Category: Internet of Things

The Skills IoT Must Master

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Gartner has highlighted eight key aspects of connectivity that will demand particular attention in the coming years, the next two years to be specific.

Claiming there are skills and technology that companies have “yet to master”, Gartner VP Nick Jones said “immaturity” among technology, services and companies is a real problem.

“Architecting for this immaturity and managing the risk it creates will be a key challenge for organisations exploiting IoT. In many technology areas, lack of skills will also pose significant challenges,” he said.

With early-adopter benefits likely, everything from customer interaction to supply chain management is in line for an overhaul as technology advances. Here are eight areas we need to keep an eye on, according to Gartner.

Security

A major concern is that the more connected devices, the more reward for hacking into just one. If your entire home is synced – heating, fridge, lighting, cooker etc – then breaking into a thermostat could, in theory, give access to everything.

Data attacks, as well as tampering, are risks, with anything that has an ISP under threat.

IoT security will be complicated by the fact that many ‘things’ use simple processors and operating systems that may not support sophisticated security approaches.

“Experienced IoT security specialists are scarce, and security solutions are currently fragmented and involve multiple vendors,” said Jones. “New threats will emerge through 2021 as hackers find new ways to attack IoT devices and protocols, so long-lived ‘things’ may need updatable hardware and software to adapt during their lifespan.”

Analytics

Customer behaviour is key to connected devices, again using the home as an example. When you get up, when you shower, when you’re home etc. Other data treasures include when services or products need to be delivered, improved upon or even created.

However, IoT demands new analytic approaches, according to Gartner. “New analytic tools and algorithms are needed now, but as data volumes increase through 2021, the needs of the IoT may diverge further from traditional analytics.”

Device management

Keeping devices up-to-date is important now, it will be more so in the future. So-called ‘long-lived non-trivial’ devices will be key.

“This includes device monitoring, firmware and software updates, diagnostics, crash analysis and reporting, physical management, and security management,” according to Gartner.

Networks

Low-power, short-range networks will dominate wireless IoT connectivity in the short term, however, wide-area networks will exist alongside this. The latter will eventually come to deliver connectivity of ranging speeds, across varying distances. Battery life must improve, and costs must reduce.

Processors

Processors are developing at a fast speed. Only today, a new, low-power concept was shown by researchers looking to drive microelectronics into the next age.

As with all hardware design, there are complex trade-offs between features, hardware cost, software cost, software upgradability and so on. As a result, understanding the implications of processor choices will demand deep technical skills.

Operating systems

Windows and OS were not designed for IoT devices. They are too heavy, require too much support and can be slow. They also have too large a memory footprint for small devices and may not support the chips that IoT developers use. Consequently, a wide range of IoT-specific operating systems has been developed to suit many different hardware footprints and feature needs.

Event stream processing

In some cases, future devices will need to be able to analyse huge data rates, in real time. “To address such requirements, distributed stream computing platforms (DSCPs) have emerged. They typically use parallel architectures to process very high-rate data streams to perform tasks such as real-time analytics and pattern identification.”

Platforms, standards and ecosystems

IoT platforms bundle low-level device control, data management and app development into one single product. These will become a lot more common. Ecosystems and standards will eventually materialise as APIs. A problem is there will be no true API for standards, rather many in competition.

“Organisations creating products may have to develop variants to support multiple standards or ecosystems and be prepared to update products during their lifespan as the standards evolve and new standards and related APIs emerge,” according to Gartner.

8 areas to prepare for as IoT age approaches

 

