Security, Internet of Things and finding talent:

Challenges in 2016

Security

• Security is one facet of IT that is constantly evolving to meet the challenges posed by new technologies. With the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) phenomenon now simply a reality of doing business, IT departments can longer settle for securing data inside the firewall.

The Internet of Things

• Is 2016 the year for IoT? Research firm Gartner estimated that in 2015 there were 4.9 billion connected “things”– growing to 25 billion by 2020. And some IT use cases have already become clichés.

Cloud Computing

• It may seem obvious to say that cloud computing will be significant in 2016 – almost par for the course – but with the announcement by several major vendors including Microsoft and Oracle that they would be setting up data centres in Canada, no doubt we’ll see organizations that were previously reluctant to put data in the cloud over residency concerns begin to revisit their strategies.

Webifying apps• This trend has already started as some vendors are making it easier for end

users and non-developers to build mobile apps either for data input from the field or to more easily disseminate information.

Storage

• Between IoT and all sorts of apps generating new data, storing it all will require some innovation and new approaches.

Finding and keeping people

• Getting the right talent will remain a challenge for enterprises as they are faced with evolving technology in areas such as IoT, mobile, cloud and analytics. According to the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), we’re not training enough people to fill the growing gap.