Navigating the Future of Information Technology

The predictable routes of information in an enterprise are changing significantly. Much of the physical world is becoming an intelligent information system. The Internet of Things (IoT) is evolving into a collection of physical objects that communicate over standard Internet protocols. These fall into three categories: smart phones and tablets, home devices (IP televisions, smart home control systems, wearable devices, etc.), and industrial devices (e.g. energy grids, cars, healthcare devices, transportation devices, etc).
Connecting, monitoring and controlling these physical devices using the Internet means more real-time data is now gathered, growing beyond what is today characterized as Big Data. This allows enterprises to more deeply understanding the complexity of their extended ecosystem and responding swiftly to important events – be it a challenge or an opportunity. Analysts predict that the total Value at Stake of the IoT will grow to $14 – $19 Trillion within the next few years – this is the size of the entire US economy, or one quarter of global GDP.
Most CIOs realize that they need a strategy to harness the IoT and move it out of a niche in the datacenter to become an integral part of Enterprise IT. The vision of the integrated IoT encompasses the major areas of today’s IT landscape: physical objects are connected to a Cloud, providing the scalability that is required to manage Millions of devices; the generated data volume may necessitate a Big Data approach and advanced analytics capabilities to turn data into actionable information; the physical world needs to integrate with enterprise applications like CRM and ERP; in many cases the user interaction is implemented on a smart device that supports employees in the field. Defining and executing this vision of the integrated IoT is the key to realizing the Value at Stake.