Insurance companies are paying attention to the IoT

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating major new opportunities for the insurance industry. IoT data can help insurers more accurately price premiums, create better models for future payouts, and offer products with incentives for good behavior.
This comes at an important time for the insurance industry, which has struggled to develop long-term growth strategies. 75% of insurance execs expect they will feel pressure to innovate from new data sources, such as IoT devices, within three to five years, according to a survey.
The auto insurance sector has already begun embracing the IoT through a new product called usage-based insurance (UBI). UBI policies use the IoT to monitor clients’ driving habits in real time and price premiums based on the risk the company sees.
One in five US households participated in an auto UBI program in 2015, up from 13% in 2013, according to a survey.
But in order to get people to adopt UBI policies, insurers will need to effectively market the products and be transparent about which driving behaviors will cause their policies to go up or down.
The health and life insurance sectors are beginning to leverage wearables to give consumers incentives for good behavior. 39% of insurers surveyed said they have either launched or are piloting insurance programs that leverage health and fitness monitors, up from 10% in 2014.
But data privacy safeguards will be critical if this type of monitoring is to take off. Health data is some of the most sensitive personal information.
Home insurance companies are encouraging consumers to use connected home devices to keep their properties safe. Internet-connected cameras, water sensors, and smoke detectors can potentially minimize the amount of money an insurance company has to pay should any damage occur.
The IoT has also created a new type of insurance coverage — cyber insurance. The adoption of IoT devices by large enterprises has created lots of new entry points for hackers to infiltrate a large organization’s systems. Companies are investing in these policies to offset the huge costs associated with breaches.
Drones, a major IoT product, are helping insurers assess damages and creating a new business opportunity. Insurers can deploy drones to record and monitor damages faster and more safely than using an employee to do this. For enterprises that employ drones, insurers are beginning to insure the devices in case of crashes or damages.

You or your neighbors? 50% of homes will be smart

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Some homes will be getting smart and others won’t.

The latest forecast of North American broadband households shows that half of them will be smart homes within four years.

Of course, this means that the other half will remain not so smart.

Most (84%) of U.S. households will have broadband this year, so this pretty well translates to most homes, according to the new data from Parks Associates.

Just a day ago, the same researchers identified that many consumers want to be able to connect the smart objects in their homes to their cars, as I wrote about here (Consumers Want Their Home And Car Connected To Each Other). But again, some, not all.

Connected home systems ultimately can incorporate devices such as wearables, smart thermostats, home security, apps and various mobile devices.

But the key is the broadband connection, through which many of the devices communicate to each other and to consumers.

Ownership of smart home products increased from 16% to 19% of U.S. broadband households in the last year and 44% of households that do not have a smart home device plan to purchase one this year.

This growth will continue and 50% of North American households with broadband will be smart homes by 2020, according to the study.

Major companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, are active in connected homes, since they all have a vested interest in creating smart products that might appeal to consumers.

For example, Amazon’s Echo, with its Alexa natural language processing, has been teaming with many other companies that want to be enabled through Amazon’s technology, creating more of a bond with consumers.

The marketing challenge will be to keep up with messaging methods to smart homes and homes that aren’t.

And then there’s the issue of which devices will be more marketing adaptable, since some will have screens through which video communications can be sent while others will be more audio oriented, requiring a different form of messaging.

It appears there will be a divide between the number of consumers who gravitate to smart devices and those who don’t.

Kind of reminds me of the early days of smartphones.

Killer AR ideas

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Put simply, AR is the technology that superimposes computer generated imagery onto the real world when looked at through a portable device. But, as marketers have discovered, AR can be so much more.

AR has not only succeeded where QR codes failed, but it has quickly shut down any opinion that its technology is gimmicky. No longer is AR the stuff of ‘oh look at this funny animation protruding out of a cola can’. Now genuinely useful experiences can be achieved to help your customers, clients and service providers in a real-life practical way.

Let’s take a look at some of these experiences…

The first three examples are taken from Blippar’s own case studies:

https://www.clickz.com/2016/04/29/how-to-optimise-your-page-images-to-increase-site-speed?ce_b4=*|EMAIL_B64|*&utm_source=ClickZ+Global&utm_campaign=fb6c3b5ffe-02_05_2016_NL&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_33e702b796-fb6c3b5ffe-16522205

the cost of fixing technical problems and making repairs to devices estimated 10-33% of operational expense for industrial IoT deployments

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BREAKING DOWN OPERATIONAL EXPENSES FOR INDUSTRIAL IoT DEPLOYMENTS: Jasper, which provides a software platform for connecting and managing IoT devices and was recently acquired by Cisco, released a study this week breaking down operational expenses for industrial IoT deployments, and explaining how companies can save on those expenses.

The cost of operating IoT devices can vary widely for enterprises depending on a multitude of factors including the type of devices, the type of internet connection it uses, and where it is deployed. This makes it difficult for enterprises to estimate the full cost of deploying IoT devices and their ROI on IoT initiatives.

