What does this year have in store for global technology trends? Geoff Webb, VP, solution strategy at Micro Focus, looks back at the year 2015 in business tech and puts forward his predictions for emerging trends for the next 12 months.

Prediction #1: ‘Mobile First’ is no longer enough

The idea of a ‘mobile first’ approach to business was a big focus for organisations in 2015, which saw development teams having to embrace new and different mobile technologies.

This is only set to go one step further in the coming year, as 2016 will see businesses move from a ‘mobile first’ mindset towards a cross-platform approach. Companies are beginning to realise that focusing on mobile alone isn’t enough. Instead it is the combination of desktop, mobile and wearable that customers now demand.

It's not mobile first anymore - it's everything first...

There’s clearly a difference between ‘mobile first’ and solutions that are optimised for the mobile experience. A solution that is actually ‘mobile first’ will provide the same experience across any and all devices.

Programs like Apple’s Handoff, which enables seamless browsing between desktop and mobile, is a move in the right direction. Consumers can browse a site on their phone or tablet before completing the purchase on their desktop on their return home. A multi-platform approach like this should no longer be a luxury – mobile will help companies to win new customers and keep existing ones

In 2016, development teams will need to ensure that all the programs they create will provide this seamless experience – no matter the device

Prediction #2: The need for a global privacy standard will grow

Standards relating to international privacy have been a topic of much debate since the 1940s, when the recognition of privacy as a basic right was ratified by the United Nations (U.N.) Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

The number of data privacy requirements has grown dramatically, especially in our global economy increasingly built on the back of the Internet. But with this rapid growth of individual national policies and data security standards comes great complexity.

At the macro-level, multinational corporations struggle to do business cross borders due to confusing governmental regulations or distrust about how their citizens’ personal information will be protected once it leaves the home country.

At the operational level, security and compliance teams must understand the requirements they should comply with and how to best ensure this compliance while still keeping the business running efficiently and securely in every corner of the world.

The need for a clear privacy standard is growing in every country but a global solution is yet to emerge for the digital market. Nations are attempting to enforce country-level policies, but this will most likely lead to further confusion and difficulty doing business across various markets.

A lack of global privacy rules is hurting global trade

A universal data privacy standard will allow nations to strike a balance between privacy, free expression, and public safety while allowing corporations to complete globally. It will ease the complexity experienced by security and compliance teams that must comply with the myriad of requirements and policies every country enforces.

In 2016, nations must commit to a common goal of protecting the private information and data of the world’s citizens, and then enforcing that standard with the rule of law in each nation.

By using an enforceable global standard, rather than bilateral or multilateral agreements based on reciprocity and accountability, nations can overcome the distrust of governmental activities and motives most recently created by Snowden and the NSA.

They can focus on creating a universally accepted international privacy standard comprised of the most effective data security and privacy requirements from around the world, and make it applicable to both the private and public sectors.

Prediction #3: The demand for security analytics will grow due to a lack of security skills

Every day brings the possibility of a new cybersecurity threat to businesses. Yet conversely, finding qualified security professionals is becoming more challenging. A recent study by ISACA found that while 53% of companies take between three and six months to fill a cybersecurity position, 10% of organisations cannot fill them at all.

While the cybersecurity ‘education pipeline’ is still in development, a lack of skilled workers will continue to be an issue in 2016. In the next year, organisations will need to equip the staff they do have with the technology to help them make decisions quickly and efficiently.

This is where the growth of security analytics comes in. Based on machine learning, these solutions can help security teams determine the difference between normal and abnormal behaviour, subsequently indicating when an attack is in progress.