Revolutionary technological advancements have taken the entire world by a storm. Amongst several other sectors, it is the business arena reaping the benefits of tech innovations the most. From integrated business functioning to cloud computing, there has been a revolution in the business world. And the consequences have been quite impressive. Businesses have become more productive than they were a few years before.

The latest addition to this list of extraordinary tech innovations is termed as Internet of Things or IOT. By establishing strong connections between numerous devices over the virtual platform, IoT apparently makes it easier to carry out crucial business functions.

From connecting security cameras and sensors to production machines and vehicles, IoT integrates every operation within your existing business framework. What you achieve as the result is a superbly connected and highly functional enterprise.

If market predictions are anything to go by, then you can expect to have nearly 14-billion connected things and devices by the end 2022. It is this prediction that arouses a crucial thought in our minds. Is the ‘Internet of Things’ or IoT worth the popularity and buzz it’s enjoying. Or is it just another simple tech discovery?

Discovery or innovation

Most of us don’t possess a crystal clear idea about integrated business functioning. We often fail to comprehend the true connotation of ‘connected devices.’ Developing an idea about these two critical business aspects will help you dive deep into this discussion.

According to the technical definition of ‘Internet of Things’, it is the technology that connects various devices within your enterprise, thus resulting in smooth business operation. And the most intriguing fact is that IoT proves to be beneficial for business owners as well as consumers.

Here’s how.

Benefits for businesses

Connected devices offer you access to crucial business data. And by now, we all know the significance of data analytics. As a passionate entrepreneur, you will have the opportunity to delve deep into new insights provided by these data sets, thus opening up new avenues for unique business models, new insights, as well as revenue streams.

Business owners will also have the chance to create new products and services capable of complementing their existing business technology. Some of the other advantages include:

1. Business-customer interactions: IOT plays a highly significant part in revolutionizing business-customer interactions. Customers and businesses no longer meet just at the sales point but engage in a productive relationship over a long period. As long as the consumer places reliance on your services and uses your products, this relationship continues.
2. Using connected devices personally: Using IOT devices personally, will also bring about numerous benefits. Consumers will enjoy a highly comfortable, secured, and entertaining life with connected devices. Cost savings, proper resource allocation, and efficiency gains are some of the exclusive benefits ensured by IoT.

Final thoughts

IoT takes the machine-to-machine or M2M concept even further. While M2M solely focuses on device connections, IOT takes it further by connecting things, users, and enterprises along with it. With such features, we can reliably tout IOT as the next big thing in the tech arena.

Of late, Internet of Things or IOT is capturing the entire buzz in the virtual arena. Whether it’s about IOT’s role in revolutionizing the tech landscape or about its contribution to the service arena, this particular innovation is getting people to talk and how!

IOT or Internet of Things emerges as one of the latest tech innovations in the digital landscape. With enterprises investing in collaborative business technologies, this particular innovation has gained immense popularity.

Take a quick look at the following article, as it discusses the 12 most incredible facts about Internet of Things.

•       Huge popularity

From big business establishments to SMEs, everyone seems to embrace the IOT technology with open arms. With market giants considering IOT as an integral part of their business operations, this particular innovation seems to have a bright future. According to reliable stats, almost 96% of entrepreneurs or senior business leaders are planning to use this technology in the next three years.

•     Unlocking exceptional opportunities

Internet of Things will not alienate your business operations. Rather, it will integrate into your existing business processes, thus unlocking new opportunities for better performance. And that’s what even senior business executives believe.

Almost 30% of C-level executives believe that IOT is capable of generating huge revenues.

•       Huge ROIs

As a passionate business owner, you will surely wish to have huge returns on investments. And what better than an integrated business technology can make that happen for you. IOT has successfully ensured huge ROIs for 94% of entrepreneurs. That’s enough to believe in its power and significance.

•    Revolutionizing customer service

By connecting critical business operations, IOT will enhance the efficiency of your customer service and support. Business owners will earn better opportunities of customer management.

•       Reduced downtime

Internet of Things will ensure speedy operations within your enterprise. With IOT, you will experience a 35% cut-down on downtime and 25% on asset maintenance.

•      Saving operational costs

Internet of Things not only connects devices but also establishes connections between vehicles. According to market reports, you will have the chance to save approximately $970 on vehicle costs per fleet.

•      A great impact

With almost 38% of enterprises placing trust on IOT, it will inevitably have great impacts on the business world, in the next 3 years.

•   Upgrading the infrastructures

There is no denying that IOT has established itself as one of the latest tech innovations. If market predictions are anything to rely on, then almost $41 trillion will be the expenditure for improving IOT infrastructures over the next 20 years.

•     Increasing GDP

A technology possessing the power to enhance a country’s GDP will be of paramount importance for the nation. Statistics and market predictions state, IOT will contribute close to $10 to $15 trillion to global GDP.

•   Boosting data traffic

Embrace IOT and witness data traffic increase by 22 times, within the year 2020.

