape and, in 2015, this trend is set to rapidly gain momentum. With Gartner predicting that 26 billion connected units – from watches to refrigerators and treadmills to cars – are expected to be installed by 2020, businesses will need to cope with an ever-growing network of connected devices generating and accessing data.

Many of these connected technologies will be brought on to existing corporate or public networks, making investment in the underlying infrastructure that supports these advancements absolutely essential.

4)    The virtual workspace will become a necessity: Employees are demanding and, with budgets set to remain tight for the foreseeable future, companies are looking for ways to meet user demands and boost productivity. The year 2015 is therefore likely to see virtual working becoming increasingly mainstream as companies look to meet this conflicting pressure by introducing virtualized workspaces. IDC has predicted that 1.3 billion people will work remotely using mobile technology in 2015, equivalent to 37.2 per cent of the entire global workforce.

Virtualized workspaces offer an opportunity for employees to have the same working experience regardless of their location or device, giving them greater freedom that, in turn, improves productivity for the business. However, this added flexibility will inevitably put greater strain on core IT infrastructure, and companies will need to make sure they have the right network in place in order to deliver this level of user flexibility and freedom.

5)    A new approach to privacy: 2014 has exposed many concerns around data privacy and, with “privacy-first” services such as Snapchat, Whisper, and Ello growing in popularity, it is clear that this trend is here to stay. With public awareness of data security and privacy increasingly, every organization will need to sharpen its privacy and data security initiatives. Data breaches or leaks are no longer simply security issues; they are potentially hugely damaging to a company’s brand and reputation.

As a result, organizations will need to pay much closer attention to how and where they store sensitive commercial or customer data. Investment in education for employees and customers will be particularly critical as access to, and use of, data becomes a fundamental issue for every business. – TradeArabia News Service