Next month Tivix plans to publish our first annual client survey of technology trends for 2017. Here is a sneak preview of some of the high-level trends we are seeing:

The “Internet of Things” is clearly a huge buzzword right now, as increasingly every device – from thermostats to refrigerators – can be internet-connected. While most people think of consumer products such as Nest, we actually see the really big opportunities as being on the commercial side, where it’s being called Industry 4.0 (which McKinsey defines as “next phase in the digitization of the manufacturing sector”.

We’re also seeing an increase in interest in voice as a software interface, as the technology behind this capability becomes more mature and behemoths like Apple and Amazon pour a lot of money into building consumer awareness.

On the software development side, of course, “containerization” is the big trend, with things like Docker completely changing the way software is deployed and maintained.

Finally, we think 2017 will be a year of convergence, as the previous corporate buzzwords of “web”, “mobile”, and “cloud” come together as just simply digital platforms that users expect they can touch from any device and use anywhere.

Those are some of the trends we’re seeing. We’ll publish a full report in January. In the meantime, email me with your thoughts!