In 2015, real-time, cloud-based collaboration will address cyber threats, global data sharing will become easier and safer, and there will be a greater demand for visibility and transparency. This is all according to Kevin Reid, CEO, CTO and co-founder of Virtustream, a provider of enterprise-class cloud software and services.

Reid’s predictions about enterprise cloud are all part of our second annual Technology Predictions series in which industry experts share their predictions with us about the hot tech trends that they think will take center stage in 2015. We’ll be sharing all of their predictions with you over the next couple of days. Read on for more from Reid.

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Prediction No. 1: Real-time, cloud-based collaboration will address cyber threats

In 2015, IT leaders will address the growing cyber security threats in the cloud with new and improved, real-time collaboration capabilities—particularly in the federal space. Groups will share knowledge to quickly triangulate the source of cyber threats and form a satisfactory action as a joint initiative rather than spending significant resources trying to do it independently. Given the massive amount of data breaches and security threats that emerged in 2014, this collaborative approach in 2015 will provide IT leaders with a more efficient way to identify and address threats, rather than using the siloed, independent processes that took place in 2014.

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Prediction No. 2: Global data sharing will become easier and safer

Along with the growing pains of scaling cloud infrastructure for a global business comes the inevitable question of how to protect data across borders. In 2015, enterprises must and will adopt technology that supports the restriction of data or applications moving into territories that are forbidden, based on security or compliance requirements. This concept, called “geotrust,” will continue to proliferate among enterprises as countries promote an increasing amount of privacy laws and concerns.

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Prediction No. 3: There will be a greater demand for visibility and transparency

As new technology is adopted, IT leaders will require greater visibility into security, performance and cost when it comes to managing these tools. Service level agreements (SLAs) and vendors must and will provide greater transparency into average and expected costs in order for IT to gain back financial control. This will also allow for planning for and accounting for infrastructure changes, new resource requirements or the ability to quickly scale an app on-demand via consumption-based models that eradicate the fear of a shocking bill at the end of the month.

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Prediction No. 4: The end-to-end trusted compute platform will emerge

To date, most companies have focused on the security of the data center and the applications/infrastructure on which it runs. The reality is, applications and networks are being accessed by a myriad of devices. In this Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) era, we will begin to see more emphasis on creating secure connections and assuring the integrity of the client side (smartphone, PC, etc.). Multi-factor authentication and security between the device and the data center/applications that are talking to that device will support the vision of a trusted, end-to-end compute platform.

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2015 Technology Predictions graphic courtesy of SiliconANGLE