By John Lipsey
Gartner has claimed that the 'Internet of Things' is on the horizon. The 'Internet of Things' is a phrase used to describe how the internet will link traditional smart devices, and a wide range of additional physical assets to allow these endpoints to generate and share data. Nearly every product will have an IP address and communication capability – not just networking and telecommunications devices, but also industrial equipment such as buildings, medical devices, test and measurement systems, construction equipment, and oil and gas machinery, to name a few – that will link to other devices and services via the web.
This isn't blue sky thinking. In its September 2011 report entitled The Internet of Things is Coming, Gartner recommends that CIOs and IT leaders set aside two days as early as 'before mid-2012' to develop a strategy for this scenario. The trend of pervasive Internet is already gaining hold and today is described in a number of ways in different industries – Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, intelligent device management, telematics, telehealth and "smart" infrastructure, to give some examples. Gartner forecasts that there will be more than 30 billion permanently connected devices by 2020 and more than 200 billion intermittently connected devices by that time.
Opportunity beckons intelligent device manufacturers. They must evolve their products from fixed function and disconnected systems to flexible and seamlessly connected devices.
In this video, Steve Schmidt, Flexera Software's vice president of corporate development, talks about machine-to-machine, the Internet of Things, connected devices, and the tremendous value to consumers, and the monetization opportunities for producers.
Steve Schmidt, Vice President of Corporate Development, Flexera Software
