The hype around the Internet of Things was on full display over the last six weeks, with announcements and events from vendors such as ARM, Cisco, GE, IBM, Intel, PTC, and others. Much of the hype has focused on the possibility of saving lots of money because of all the new information that can help improve utilization and maintenance of expensive business assets. But in this age of the customer, where customer engagement rules, a focus only on cost savings is misplaced. When we look forward to 2015 and developments around the Internet of Things (IoT), we are predicting four key trends and implications for clients. Here are two of those predictions:
 
  • IoT customer success stories will displace “billions of devices” hype. Enough already with the Carl Sagan–like references to billions and billions of devices — we’ll finally see a focus on customer success stories about improved machine uptime, better customer experience, and new as-a-service business models.
  • IoT software platforms will become the rage, displacing the hardware. Much of the early hype has been about cool new sensors, high-tech wearables, and new wireless technologies. In 2015, we’ll see increased focus on the software and especially the cloud services to make all these sensors connect, upload data, and drive analytics that generate insights and enable business improvements.
As companies implement IoT solutions, CIOs will find that IoT becomes another force driving the digital transformation of their company. Until now, business units have implemented IoT with little involvement from the CIO’s technology management org. But no longer. The growing scope and importance of the data from IoT will force CIOs to integrate the Internet of Things into their business technology agenda, with full capabilities for data management, analytics, security, and enterprise application integration.
 
If you want to know more about these trends, you can download the full report, review all our 2015 predictions, or contact us.
 
What is your reaction to these two IoT predictions? How do you think the Internet of Things will progress in 2015?