The IoT Isn’t About Things
By: Craig Scates, Partner
By now, you’re probably familiar with the concepts and terms surrounding the Internet of Things, or IoT. If you believe the majority of technology pundits and tech trade newspapers, the number of IoT-connected devices expected to come online in the next 10 years can be nothing short of mind-numbing. Estimates range from 70 to 100 billion total connected devices by the year 2025, with a staggering 150,000 new devices being connected per minute. With each passing minute, this would create more than 150 zettabytes of data!
A single zettabyte equals one sextillion (or 1021 power) bytes. If you’re struggling to get a handle on how much data we’re talking about, consider this: Allow your morning 11oz cup of coffee to represent one gigabyte of data; a zettabyte of coffee would equal roughly the volume of the Great Wall of China! And yet, despite these figures, the Internet of Things isn’t about just things. The IoT is ultimately about data, services, and – most importantly – outcomes.
All of the data being generated by billions of sensors and connected devices has to make its way, in an organized fashion, back to repositories for real-time and post-processing analyses. Machine learning, analytics, and data science techniques promise to unlock a host of new discoveries and actionable information as data sources are compiled and compared for the first time.
As a result, new products, capabilities, and services will emerge from these insights to fuel greater efficiencies for consumer, business, and industrial applications. Companies are already realizing tangible benefits and improvements to manufacturing operations, fleet monitoring, predictive maintenance, asset tracking, and energy consumption. Ultimately, the ROI for IoT will be measured in terms of strategic, tactical, and operational outcomes such as reduced time to market, process automation, and increased productivity.
But who will make this all happen? At present, training for IoT application development is limited and experienced technical talent is scarce. Add to that the fact that two-thirds of surveyed companies rated IoT application development as either challenging or very challenging to do. Getting that first key project or proof-of-concept off the ground is critical to unlocking the path to IoT success, and it starts with finding a partner that can help you navigate this digital journey and realize impactful outcomes.
The good news is that Resolvit can help. We have teams of people engaged in developing custom IoT applications to solve industrial problems in aviation, transportation, and energy sectors. Using Agile-based methodologies, we are delivering solutions using emerging IoT platforms, including Predix from GE Digital. We have the resources to help you define your strategy and roadmap, choose your integration platform, and connect the data to business users through thoughtful analytics.
The path to IoT success for your team begins with Resolvit – contact us today to get started!