Perforce Software today announced predictions for technology trends in 2015. The overarching forecast is that product development and design teams will adopt technologies and best practices from software development while embracing the cross-team collaboration needed to develop Internet of Things devices.

“2015 will be the time when we truly experience what has been said for years about software being everywhere,” said Christopher Seiwald, founder and CEO of Perforce. “Other industries and disciplines will adopt technologies and best practices from the software development industry, while the software development industry evolves to support the surge of connected devices.”

Perforce’s predictions for 2015 are:

  • The Internet of Things (IoT) Redefines Collaboration: With hardware and software coming together in smart devices, teams working on those components will need to collaborate more closely. Software developers, for example, will need to keep APIs top of mind to ensure millions of devices can connect to each other and the internet seamlessly. The enterprise will adapt to the changing needs of cross-functional teams by implementing new practices and technologies.
  • DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CD) Go beyond Software: While both DevOps and CD have their roots in software development, the key principles of collaboration and automation respectively will evolve to teams across the enterprise. 2015 will see disciplines such as design engineering adopt software development practices such as version management, which will lead to more efficient and productive organizations across various industries.
  • Software Remains Vulnerable and the Internet of Things Doesn’t Help: The frequency of security risks due to software vulnerabilities will continue to grow and bugs like Heartbleed will become commonplace. IoT will introduce new opportunities for vulnerabilities with the addition of APIs to previously unconnected devices. 2015 will see the first major IoT failure in the form of data collection and/or transmission errors or a privacy breach.
  • Self-driving Cars Get Closer to Becoming a Reality: While the technology behind self-driving cars is available and successful prototypes have been built, concerns around liability, insurance and legal implications will persist. The automotive industry will make significant headway in bringing these cars on the road in 2015, but they won’t be commonplace until the end of the decade.