IoT trends and predictions for 2019

The Internet of Things (IoT) and other enhanced reality technologies are steadily improving performance metrics throughout major companies in the United States and throughout the world. No wonder the solution is set to generate $344 billion in additional revenue by 2020 while reducing costs by $177 billion. The best part is employees find it easier to cover routine management issues and improve productivity with IoT. As a result, the number of connected gadgets in homes and workplaces across the globe is steadily rising. But all that was so last year. Let’s check out the major IoT trends and predictions for 2019 that allow us to gauge the overall impact of this technology:

More attention given to social issues

social issues

When speaking about IoT and other connected systems, one delves into core technologies and hard numbers rather than squishier social implications. However, no IoT discussion is complete without addressing its legal, ethical, and social impact, along with IoT governance.

What does this mean? Well, IoT happens to be a broad-based system, transforming industrial applications, large-scale applications, consumer gadgets, and everything in-between. The way such seismic shifts are resolved in the IT sphere will contribute greatly toward charting the future course of this technology.

Unfortunately, neither the public nor the enterprise seems ready for the impact of IoT. With IoT rising in relevance, more manual processes will become automated and rely on algorithms and devices to help users with regulatory compliance, privacy, data ownership, and algorithmic bias.

IoT solution deployments are considered successful only when they’re both technically effective and socially acceptable. Thus, it is the responsibility of the CIOs to educate themselves and their teams in this area. They might form groups like ethics councils for the purpose of evaluating corporate strategy. CIOs must also look towards AI systems and key algorithms reviewed by third-party consultancies for identifying possible bias.

With IoT growing in scale and size, governance frameworks are slowly emerging to set up and enforce rules regarding the formation, usage, storage, and deletion of data around IoT technologies. The rules vary considerably, from the regulation of technical problems like firmware updates and device audits to highly layered questions on who controls IoT gadgets and the information they produce.

Emergence of new IoT platforms

Over time, IoT platform vendors are going to narrow their focus on particular use cases and integrate their capabilities and APIs for enterprise application integration, security management, and analytics. But at the same time, hyperscale clouds will continue to vie with IoT platforms to be labeled the “it” destination, while fine-tuning their own.

So, expect each of them to deliver partnership announcements with IoT platforms in 2019, just the way PTC and Microsoft continue to grow and improve with each use case they serve. On top of that, Google is likely to grow more aggressive as well, but it will chart a different course — instead of acquisitions, the company will focus more on establishing similar partnerships.

Development of a managed services market for IoT

services market for IoT

The IoT services market is currently being dominated by assessment, planning, implementation, and platform service offerings that allow companies to deploy IoT solutions throughout different use cases and vertical markets. This year is going to witness the emergence of a market run by IoT that assists with the management, monitoring, and operation of the fragmented array of IoT networks, devices, and assets.

These offerings are going to target the steadily increasing number of smart products along with the platforms and networks that support the rise of IoT solutions. IoT shareholders, mainly involved in healthcare, utilities, manufacturing, and retail, are going to sign various contracts with major outsourcing companies for “run” offerings.

Greater endpoint security

Let’s get one thing straight — IoT gadgets are susceptible to security problems and hacks. The more IoT devices you have, the more you’re at risk because not all of them have the same level of security. But the security at every endpoint is going to increase significantly by the end of 2019.

Hardware producers like Dell and Cisco are creating specific infrastructure for the edge that is supposed to be a lot more secure and durable. Plus, security vendors will soon start offering endpoint security functionalities along with their current list of services to avoid data loss, provide insights into network health, and guard the system against any threats, like application control and whitelisting, and privileged user control.

Expansion into health care and manufacturing

IoT is the main cause behind digital transformation in various industries, namely manufacturing. Smart beacons, sensors, and RFID tags have already kick-started the industrial revolution of the future. So, it’s not surprising that the number of connected devices in the field of manufacturing is going to double between 2017 and 2020.

Such devices will change the industry game entirely, disrupting the entire production process, from supply chain management to development. Manufacturers can help avoid delays, enhance production performance, manage inventory, and minimize equipment downtime. However, this isn’t the sole industry that’s going to notice a greater penetration.

By next year, almost 87 percent of health-care companies will adopt IoT systems. And the combination of the two opens the door to endless possibilities, from smart home care to smart pills, electronic health records to personal health-care management, greater patient care to sensitive data management.

Growth of consumer IoT industry

No longer is a smart home the same as an integrated one. The connected value introduced in those devices and related services are far too siloed and narrow. They are unable to work easily with one another or form great experiences. At the same time, vendors find it extremely hard to convince customers to pay for ongoing subscriptions. So, by the end of 2019, numerous players like insurance, utilities, food, and grocery companies are going to offer subscription offerings. This will also allow them to eschew the IoT device costs upfront.

IoT trends: A buzzier buzzword

IoT has been a buzzword for years, but expect the buzz to get even buzzier in 2019. Vendors for these solutions will focus more on business solutions and outcomes, thereby facilitating the growth of these technologies. And you can easily track this meteoric rise by paying attention to the IoT trends and predictions mentioned above.

Featured image: Freerange Stock

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