Will 2016 finally herald mainstream use of this smart, interconnected global network, asks Stewart Yates, CEO of TFM Networks, and are we ready for the big demands that big data will bring to this space?
In B2B, the IoT is growing rapidly. By 2020, Intel has estimated that there will be about 200 billion devices on the market – roughly 26 smart objects for every human on the planet.
Most IoT devices are currently being used in businesses, healthcare and factories. According to Intel, 40.2 percent of the Internet of Things is found in business and manufacturing, 30.3 percent is found in healthcare, 8.3 percent in retail and 7.7 percent in security.
In 2016, manufacturers will boost productivity and continue to improve the way things work by introducing more smart devices. From real-time analytics of supply chains and equipment, to robotic machinery and portable maintenance, businesses will change the way they work from office level to shop floor.
The healthcare sector has already benefited from integrating smart devices with patient care, and will see many more benefits to the system throughout 2016.
In retail, inventory tracking and automatic analysis of consumer shopping habits will help to grow the sector. The IoT will become better known by consumers under the name ‘smart home’ in 2016, when gadgets will interact seamlessly throughout the domestic space.
However, with this huge increase in the number of devices in use comes an increase in the number of potential challenges to overcome, including: security, enterprise, consumer privacy, data flow, bandwidth capacity, storage management, server technologies and data centre network.
Far more data will be sent, received and stored, and networks need to be able to cope with this. The ethics surrounding data privacy is a concern that also needs to be met with stronger, trustworthy security. Business-only connectivity via high-speed MPLS/fiber networks, combined with 4G and eventually 5G mobile networks, offer the opportunity for businesses to start integrating the IoT in 2016 to ensure they are best placed to capitalize in the future.
According to Cisco, only 0.06 percent of things that could be connected to the internet currently are connected, which means that the future is full of unlocked potential. The IoT market will likely soon surpass the PC/tablet/phone market, and by 2017, 82 percent of businesses will be IoT connected in some way, shape or form.
The additional data generated will inherently have a disruptive effect on networks, data centers and smart connected products, making the value of business-only networks greater than ever. An IT overhaul may not be necessary, but it does mean that they need to ensure their network infrastructure is prepared for the IoT in terms of structure, capacity and resilience.
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
