Internet of Things (IoT): Another Technology Poised to Revolutionize Businesses that Few Businesses Fully Yet Grasp

The Internet of Things (IoT) is targeted as one of the top-ten technologies that will make an impact in 2014.  Gartner has identified IoT as a top-ten strategic  technology for 2014.  It’s on Forrester’s top 10 technology trends for 2014 too.  Frost & Sullivan call IoT a ‘pivotal catalyst’ and ‘key technology’ for 2014.

Frost & Sullivan predicts that there will be 80 billion connected IoT devices by 2020.  Gartner’s predictions are a bit more subdued but still draw a picture of a technology that will experience tremendous growth.  Gartner estimates that there will be 26 billion IoT-enabled objects by 2020 and that the IoT market segment will be generating in excess of $300 billion annually.  IoT is poised to reach and touch every industry, particularly areas like healthcare, logistics, transportation, and automotive.

Ian Ferguson, VP of Segment Marketing at ARM, said that “the first places where these connected devices are being deployed in enterprises is in manufacturing and the second was actually in construction and real estate. My sense from talking to a few people in those industries is that there are very obvious benefits to deploying these sensors. We have actually seen in manufacturing the use of sensors to give better ground level control of where resources’ are and managing how to deploy and manage equipment more efficiently such as within food plants for instance.

A report by ARM finds that 75 percent of companies across all industries are investigating the use of IoT technology.

James Chambers, editor of the report, said that “the self-stocking intelligent fridge is a step closer to becoming an everyday reality, but conversations about IoT are clearly moving on. Two in five C-level executives are now telling us that they discuss IoT regularly. Whether we will all end up wearing clothes connected to the Internet remains to be seen – but it’s hard to think of any business that can’t be part of the IoT revolution.”

Chris Rezendes, president of INEX Advisors, said that “The big challenge is that many companies do not have the internal resources to drive Internet of Things adoption or deployment. They are lacking the specific education, training and opportunity identification resources that are required to position themselves, and their partners, to make IoT investment decisions quickly and with confidence.”

Pam Sefrino, principal at INEX Advisors, said that “the challenge is getting beyond just the technology itself to deeply considering and mapping the authentic value that the new Internet of Things solution will provide.  A deep understanding of the requirements for creating real meaning and impact for stakeholders up and down the value chain is critical for driving scale, revenue growth and ultimately, sustainable margins. There are important considerations and questions, requiring new ways of thinking, that must be addressed before a company ever gets to the pilot stage.”