The Internet of Things may sound scary, but it’s not. It can be essentially defined as machine-to-machine (M2M) technology enabled by secure network connectivity and cloud infrastructure, to reliably transform data into useful information for people, businesses, and institutions.
4.9 Billion connected “things” will be in use in 2015 reaching 25 billion by 2020[1]
The Internet of Things impacts you. You may not realize it and it may not be today, but definitely soon. Don’t believe the hype? Here are some of the more common use cases that will impact you:
Automotive – Self-driving cars, accident prevention, proximity alerts, mood & attention sensors
Healthcare – Fitness and Wellness tracking, blood sugar monitoring, heart attack prediction, and preventive healthcare
Predictive maintenance – Everything from appliances to industrial equipment
Some of the companies taking advantage of the Internet of Things include Ford, General Electric, Nike, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon and Cisco. The Internet of Things is far more than just wearables and smart devices. In fact, Verizon recently released their Start Small, THINK BIG: The Internet of Things report which talks about the impact the IoT will have on businesses that in turn influences consumers. The report has some interesting findings such as:
- The IoT market is likely to experience strong growth, rising to 5.4 billion connections across the globe by 2020.
- (M2M) technology is transforming the delivery of goods and services. Example – retailers using telematics and asset tracking tools allowing them to provide next or same day delivery.
- The top 14 automotive manufacturers, which account for 80% of the worldwide market, all have a connected-car strategy.
- The participation in a wellness program increased 86% when wearables were incorporated.
While the Internet of Things isn’t completely new, its adoption and integration in devices has been continually on the rise in recent years as evident in many of the companies showcased at CES including iFit, Sen.se, and LifeTrak.
20 Trillion GB of data will be created from Internet of Things by 2025, representing 10% of all data at that time
Seagate realizes the impact the Internet of Things is having on the world and has been positioning itself to develop storage products and solutions to help its customer’s better handle the exponential growth of data. No matter how much data is created today or tomorrow, Seagate will be there to store and preserve it.