The study grouped operational expenses into three categories:

  • Network communication: This is the cost of providing a data connection for the devices. Jasper estimated that this usually makes up one-third to one-half of the operational expenses for industrial IoT deployments.
  • Administrative labor: This is the cost of managing and monitoring devices, and creating reports from their data. This makes up anywhere from 20-50% of the total operational costs of IoT initiatives, the study found. 
  • Technical support: This is the cost of fixing technical problems and making repairs to devices in the field. Jasper estimated this makes up 10-33% of operational expense for industrial IoT deployments.

Companies can reduce these expenses with certain solutions and strategies. For example, if a company’s data usage for its IoT deployments fluctuates monthly, it can opt to pay its data subscription on a per megabyte basis instead of paying the same amount every month.

The study also found large disparities in costs for devices depending on whether they were connected to a software services platform. The study estimated that administrative costs per 100,000 connected devices dropped from $2 million per year to $800,000 per year if they’re connected to a platform. Jasper is one of the major providers of such platforms, so the finding is certainly helpful for its business. However, if platform providers can provide such steep cost reductions for their enterprise clients, then it could be a major boon for enterprise IoT adoption.

The Next Wave Of Brand Engagement

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From a marketing perspective, the Internet of Things is really about engagement.
New connections among billions of objects will provide new methods and opportunities to connect with consumers.
It’s not so much about the technology involved, or what I view as the IoT plumbing, as much as it is about what can happen when so many connections are in place.
And now a new report is out suggesting that brands should look beyond the technology and understand that the intersection of mobile and IoT will drive the next wave of brand engagement.
We heard bits and pieces of this idea at the MediaPost OMMA Boston conference this week.
Forrester Research has taken a deep dive into the subject in a new study, ‘The Internet of Things Redefines Brand Engagement,’ which is based on a survey of 4,600 U.S. adults, weighted to reflect the general population.
The IoT brings several capabilities for marketers, including being able to listen to customers to analyze real behaviors, create more frequent  and intimate consumer interactions, differentiate customer experiences and build new offerings and business models, according to Forrester.
There still are short-term challenges, including the lack of mass reach due to niche consumer adoption and single-purpose applications being too limited, with abandonment but a click away.
For example, Forrester found that only 14% of U.S. consumers control or monitor home appliances or utilities using a phone or tablet, still the main control devices for connected or smart objects.
However, a third (33%) of U.S. online adults will use some form of IoT across home, wearables or car this year, with the main usage centering around wearables and smartwatches.
Brands are expected to leverage various aspects of the IoT. Here’s how various categories of brands are expected to tap into the IoT opportunity in the next couple of years, according to Forrester:
Sport, fitness, health brands – Consumer brands in this space are poised to benefit from consumers’ interest in capturing and storing personal data on wearables. Marketers are likely to develop specific engagement tactics, such as gamification to drive behaviors toward more wellness.
Automotive brands – In advance of driverless cars, which may be 10 years or so out, about 10% of U.S. online consumers this year will use smartphone-enabled, auto app accessories, that retrofit connected car features to older cars. These can provide a new gateway to consumers in cars.
Insurance companies – Home insurance companies this year will begin to broadly promote smart home discounts.
Retail – Emerging digital technologies, such as virtual reality, digital mirrors, RFID tags and beacons, are transforming retail experiences both in stores and at home. Embedding tech such as NFC tags, QR codes, image recognition and augmented reality into product packaging is an opportunity to engage at the point of sale and later. Forrester says marketers should experiment with these technologies early to learn how to extend product opportunities and experiences directly into homes of consumers.
Each brand category ultimately will be involved with consumer engagement within the Internet of Things.
The only question is which brands and agencies will be early and which will be late, both of which have obvious consequences.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/273997/internet-of-things-driving-the-next-wave-of-bra.html

Dell Teams With GE, Microsoft, OSIsoft, PTC, SAP, Software AG and Others to Advance the Internet of Things | Business Wire

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Dell today is launching the Dell IoT Solutions Partner Program for the advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and solutions. The program builds an ecosystem of partners to help customers navigate the fragmented IoT landscape and identify the right technologies to develop their IoT solutions. As a global leader in computing technology, Dell will offer participating partners access to the industry’s most robust and reliable product portfolio, world-class support and increased opportunities for incremental business growth.

