3. Emerging Internet of Things

MobileIron predicts that the Internet of Things (IoT) will continue to be mostly "experimental" in 2016. But by the end of the year, a group of high-value IoT use cases will emerge, allowing vendors to better define what IoT actually is and what solutions are commercially viable.

MobileIron also predicts that smartwatches will start "achieving [their] potential" in 2016 as the second generation of wearables takes advantages of new form factor and interaction methods.

"A compelling data snacking [absorbing small amounts of data on a regular basis] model will emerge, but IoT innovation in the enterprise will require developers to rethink the company’s underlying business processes instead of simply porting existing apps to new platforms," Reje said.

What It Means For The Channel: By the end of 2016, partners looking at solutions and services relating to the Internet of Things will have a firmer grasp on opportunities in that space.