The Internet of Things (IoT) was one of the turning points in the IT revolution of 2015. Injecting intelligence into machinery, IoT promised to give birth to a matrix of devices intricately connected to one another through automation. Allowing for machines to proactively report their status, IoT bridged the gap between optimum capacity of products and human limitations: now, we do not have to wait for human beings to intervene and fix the machines- they can run at their optimum capacity automatically through continuous checks on their health. The intelligence endowed on machines owing to IoT makes them “smart products”. Customers are also capable of transparently observing and handling their products. The rising success of IoT was given testimony through series of cases like the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (in 2013), Tesla Motors and Royal Caribbean International.
What does 2016 have in store for IoT? How could things change in its landscape? Here are the six ways in which IoT undergoes transformation in 2016.
Prediction 1: M2M will spread beyond the backstage work
Initially, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) strategies were used for making business procedures automatic, mostly at the back office. However, today M2M has become a crucial part of customer experience- that is, it has enveloped the sales, marketing and customer service departments through its capacity to reach out effectively to the audience. Not only do the products present themselves through others as desirable to the customer, they are also marketed through constant ads and the after-sales service is carried out automatically through the product.
In 2016, Internet of Things will reach diverse domains of enterprise through M2M communication. Did you know that by 2025, over 90million vehicles are expected to ship with inherent telematics while about 94% of enterprises also perceive ROI through M2M communication? The types of functions that M2M will cover include linking customers together, using of data statistics and generating new devices through such interconnectedness.
Prediction 2: Refinement of M2M Implementations & Higher ROI
In 2016, those enterprises will have profits pour in which follow the method of integration. This integration must bring together the three most important innovations: cloud platform, data analytics and M2M communication. Earlier, analytics was optional to enterprises. However, with the globalization of services and ocean of data being produced, data analytics is becoming an integral part of each organization. 2016 can expect to see functional transformation in the enterprises, with installation of data analytics. Once the data is produced through the M2M communications, data analytics will ensure its utilization for insights and decision making. Possessing a cloud platform will allow the local skills to be globalized.
Prediction 3: Customer Experience will be central to IoT
Customer experience will determine the way in which products are put out and sold in 2016. IoT will be driven by the need to make the customer realize how the product is connected and will sync with their lifestyle. Thus, enterprises will emphasize on UX with personalization of web design and sheet, smarter payment pathways and digital marketing (on social media, public forums and others). In mid-2015, sensors arose as tools to strengthen relation with customers. Laura Bassett, the director of Marketing, Customer Experience and technologies at Avaya pointed out that automatic logging powers will be imbibed in products which will sense the location (through sensors) and adjust the phone profile (into meeting, silence, home and others) accordingly. In 2016, the centerpiece to product development will be user experience implemented through IoT.
Prediction 4: Making a Virtual Home out of Connected Devices
As devices begin to get connected with one another, companies see the potential for creating a virtual matrix of devices for each customer. This matrix would consist of devices that every customer needs for all their activities and these devices would be self-sufficiently interlinked. The shift is from purely-profit to customer-oriented product development (even though the latter direction would result in generation of profit indirectly). Starting from syncing your car for regular maintenance, keeping your heart rate and cholesterol in check through linked RX bottles to checking out the road conditions and task-to-do’s, Internet of Things will become a daily companion to people in 2016.
Prediction 5: Wearables Will Become Norm
Enterprises will begin using wearables to keep track of their employees’ activities and to provide them a transparent method for exploring their work-load. Work which involves on-field tasks and mobile jobs can gather data about their staff, schedule appointments and generate accurate reports using GPS tools via wearables. By ensuring that the trajectory of work is followed closely on an individual-level (employees) and on a systemic-level (each department as a whole), the company will have measurable index of their performance at their fingertips.
Prediction 6: Security Empowerment
In January 2015, Business Insider revealed that the main concern of those involved in IoT is about privacy and security. Such security threats mostly arise due to malware or phishing. 2016 will see the rise of multiple tools for protecting the privacy of employees through filtering of mail attachments and extensions which are add-ons to applications.
What do you think is the way forward for IoT in 2016? Leave your comments on the journey of IoT this year.
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