“Software AG’s partnership with Dell is hugely significant for any enterprises looking for ways to simplify and cost effectively utilize the Internet of Things. Together we are bringing industrial strength real-time analytics to the edge of the IoT, significantly reducing network traffic and accelerating the ROI of IoT projects”
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The program will combine a global, multi-tiered (Executive, Associate, Registered) network of experienced Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with Dell’s broad portfolio of IoT assets, including purpose-built, intelligent gateways and embedded PCs, security and manageability tools, data center and cloud infrastructure, and data integration and analytics software like Boomi and Statistica. These assets will help organizations develop, deploy and maintain leading-edge IoT solutions.

“Dell believes that opportunities increase when you help others win,” said Andy Rhodes, executive director, Commercial IoT Solutions, Dell. “We are passionate about collaborating with this strong group of companies and believe ISVs are critical in building the bridge between the exciting industry potential of IoT and profitable market reality.”

Dell works with Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) organizations to create a unifying IoT strategy for bridging their differing business approaches. The IoT Partner Program will include companies across a wide range of industries that further strengthen Dell’s expertise in areas such as industrial and building automation and transportation. It launches with more than 25 partners including GE, SAP, Software AG, Microsoft, OSIsoft and others, many of which are utilizing the Dell Edge Gateway 5000 Series to power their own IoT solutions. Dell also continues to build relationships with systems integrators (SIs) with vertical expertise and deployment scale.

The Dell Edge Gateway now also supports Windows 10 for secure, reliable, and streamlined support and is Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT. Customers can depend on the Edge Gateway for seamless and security-enhanced data with the Azure IoT Suite, so they can get their projects running quickly.

Creating use case blueprints is one of the many ways Dell is working with partners to help customers speed up their IoT projects and make sense of the vast ISV landscape. Dell, Kepware, and Software AG are collaborating to develop IoT enabled predictive maintenance models utilizing distributed analytics to address the industry’s biggest operational challenges, such as unplanned downtime, overall equipment effectiveness, maintenance cost and return on assets.

With Microsoft and Blue Pillar, Dell is delivering Automated Demand Response solutions which help utilities maintain grid reliability and enable customers to realize significant value through dispatch of onsite power generation or reduction in consumption. This allows our customers to improve profitability through demand response incentives and reduce operational risks through proactive notification from the utility of potential power disruptions.

Dell and SAP are also collaborating to bring business to the edge with models designed to help address the industry’s biggest operational challenges, such as business continuity, overall equipment effectiveness, maintenance cost and return on assets.

The Dell Edge Gateway 5100 Model designed for the extended temperature ranges found in industrial environments is now available on Dell.com. Dell also launched five new accessories for the Edge Gateways, including I/O and power expansion modules, ZigBee module, CAN bus card, and IP65-rated rugged enclosure. Finally, Dell revealed new cloud-based manageability software, the Edge Device Manager (EDM), which provides centralized reporting and control of edge gateways from a single cloud-based console. Learn more about these new product updates here.

Additional partners are adding tremendous value through their specialized areas of expertise, including Azeti, Blue Pillar, Datawatch, Eigen Innovations, Flowthings, Flutura, GE, Kepware, Lynx Software, Microsoft Azure, OSIsoft, relayr, SAP, Software AG, and ThingWorx.

Partner Quotes

“Dell brings an excellent balance of purpose-built features set and the enabling security and manageability software that build credibility with IT organizations. By combining Dell’s deep roots in the industrial sector and strong focus on data-driven innovation with GE’s Predix platform, we are enabling Dell’s IoT gateways to be Predix-ready, and connect seamlessly into the Predix software stack,” said Denzil Samuels, Head of Global Channels and Alliances, GE Digital.

“Microsoft is continuing its work with Dell across our offerings for every IoT scenario, from the Azure IoT Suite to Windows 10 on the Dell Edge Gateways. Our collaboration will help both companies to ensure that our customers receive a world-class ecosystem of devices and services and time to production at industry-leading speeds,” said Caglayan Arkan, general manager, Worldwide Manufacturing, Microsoft Corp.