1. 11.  Possibilities in the past

IOT had some great possibilities in the past too. Although the concept gained popularity now, the first inception was way back in 2014, when there were just 0.06% of devices and things to be connected.

1. 12.  Foreseeing the future    

Internet of things seems to have a bright future. By 2020, connected sensors will be responsible for generating large amounts of data.

With these 12 interesting facts on Internet of Things, there’s no reason to be apprehensive about its importance.

How often have you thought of a fully automated life? How often have the biggest sci-fi movies kept you on the edge of your seats? How often have you wished your regular devices to run all the errands for you?

Too many questions, right? However, finding appropriate answers to these queries will help you participate in this discussion.

Today we look at the latest tech innovation known as IoT or ‘Internet of Things.’ And it happens to play a significant role in transforming business operations as well as human lives.

Let’s delve deep into the nuances and get knowledgeable on how IOT is revolutionizing our lives.

What is IOT?

Beginning with a proper definition will be the best thing to do. Internet of Things or IOT is a highly significant development in the virtual arena, which successfully connects devices, things, and objects over the internet. While discussing its features, you will come across two crucial aspects.

• M2M technology: IOT is established on the basic principles of M2M, which ensures vertical interactions between objects and devices. Internet of Things takes this concept forward and connects objects with users, enterprises, and other things.
• Information Transformation and analysis: IOT promotes the idea of information transformation via the virtual platform. Information change takes place from devices to servers leading to perfect analysis.

Identifying the changes

By connecting users, devices, things, and people virtually, Internet of Things will revolutionize both businesses and daily operations. Most importantly, IOT plays a highly significant role in transforming our regular lives.

The technology has the power to boost the performance of devices; we use regularly. You might wake up one morning to find your thermostat, wristwatch, and Smartphone functioning in a unique manner.

Revolutionizing lives and industries across verticals  

As one of the high-end and powerful tech innovation, IOT leaves no stone unturned in transfiguring operations across industry verticals. Some of the prime industrial sectors reaping the benefits of this technology are:

I.            Transport sector: The transport industry is integrating IOT into their existing operations. Car manufacturers will use Internet of Things and build self-driving vehicles. That will bring about some crucial changes in the transportation sector.

II.            Social media: IOT or Internet of Things enables robust connections amongst users and brands via social media platforms. The technology facilitates better collaboration and communication amongst users and their chosen brands.

III.            Business arena: By connecting numerous objects and devices within your enterprise, IOT will also ensure lucid business functioning.

Role in data analytics

Since we are talking about business data, it will be imperative to mention data analytics. One of the prime features of IOT is its contribution in big data analytics. By combining various data sets in a unified data environment, IOT will facilitate the successful conversion of data into intelligence, and further into critical business insights.

Concluding note

Let’s turn to statistics before we conclude. According to reliable market stats, IOT or Internet of Things will reach an estimated value of $1.9 trillion USD, by the end of 2020. Such predictions are enough to establish its importance. With such widespread popularity, it won’t take much longer for IOT to achieve unsurpassed success.

Information technology has been revolutionizing every aspect of human life today. A complex system of hardware, software, data storage, microprocessor, sensors, and connectivity is taking the world towards a more convenient and ‘smarter’ platform. While miniaturization of technology is encouraging a new era in competition, end users are using these technologies to enhance every aspect of their living and lifestyle. From travelling to making office work more efficient, technology has progressed into a whole new era. The latest buzz in the market has been about IoT or Internet of Things.

Assessing the reach and impact of IoT

Though most IoT devices haven’t yet reached the average home or user, they have been making huge impacts in businesses, manufacturing facilities and healthcare premises.  The main concept behind IoT is devices and networks that are able to collect data, exchange it and use it to create digital strategies, either programmed or manually. This is a concept where a “billion of things across the globe are constantly interacting with each other”. A brief idea of its implications is given by products like Smart ACs that control the room temperature by sensing the number of people in the room and the environmental factors. Everything is automatic and more ‘sensible’ with IoT.

These smart and connected devices are expanding our opportunities to create a global village. A greater reliability, high product utilization and newer functionalities have been able to help us transcend the traditional boundaries of products and service delivery. The changing products and services are also forcing traditional companies to retool and rethink every part of their business process. For businesses, it’s not just about the new opportunities but also new threats; specifically from evolving technologies.

What the future holds?

IoT, today has risen to reflect a growing number of smart products, right from the smartphones to automatic drives in automobiles. It has been just twice before in the history of men that information technology has so radically been able to reshape the nature of our living. Today, ‘information’ is a crucial part in all the technologies. Experts, across the globe have suggested that IoT would “change everything” but this could be a dangerous ‘over-simplification’. Like internet itself, connected products come with new range of possibilities but the rules of competition remain the same. To stay successful, it becomes crucial that businesses begin to understand the new rules of the game as fast as they can.

