With the Death of the Password and the Rise of AI already covered, the third snapshot prediction in Citrix’s series focuses on another highly popular megatrend – the Internet of Things (IoT).

There can be little doubt that IoT has long passed the point of being a speculative technology, rather the main question of its viability these days is around how to best implement it and optimise its usage.

Citrix points out that companies like furniture designer Hermann Miller and Steelcase are using a design thinking approach to innovate and deliver products that are making the most of the potential for IoT. For example, Hermann Miller has produced an office desk that is connected to the cloud and can track how long employees spend sitting at their desk  

However, Citrix adds that 2018 may not see these types of innovations at scale. Rather, there is the opportunity for businesses to take a customer-centric approach and think about how IoT can make its users more efficient in their day-to-day lives. As for when IoT will really come to the fore, Citrix believes that 2019 is when we will see these innovations take off.

While previous years have seen plenty of discussion around the role IoT can play in smart cities, Citrix notes that IoT has huge potential for the workplace as well.

The ability to cost effectively leverage IoT to improve the quality of the workplace will become real, thereby improving efficiency and the effectiveness of employees.

With regards to IoT, Citrix has one more prediction – that the technology will move from being seen as a security risk in the enterprise, to becoming a critical part of an enterprise’s security posture.

We can also expect concepts, such as Bluetooth beacon technologies, GPS, biometrics, facial recognition and pervasive analytics on user behaviour, resulting in people getting access to the right things at the right time, to become more evident.