“Our PI System, the industry standard in enterprise infrastructure for management of real-time data and events, running on the Dell’s Edge Gateway on Windows 10 lowers the barriers to pervasive monitoring; enabling operators and engineers to capture additional sensor data without impacting or upgrading traditional automation and control systems,” said Richard Beeson, Chief Technology Officer, OSIsoft. “Our partnership with Dell to deliver IoT data to PI allows our joint customers to receive substantial enterprise insights and value.”

“Software AG’s partnership with Dell is hugely significant for any enterprises looking for ways to simplify and cost effectively utilize the Internet of Things. Together we are bringing industrial strength real-time analytics to the edge of the IoT, significantly reducing network traffic and accelerating the ROI of IoT projects,” said Eric Duffaut, Chief Customer Officer (CCO), Software AG. “Our Streaming Analytics Platform together with Dell’s purpose-built edge gateways allow customers to process large amounts of real-time data close to where the action is. This in turn drives faster automated decisions and appropriate digital responses locally, only sending a subset of critical data to the core for further analysis and action.”

Additional Links

http://delliotpartners.com/
Dell’s IoT Strategy and Partner Programs: Part One and Part Two by Laurie McCabe, Partner, SMB Group
Follow us at @Dell on Twitter and Dell Internet of Things on LinkedIn

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160419006304/en/Dell-Teams-GE-Microsoft-OSIsoft-PTC-SAP

If Apple was in talks to buy Tesla, this won’t help.

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Apple has reportedly poached a top Tesla execute, Chris Porritt, Tesla’s former VP of engineering, according to Fortune. Porrittt will likely join Apple’s secretive car project, dubbed Project Titan.

Prior to working at Tesla, Porritt was Aston Martin’s chief engineer and was also a principal engineer at Land Rover.

Apple has never publicly acknowledged that it is developing a car, but the existence of Project Titan is an open secret among tech companies and automakers. Apple has hired hundreds of automotive engineers to work on the project, many of whom previously worked at Tesla. Reports surfaced last year that Apple had been poaching so many engineers from Tesla that it was slowing down Tesla’s production.

Porritt said last year that he met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk “three to four times per week,” so he brings with him a great deal of knowledge about Tesla’s business model, production processes and supply lines, and future plans. Given that Apple is expected to make an electric, connected vehicle, just as Tesla has, that knowledge could be just as valuable to Apple as Porritt’s engineering expertise.

Apple’s car project lost its leader, Steve Zadesky, a former Ford engineer, earlier this year. It also was hit with a hiring freeze after an unfavorable review by Jony Ive, Apple’s design chief, found a lack of progress at the project, Apple Insider reported. The hiring of Porritt seems like an effort to reset the car project and make progress towards its goal of developing a car by 2019.

Internet of Things (IoT) Market Soaring at 33.3% CAGR to 2021

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The worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) market is projected to hit a CAGR of 33.3% to 2021 driven by rising need for operational efficiency and increasing penetration of connected devices while the services segment is expected to gain maximum growth during forecast period.

Complete report on global Internet of Things (IoT) market spread across 154 pages, profiling 10 companies and supported with 65 tables and 47 figures is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/internet-of-things-iot-market-by-software-solution-real-time-streaming-analytics-security-data-management-remote-monitoring-network-bandwidth-management-platform-service-application-domain-and-region-st-to-2021-market-report.html .

The growth of Internet of Things (IoT) Market is driven by factors such as development of cheaper and smarter sensors, rising adoption of cloud computing, evolution of high speed networking technologies, and increasing penetration of connected devices. In terms of segments, the Services segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the increasing penetration of connected devices and higher adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions across industry verticals. Managed services segment is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2016 and 2021. Due to the increasing technological adoption, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is projected to witness the fastest growth rate among regions.

In the process of determining and verifying, the market size for several segments and sub segments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews were conducted with key people. In Tier 1 (20%), Tier 2 (42%) and Tier 3 (38%) companies were contacted for primary interviews. The interviews were conducted with various key people such as C-level (55%), Director Level (26%) and others (19%) from various key organizations operating in the global Internet of Things (IoT) market. The primary interviews were conducted worldwide covering regions such as North America (47%), Europe (32%) and APAC (21%).