Smart products of today come with three main elements – “smart” components, connectivity components and physical components. While smart components amplify the values and capabilities of the physical components, connectivity in turn amplifies the value of the smart ones, allowing the overall setup to exist beyond the physical realms of the product. The results invariably present a virtuous cycle of improvement. Common examples would include Schindler PORT technology reducing elevator wait times by more than 50% and Big Ass ceiling fans sensing people entering the room and engaging themselves. We no more have to press the “switch”! Devices know when to operate, how to operate, all by themselves!

The moment we hear about “Internet of Things”, there seems to be a sense of excitement and confusion at the same time. The buzzword has been here for a few years now but it is already redefining our digital experiences. Afterall; gadgets and internet acting on their own, demand due attention. According to Gartner, Internet of Things will account for more than 25 billion devices by 2020 and each will have significant impact on the way we live, work and entertain ourselves. The “Judgment Day” is certainly a reality when machines will communicate better and more over the internet than us humans. This will include everything from Smart Refrigerators to wearable devices that will help us move, exercise, communicate and deliver.

However, when on one hand this innovation is quite compelling, two major elements continue to wary CIOs all across – security and storage. Internet of things is based on data – a large amount of it. They are programmed to calculate things that the human brain isn’t capable of. Today, more than 10 billion devices are connected to the internet including PCs, phones, watches, air conditioners, vehicles, biometric logins, etc. IBM reports that a vehicle connected to the internet can generate more than 25 GB of data per hour. With so many things being done with the help of data and numbers, CIOs need to immediately prepare for the data hurricane coming our way. Further, the means of storage that we have today (including the vast cloud platform) will not be enough for the vast quantities that Internet of Things are going to program and operate upon in near future.

This would be the right time when CIOs sit together and chalk out the strategies to the impending data concerns. They should largely be working on:

Storage

IoT will be producing data in not just huge volumes but in a variety of formats. Current solution will include setting up a Hadoop platform or deleting/formatting disks and replace it with new data. However, erasing data isn’t an attractive solution. New ways need to be found to deal with the data differences.

Categorizing & Classification

Though CIOs might not be interested in all of the data that is inbound, it might also be the part that would trigger new insights tomorrow. It is necessary that all the data that comes in is properly classified and a means is developed to retain raw data/information for the future.

Duration of storage

There is no way to figure out how long it would take a data bank of today to impact decision making in the far future. CIOs need to be concerned about the duration they keep a specific set of data and in a specific format.

Secure disposal

Data and information can make or break a business. Even if a past database isn’t worth a dime for your business, it can be catastrophic if placed in the wrong hands. In the near future, every device can be remotely identified and this adds to the concern of data security.

At present, IoT is in a stage where ‘internet’ was in the year 1984 – no encryption, no security and no authentication. However, this won’t be a lasting environment and CIOs need to quickly change the way they see ‘data’.

Future homes will probably be smart places that realize your expectations and work accordingly. From the light switching off the moment everyone steps out of the door to programming the air conditioner according to the usual time of your arrival, devices will begin to understand rather than require being operated manually. This would be a scenario where Internet of Things (IoT) could be leading us soon.

The concept of IoT was initiated in 1999 but today it is becoming the mainstay in our homes offices, vehicles, travel and healthcare. Calculating the current rate at which devices are getting connected via internet, ABI and Gartner predict that by the year 2020, the world will be connected with more than 30 million devices, working simultaneously to combine data and artificial intelligence to make out life more convenient and comfortable. The first clues towards this end are certainly portrayed by the increasing usage of smartphones and its implication in every activity we do.

The Internet of Things and us Humans

Though most believe otherwise, the implication of IoT would be more that being able to control or manage our devices. We can already connect our air conditioners back home from our smartphones, sitting at our office desk. There will come a time when office biometrics don’t just resister our attendance but also initiates email accounts, logs into ERP systems and other work apps automatically. Thus, the moment we take our seats at our desks, the work pages would already be open in the screen.

Back in November 2014, Gartner had estimated that by the end of 2015 our life will already be connected to 4.9 million different “things”. This is a 30% increase within a single year. The number of new devices supporting the concept of IoT will grow from $5 trillion to $7.1 trillion in value according to IDC (device analyst firm) between 2014 and 2020. Another sector that would be benefitted most would be the smart homes. To this end, we already have devices like HoloLens from Microsoft that would completely change the concept of living.

Concern about Data Security

However, along with the advantages comes a major concern from the consumer side. Since our completely lifestyle will take a digital turn, there could be greater risk of data privacy and security. We have already been through this problem when smart LED bulbs leaked out Wi-Fi passwords. If this remains unsolved, it could lead to disasters. In January 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), US produced a report that addresses these privacy issues. At the core of the report is a belief that the IoT has integrated privacy and security at its outset, rather than focusing on it as an afterthought. Further, the report recommends minimization of data feed which would prevent keeping data beyond the exact needs, anonymous and encrypted databases and high end network security. ARM and Intel are already working on security measures to define new devices but there is plenty left to be done before we can leave our worries to the ‘machines’.