*This post originally appeared on the Wavelink blog prior to the rebrand in January 2017, when Wavelink, LANDESK, Shavlik, AppSense, and HEAT Software merged under the new name Ivanti.

We could all use a year of perfect order after the unexpected happenings in 2016. “Surprises” don’t seem to describe 2016, and no one likely made all these predictions one year ago. Around the world: political upheaval has been rampant, global economies have been on a rollercoaster ride, Chicago, Cleveland, Leicester were among the unusual winners of sports championships. Closer to our industry, shipping saw a rising tide, though at least one major firm sank into bankruptcy. Supply chain technology continued its march forward, evidenced most recently with Amazon’s first commercial drone delivery.

As we say farewell to what has been an exhausting year in so many ways, here are a few mobile productivity-related expectations for 2017:

Reset the productivity clock:

Yes, it happens again. You achieved your operational productivity metrics this past year. Now, it’s time to set your sights on achieving this year’s target. But there is good news: 2016 brought a number of exciting advances in mobile productivity – both in the form of new mobile devices running “smart” operating systems, and the expansion of mobile app modernization (yes, that’s a shameless plug for our Velocity platform). As we roll into 2017, Velocity is available on a number of devices from Datalogic, Honeywell, Panasonic and Zebra, to name a few).

Plan now for future efficiency:

Many economies are running hotter, especially now that some of 2016’s political questions have been answered. Now is the time to plan for the unknowns that lay ahead as these expectations meet with reality in 2017. Businesses should be preparing now for the potential of leaner times ahead by making sure their workers equipped to be as productive as possible.

Supply chain IoT becomes real:

The Internet of Things has been explored throughout the supply chain. We’ve seen robotic shelving concepts and more over the past few years. This year, prepare for use cases to extend into areas of business not previously on your radar. This will be a fun and interesting area of innovation our markets, so stay tuned.

Every year is bound to bring us plenty of unexpected surprises, and 2017 delivers its share, we’re excited to explore them with you! What expectations do you have for mobile productivity in 2017? Email me with your predictions and we’ll track them throughout the year.

From all of us at Wavelink, we thank you for partnering with us for your mobile productivity needs. We wish you the best for perfect order during the holidays and many perfect orders fulfilled in the year ahead!