Understanding the IoT cloud and how it will change things

When first proposed, a "thing" on the newly named internet of things (IoT) was imagined as something that could be counted and these existed in relatively simple applications, now IoT is expanding into machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and applications such as manufacturing and power utilities, writes Martha Zemede.

By Richard Wilson - Electronics Weekly, Oct. 20, 2015 – 

While automation is already important in manufacturing, IoT and the so-called Industrial Internet are enabling greater automation while also increasing flexibility and efficiency in manufacturing processes. Examples include new tools that support remote and predictive maintenance, thereby reducing costs and otherwise enhancing competitiveness.

These trends are influencing mammoth projections about the scale of IoT implementations: estimates range from 15 billion to 50 billion connected things by 2020, spanning all sectors. Further predictions about new, disruptive IoT-related services suggest potential revenues many times greater than those derived from IoT hardware and network provision.

Current visions for the IoT space have taken on a broader perspective, with more emphasis on post-processing of accumulated data. This has led to the need to connect individual applications to cloud storage and enable remote control via the internet. The scale of the required network is potentially mind-boggling -- and making this scenario a reality depends on absolutely reliable connectivity, designed in from the start and well tested all along the product lifecycle.

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