Over the last few years there has been much speculation about the inevitable growth of the Internet of Things (or Internet of Everything). Forecasts have suggested anywhere from 30 to 50 billion devices will be connected by 2020. Cisco has estimated that the global IoT ecosystem will have a value of $14.4 trillion by 2022, and IDC has projected yearly IoT market revenue to increase to $1.7 trillion by 2020.

Here we are now in 2016, a few years into the future they were talking about back then, and it may be a good time to take a look the current state of the IoT and see how it measures up to all of these lofty expectations. Are people really embracing IoT technology at this rate? Is this money really being invested?



Connected Devices

First, let’s take a look at the number of connected devices. If we flash back to 2013, we find that Gartner released a report entitled “Forecast: The Internet of Things, Worldwide, 2013”. In this report, they predicted that the IoT will include 26 billion connected devices by 2020. Two years later, Gartner reported a total of 4.9 billion connected devices at the end of 2015, up from 3.8 billion in 2014. Gartner also revised their 2020 estimate, anticipating 20.7 billion connected devices by 2020, a decrease of 5.3 billion (20.4%) from their 2013 estimate. (It should be noted here that Cisco continues to anticipate as many as 50 billion by 2020).

So, according to Gartner, IoT adoption has not proceeded at the rate they had anticipated at the end of 2013.

How do you choose the right maintenance strategy for your organization? Someone from the outside looking in might think the notion of choosing a maintenance strategy is as simple as choosing between ‘repair it’ or ‘replace it’, and that’s not entirely inaccurate. Beyond the surface, though, there are a number of different considerations that can have a long-term impact on a company’s bottom line and ultimate viability. Particularly when working with numerous or expensive essential assets that are subject to the continual wear-and-tear and eventual breakdown that plagues all machines, maintenance costs can take enormous bites out of revenue.

It seems like everything today is touched in some way by the Internet of Things. It is changing the way goods are produced, the way they are marketed, and the way they are consumed. A great deal of the IoT conversation has revolved around transformation in industries like manufacturing, petrochemical, and medicine, but one industry that has already seen widespread adoption of IoT technology is often overlooked: agriculture.

After endless cycles of hype and hyperbole, it seems most business executives are still excited about the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT). In fact, a recent survey of 200 IT and business leaders conducted by TEKSystems ® and released in January 2016 (http://www.teksystems.com/resources/pressroom/2016/state-of-the-internet-of-things?&year=2016) determined that 22% of the organizations surveyed have already realized significant benefits from their early IoT initiatives. Additionally, a full 55% expect a high level of impact from IoT initiatives over the next 5 years. Conversely, only 2% predicted no impact at all.

The Internet of Things is something like a gangly, acne-covered adolescent with knobby knees and a clumsy gait. We can see the bright eyes, the long legs and strong hands, and we know it is chock full of “potential”, but it sure is awkward right now.

Everybody appreciates the value of a good picture. Each one says a thousand words, after all, or so the saying goes. If we really dig in to this metaphor, we’d probably admit that some pictures say substantially more than that – while others probably come in well under a dozen (just look at a random Facebook wall for some examples).

That's right. It's time to own up to the fact that the majority of us are using phones and tablets to do business everyday. We buy, sell, trade, learn, teach, and all manner of horrible and wonderful things that we have always done (no, not everyone does horrible things, but don't act like the things you do are always so wonderful either) all with the aid of portable devices that allow us to move freely about our lives without being tethered to a desk chair.

There are an awful lot of ‘smart’ things these days. Even many things that were previously ‘dumb’ are becoming ‘smart’ through the addition of sensors and decision logic. From street lamps to subways and everything in between, the very towns and cities we inhabit are joining the trend.

If you are responsible for managing a business or organization of any type, you have undoubtedly sought out opportunities to make things run more smoothly and efficiently. It's only natural. This means that responsible owners and managers are continually looking for opportunites to optimize their business processes.