How I Fared on 2015's Predictions

Prediction 6: Microsoft, Oracle and SAP will continue to sit on the sidelines.
Sadly, I was right about this one. The large companies don't yet get how big RFID is going to be.

Prediction 7: Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and IBM Business Services will continue to ignore RFID.
It's interesting that IBM has been brought into a number of RFID projects by customers that use the firm for their IT infrastructure. The same is true of the other firms, but to a lesser degree. Perhaps when the trickle of interest picks up, so, too, will the interest of these firms in promoting their RFID expertise.

Prediction 8: Venture capitalists will come back into the market.
I would say I was largely wrong about this. I am seeing more interest by the VC community, but investments are few and far between. That will change as the market picks up.

Prediction 9: The Internet of Things will continue to generate a lot of buzz.
I was definitely wrong about this. I thought IoT hype would reach a crescendo in 2015, but instead, the hype turned mostly negative, with a lot of news articles focusing on security problems. Internet of Things technologies went into the chasm even faster than RFID did.

Prediction 10: Political uncertainty in the United States will slow economic growth and lead to delays of some RFID projects.
The economy did OK, though not great, in 2015. It's difficult to say how many projects were delayed due to political uncertainty. The business community seems to have gotten used to the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., so maybe the impact of the political battles was smaller than I anticipated.

Overall, I would say I got more right than wrong. Perhaps next week's predictions will be even more accurate.

Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark's opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog, the Editor's Note archive or RFID Connect.