The key vendors profiled in the Internet of Things (IoT) market research report such as  IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., SAP SE, PTC, Inc., General Electric, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Symantec Corporation, Amazon Web Services and Bosch Software Innovation. Order a copy of Internet of Things (IoT) Market by Software Solution (Real-Time Streaming Analytics, Security, Data Management, Remote Monitoring, & Network Bandwidth Management), Platform, Service, Application Domain, and Region – Global Forecast to 2021 research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/purchase?rname=527884 .

The latest trends in Internet of Things (IoT) include growing IoT integration across different industry verticals, diversification of IT giants toward providing analytics and security software, and cost benefits of predictive maintenance. The availability of cloud deployment options for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions has further provided a huge opportunity.

On a related note, another research on Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities Market Global Forecast to 2020 says, increasing demand for intelligent cities and IoT devices is expected to drive the Internet of Things (IoT) in smart cities market. Data management solutions sub segment holds the most promising potential for the next five years. The overall market size is estimated to grow from USD 51.96 billion in 2015 to USD 147.51 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 23.2%. Companies like Bosch Software Innovation Gmbh, CISCO Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, Intel Corporation, IBM Corporation, Harman International Industries (ADITI TECHNOLOGIES), Enevo Oy Technologies, Infineon Technologies AG, Symantec Corporation and Schneider Electric Software, Llc. have been profiled in this 135 pages research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/internet-of-things-iot-in-smart-cities-market-by-solutions-remote-monitoring-data-management-platform-application-device-management-application-building-automation-energy-management-transportation-glo-st-to-2020-market-report.html .

Explore more reports on the Information Technology & Telecommunication market at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/reports/information-technology-telecommunication.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/internet-of-things-iot-market-soaring-at-333-cagr-to-2021-576025721.html

Is it time to invest in IoT?

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While second-generation software has helped reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of some enterprises, it has done little to transform our physical world. Power, water, agriculture, transportation, construction and healthcare have barely been touched. But that’s about to change.

Industrial machines or enterprise things are increasingly being instrumented and connected. John Chambers, former Cisco CEO, says 500 billion things will be connected to the Internet by the year 2025. While you may question that, we already know 100,000 wind turbines are connected with the capacity to send 400 sensors’ worth of data every five seconds. So we’re going to end up with a lot of smart, connected things.

If you’re a startup with a vision to build products for things, not people, get started.
Unfortunately, all our connection, collection, analysis, learning, middleware and application technology has been built to support applications for the Internet of People. Things are NOT people. Things exist where people aren’t. Things have much more to say and things talk much more frequently. A Joy Global coal-mining machine has vibration sensors that sample 10,000 times per second. We need a new generation of enterprise application, middleware, analytic, collection and connection cloud service products to build precision machines for mining, transportation, healthcare, construction, power, water and agriculture.

Some have begun to make the investments. GE Software was founded in 2011 with a $1 billion investment. CEO Jeff Immelt has declared that GE needed to evolve into a software-and-analytics company, lest its industrial machines become mere commodities. Immelt has set an ambitious target of $15 billion in software revenue by 2020. GE plans to achieve this through its new Predix software platform under the leadership of CEO of GE Digital, Bill Ruh.

IoT security needs scalable solutions
PTC has taken an M&A path and invested more than $400 million in a series of companies: ThingWorx for $112 million, a $105 million acquisition of ColdLight and Axeda for $170 million. On the venture side you may not have noticed, but Uptake, a Chicago-based IoT startup, beat Slack and Uber to become Forbes 2015’s Hottest Startup. They raised $45 million at a $1 billion post-funding valuation.
I’ll let you be the judge of whether it’s time to invest in IoT. But if you’re an early-stage or even late-stage investor, it would be wise to be a student of this area as it promises to create as big a disruption as the second generation of enterprise software. And if you’re a startup with a vision to build products for things, not people, get started. Maybe in 12 years we’ll talk about you like we now talk about VMware, NetSuite and Salesforce.

http://techcrunch.com