Have been following IoT now for three years. And it is still too soon to say how it will all play out. Here are a few observations though...
The billions of device predictions are correct in their own way, but one can credit the original RFID IoT banner carriers with making that prediction twenty years ago. Logistics (having perhaps the smallest motes of IoT and widest field) has always been a great place for automation, and it is no where near over. And if one allows handheld devices (phones and tablets) to fall under IoT (some do not) then clearly.
Sensor and analytics players contend (though admittedly it is self serving *grin*) that the only really new parts of IoT are sensors (new ways of sensing) and analytics (new ways of understanding). These can both be covered by the two different definitions of "seeing" and thus the single banner of "Seeing the Unseen". And they are the extreme ends of the chain that one can call IoT.
What of everything in between? Contentious, but not innovative. Technology in LAN, WAN, databases, aggregation, platforms, visualizations - are all well understood.
So some idea of who will prosper? And for what..
- IBM IoT. Because they are IBM.
- AWS IoT. Price. Open to all comers.
- Microsoft Azure IoT. Compatibility.
- Google. Search.
- Apple. Style.
- Xively. Security.
- Thingworx. Mashup. Design.
And some in well entrenched verticals who roll their own:
- GE Industrial.
- Auto manufacturers.
- Aerospace.
Or who are new and forward looking and for whom it will "just be"... in
AI,
AR,
VR, Robotics.
